Shipping dogs - Page 2

The cargo area housing the dog is at the same presure altitude as the passenger cabin and at altitude that is slightly below 10,000 pressure altitude. Most dogs normal day to day living is well below that and the increase in pressure altitude(decrease in oxygen molecular density) is a natrual sedative. Most dogs sleep the entire way, anyway. Sedatives in addition to the increase in pressure altitude can put the dog to sleep permanantly(further decreasing breathing/heart rate). Any airline is a great airline if everything turns out OK, in the end, but all make mistakes from time to time, so keep you fingers crossed and say a prayer when you ship. I find more peace of mind accompanying the dog, as opposed to shipping it alone. Rates are pretty cheap, these days, comparativly speaking.

I haven't shipped dogs for a long time, but one experience I know about may be of some value today. One of my friends shipped a puppy that died in transit. The airline refused to make restitution, said the puppy was dead when it was brought to the airport. From that time on most everyone I knew made sure that that freight bill said "live dog" before signing it.

OMG thats horrible. Who in the hell would ship a "dead" puppy in a crate? I think I may have come unglued at the terminal upon pick up, if it was my pup. Mistakes are made but not taking responsablity is just terrible on the airlines part. I paid extra to get insurance on my dog for her flights. Has anyone ever had to use it before? Is it just a waste?

I had a 12 wk old puppy shipped from Iowa to Seattle on Northwest. He missed the connecting flight in Minneapolis and had to spend a layover there. He was supposed to arrive in Seattle at 2 in the afternoon and didn't arrive till 9:30 at night. It was December 31st and by the time the boy arrived, Seattle was in the middle of a terrible snow storm that year. Anyway, the guys at Northwest cargo were GREAT. They kept in telephone contact with Minnie and the puppy was in their dog daycare there. They walked him, fed and watered him, changed his bedding, etc. They even put an airline blanket in his crate. When he finally arrived he was calm and clean. The cargo guys at Northwest made sure he was hustled off the plane and brought to me right away. They even helped me get him and his crate up to the hotel room across the street because we had to stay overnight due to the storm. They made a bad and worrying experience work out the best it could!!

See it's nice to know which airlines will make good on a mistake. I don't want to do business with a company that say's "oh well it's your problem now".