Gun Dog Forum

I will be flying my GSP from Boston to "Alaska this summer. I ended up shelling out a few hundred more on the flight to get shorter flight times and less layovers (9.5 hours there total) to minimize her time in the crate/cargo. She, like many shorthairs, is pretty high strung and can get pretty nervous around new people. She isn't crate trained, but I am getting the travel crate this week, which will give her about amonth to get used to it. I am planning on taking her everywhere in it, getting her used to being wheeled around, in and out of cars in it and such. I know this may open a hughe debat, but at that risk I am wondering people's opinions on mild sedatives (I want her still awake!) and if so wich ones? Right now, I am just thinking about using a herbal calming mixture called Rescue Remedy. I have given her small doses of that on two separate occasions with not too much noticable difference in her behaviour. I'd say she was slightly more mellow and less skiddish of new people. I will not even consider sedating her enough to be asleep (or close to it) as the dangers are just too great. This is the first time I've ever flown a dog, and am going to be quite nerve-racked about it. Any advice, input, experience is much appreciated. Let me learn from your mistakes or successes!
Andrea

Talk to your vet about an appropriate travel regimin including a safe sedative. Rescue Remedy is not appropriate in this case. Make sure she is microchipped and there are multiple copies of her paperwork and good photos of her available.

Make sure your crate is airline approved and proper size. It has been a long time since I shipped but I think you need two dishes . Small ones that clip to crate door. I have never done this but if I were shipping again I think I would try to secure the door with a plastic tie as a safety measure. If there is a need to take her out it could be easily cut.

I always secure my crate doors with some small rope or twine that can be easily cut or untied as I have had dogs get out of crates in the past. Recently had a bitch shipped to my kennel for breeding. She came from the east coast to Atlanta but ended up in LA by a mistake of the airline and had to be shipped all the way back.