oidara Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Hello! Well, I now have about 10 different quotes on shipping our dog and I'm very confused! They all seem to offer such different things and have such wildly different advice. One will say they don't recommend the dog getting acclimatised to the crate beforehand in case they develop negative associations that make the journey more stressful. Another says it's imperative you get the dog used to the crate for a minimum of 2 weeks and you have to sign a waiver if you don't agree such that you're liable if the dog is too stressed on the day to fly!!! One will say boarding beforehand is essential, another will say you should be with your dog to the absolute last minute! I really don't know how best to go about it all. Factors to take into consideration: 1. We live about 90 minutes from Heathrow, so we could take her ourselves on the day if this would be for the best. 2. She's a BIG dog! The crate she will travel in will certainly not fit in our car. So if we did want her to be acclimatised, the crate would either have to be delivered and then she would have to be collected and taken to the airport by the agent, or she would have to board. 3. She's quite a highly strung dog. I can't figure out if us being at the airport will make her relax more or make her even more stressed and desperate to get out of her crate. Any advice you can give us based on your own experience/opinion? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoandJon Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 I would really reccomend getting her used to the crate before - but you need to do it calmly and gently to avoid stress. We had satch's box just sitting in the kitchen for a week before we even tried to get her in properly. We fed her right near the crate, each day closer. Then we trained her to 'kennel up' but with the door open (treats). Then left her in with door closed for a few seconds and gradually building. We dropped her ourselves but even in our big estate it was a huge challenge. I was glad we got her used to it -she didnt seem stressed at all when we left Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoandJon Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Whether or not to be at the airport depends mostly on how calm YOU will be. If you are goi g to be blubbering and really emotional then it might be better to leave it to someone else. I was sad but calm until her box wad taken away on the forklift. Then i cried like a baby all the way home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jeffner1974 Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Hi, we're in the same predicament as you at the moment, though have finally went with Petair as they have been so helpful up till now and do everything for you (gold service) it's expensive but i would never forgive my self if i made a mistake going through the process. We are in scotland to, so a bit further from heathrow. one company quoted us £450 just to take him to the airport!! we also have a big dog who gets a bit emotiona, but he's worse if i'm there and he can't get to me. so we feel (no matter how upsetting it is for me) that we'll hand him over to petair at home and not see him again till we get to perth. but as joandjon says i'd def say get them used to the crate first, gradually. we're not going till august and i'm hoping to get ours soon to start. it's just such an stressfull thing (for us) i'm sure the dogs will be absolutly fine. so go with the quote/company that you feel comfortable with good luck jen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oidara Posted February 7, 2012 Author Share Posted February 7, 2012 Thanks for the replies. I think we will handle the airport run okay (emotionally) but the logistics of getting the crate there are escaping me right now! I wish we could give our dog the chance to acclimatise to her crate as you did with Satch, Jo, but unfortunately we won't be in the UK until about a week before departure (we live on the continent). Still, I suppose even a week of "kenneling up" is better than nothing! And how I wish we could afford the Pet Air gold service! We're struggling enough to fork up the cash for the lower end quotes! Still, I am a bit of a control freak so in a way it's good that we have to do a lot of the work ourselves this way around! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jeffner1974 Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 hi, we can't afford it but we are really fortunate that oh's work are shipping us out so don't have that huge expense. i'm just such a scatter brain just now that i'd hate to miss out something. could you maybe get a crate wherever you are just now , on loan or something, don't know how much they are too buy. i vaguely remember reading something ages ago about the ones that have been used before. maybe contact whichever shipper you decide use they may have an old one they could give you to let your dog get used to it. then get his new one at the airport. again not sure about smells/ hygene ect if this would be possible. i'm sure someone will be able to tell us. i hope i'm not waffling. hope you get something sorted, and if it comes to it i'm sure your dog will be fine. my vet also spoke to me about herbaly/alternative (the real name for it has completly escaped me, see what i mean about scatter brain!) sedatives that i'm going to read into but that's a whole other thread i think lol! jen x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chantel Posted February 7, 2012 Share Posted February 7, 2012 Hello, Thank you for this thread! :cute: We are taking our cat with us and we are also on a tight budget and can't afford the gold service either. But I was just reading over the paperwork from PetAir and realized that their fee doesn't include vaccinations and immunizations or the much detested microchip (which my vet can do), or the pet passport or handling fees at Perth airport. Does anyone know how to get a pet passport, and if our cat goes straight into quarentine, how to deal with handling fees, we will probably be on a different flight to our cat as well. In fact, does anyone understand what they actually do do??? :wacko: I am confused, and I so don't want to jeopardize our cat being able to travel. Chantel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicolaj Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Hello, Thank you for this thread! :cute: We are taking our cat with us and we are also on a tight budget and can't afford the gold service either. But I was just reading over the paperwork from PetAir and realized that their fee doesn't include vaccinations and immunizations or the much detested microchip (which my vet can do), or the pet passport or handling fees at Perth airport. Does anyone know how to get a pet passport, and if our cat goes straight into quarentine, how to deal with handling fees, we will probably be on a different flight to our cat as well. In fact, does anyone understand what they actually do do??? :wacko: I am confused, and I so don't want to jeopardize our cat being able to travel. Chantel I would say if you can get the pet shipping agent to do all the paperwork for you as it can save you a lot of heartache and extra expense if you get it wrong. I would have thought they would also give you advice on what vaccinations are required including rabies. If you normally have you pet vaccinated for all the usual stuff annually then you should be okay on that one. Your vet can sort you out a microchip, just look out for when they might do a special microchip month, and have a look at other vet surgeries that might be doing this. Our vets last June had a get you pet chipped for £5 on a saturday, it was a drop in and wait, and for the rest of the month it was £10. They also need to be debugged just before they travel as well, so you need to make sure you use the correct stuff as well. When we dropped our girls off to the shipping agent a cat had to be held back from her flight to NZ because the owners vet had used the wrong flea treatment on the cat which was not approved by the NZ government! They will now need rabies so have a look at the DEFRA website about this as I think it needs to be done by an approved vet. Speak to your vet about this as well. Also I would suggest getting more than one quote as some will include more than others. Regarding the original OP I would say get the dog used to his crate beforehand, and if you feel you are going to be upset at the airport, it's probably best left to the shipping agents to handle! I blubbed leaving the cats at the shipping agents, so if we had taken them to the airport I would have been a watery, snotty wreck!!! LOL!!! Go for the company that you feel most comfortable with as he is part of your family! Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoandJon Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Lol, I still have fond memories (and photos) of the journey to heathrow. We thought (rather stupidly) that the crate would fit into the boot of our Audi A6 estate but it didn't and we had to fold the seats down. No problem!! Except then where does Satch (35kg labrador at the time - now 30kg) go? Answer = on my lap / at my feet in the front passenger. It was crowded to say the least!! And would have been more comfy if she'd agreed with the feet concept, except she wanted my lap.... In hindsight we should have either used a trailer for the crate (but we've only just discovered that we have a tow-bar on the car!) or hired a people mover for the day. But hey, we got there and it did mean that Satch was happy to go in the crate at the other end Don't be alarmed when you get to Heathrow too - where you deliver the animals is a bit of a dive and you'll be surrounded by ginormous trucks. Also - there are NO TOILETS!!!! so go before you go through the gate! The big advantage is that you know your dog is only in the crate for the minimum amount of time, but it does take a long time. You can't go until all the animals are 'okayed' to fly, but there's always a bunch of people there waiting for the same thing so if you've got social people it's all good. Just take a picnice - the food machine is fairly cheap, but it's a bit rubbish One week is better than nothing, you could always fake something yourself though (reshape a cardboard box etc) to start the process. Thanks for the replies. I think we will handle the airport run okay (emotionally) but the logistics of getting the crate there are escaping me right now! I wish we could give our dog the chance to acclimatise to her crate as you did with Satch, Jo, but unfortunately we won't be in the UK until about a week before departure (we live on the continent). Still, I suppose even a week of "kenneling up" is better than nothing! And how I wish we could afford the Pet Air gold service! We're struggling enough to fork up the cash for the lower end quotes! Still, I am a bit of a control freak so in a way it's good that we have to do a lot of the work ourselves this way around! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockDr Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Not a dog owner, but if you can't have the crate to aclimatise, could you use a cardboard box or something, with a specific blanket or something that will go with her in the real crate so she'll at least have something familiar? (don't know if this is allowed/what sort of bedding etc they have in the crates) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oidara Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 Thanks for the tips and the best wishes, everyone! This feels even harder than getting our own visas and flights sorted! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoandJon Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 They're allowed to have familiar blankets in the crate - just remember that they may destroy them at the end, so don't make it something 'special'! We put two grotty worn out dressing gowns that stank to high heaven (of us) plus a blanket in the bottom. The dressing gowns were gotten rid of (we didn't want them anyway) but we got the blankets back! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oidara Posted February 8, 2012 Author Share Posted February 8, 2012 Thanks! I'll remember to set aside some old clothes of ours she can snuggle up with! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chantel Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Thanks for the tips and the best wishes, everyone! This feels even harder than getting our own visas and flights sorted! LoooL I think it is! :wink: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nicolaj Posted February 8, 2012 Share Posted February 8, 2012 Good luck it'll be worth it in the end when your friend turns up all safe and sound and you can bring them home with you! Happy Days!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanbo24 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Oh I've been told that they cant have any blankets in with them....help! I think we'll go for Petair gold, cant really afford it but it'll take the stress out of the paper work etc as I may be doing it on my own withe the 2 children if hub gets the job on monday then he'll be off!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lisamic2009 Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Hi try air pets uk they might beable to help you. and pet air. they recommend you do this 6 months before you leave and they have creates. just inbox me if you need futher assistants. lisa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoandJon Posted February 10, 2012 Share Posted February 10, 2012 Oh I've been told that they cant have any blankets in with them....help! I think we'll go for Petair gold, cant really afford it but it'll take the stress out of the paper work etc as I may be doing it on my own withe the 2 children if hub gets the job on monday then he'll be off!!! They can have blankets or soft stuff of some kind - just not stuff they can choke on so no toys. Have a chat to Pet Air, maybe the message got confused. (I can't see how it would have changed that much since Satch came out) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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