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first flight - need advice

7K views 48 replies 13 participants last post by  Audogs 
#1 ·
So soon it will be Bama's first flight. She's had a long car trip before (LA to SF), but never been on a plane. And it looks like the first flight will be me and her, no husband. I've never flown with any animal before (I did drive a yorkie cross country)....so I'm very new at this (obviously).

So I have a million questions and seek advice. There's the usual-what to do if she starts whining in her carrier, what to pack in her carrier, do I put a harness on her and clip it to the inside of the carrier (some carriers have that option), what do I do about potty breaks. Are any airlines better than others.

The other odd question is about carry-ons. I had the perfect system for flying solo, wiith my laptop bag-purse combo going under my seat, and another bag up above. Now pup counts as one carryon, under my seat. Does anyone have a suggestion of style/type of bag for my second carryon? It needs to be able to hold my laptop (which I think is around 17 inches), and I'd love it if I could easily get out the laptop for security as well as my liquids bag. And wheels would be great. I found a great deal on a carryon on amazon, but when it arrived I discovered my laptop doesn't exactly fit in there.

Also, we probably will fly southwest out of burbank...love this airport-short security lines. Then we will have to change planes somewhere to get to Texas. One of those possible layover cities would be Vegas. Is this absolutely a bad city to pick? Or is it so loud that if she is whining no one will hear her? She also is about to turn 7 months which means she should be hitting a fear imprint period soon supposedly.
 
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#39 ·
So now that I know I can have her as my personal item, my quest for a carryon continues. It's tough to find a wheeled carryon that has an easy access pocket for my laptop...because my laptop is a few years old and it's 17".

As far as her carrier...she is actually in it right now digging around at the bottom. I don't know if she's trying to dig her way to China, or if she's trying to remove the padded lining. I can just see her doing this on the flight....grrr....but at least it would occupy her. I am torn about using this one for the plane...she is used to it, and being the medium sized sherpa I have the paperwork from the company stating it should fit. But at the same time, I am tempted to get the wheeled version.

Or I could buy the official southwest carrier...


I certainly wouldn't get any hassle about her carrier size with that. I'm not sure it's as sturdy as a sherpa (other airlines have their own versions of the sherpa carrier, but I almost always fly southwest).

I just wish there was a dog carrier that had a totally waterproof laptop pocket on the side. And then a little pocket for the liquids bag. How much easier would that be if all the things you had to take out to go through security were in one easy access container!?!? Hmm, maybe I should design and sell one....
 
#40 ·
According to the US Government, you do not need to show any proof that your dog is a service animal, even it was self taught and if the airline were to disqualify your dog as a service animal a charge an in cabin pet fee . . .you just might have a civil claim as defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act. I doubt seriously, SWA will question it, but the rules and guidelines are worth reading through so you know your rights:

http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/rules/Part 382-2008.pdf

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#41 ·
My Brighton wheeled carryon has an outer pocket that's extremely easily accessed and when I've needed to travel with my 17" MacBook Pro. Accommodated it very easily. The other plus factor are the very smooth rolling wheels . . .unlike any other wheeled carryon I've owned. I would think that would make handling a dog carrier and carry on very easy. However . . .maneuvering both down the aisle between seats in SWA might not be the easiest thing in the world, hopefully some nice person near by will see your need for special assistance and come to your aid.

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#43 ·
When we flew Tino home last month on Southwest it was a breeze. Security was no more or less a hassle than usual. The fee was $75 one way. I kept him in his Sherpa bag on my lap the whole time and no one said a word to me about it. The only real bummer was his motion sickness. He yacked several times during the trip, poor guy.

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#44 ·
Aww. I'm surprised your pup has motion sickness on the plane! My Hav, now almost 3, hasn't yacked during car rides since he was about 8 months old (the car seat was critical on that front). However, he still gets queasy and is definitely unhappy on car rides; it always takes him a day or two to get 'back to his old self' after a long ride >5 hrs. On a plane though? He jumps out of his carrier as happy as he can be, no worse for wear.
 
#47 ·
Yes she is thank you. Yesterday (Thursday) she got canned chicken & vitapaste and today she moved to dog food chicken (forget the brand but its all chicken but with a pâté consistency). And she hasn't vomited the past two days. ;-) so now it's back to normal eating.
 
#49 ·
Sam and I flew Southwest over Thanksgiving. His harness has too many tags on it still, but that did not present any TSA issues. His leash was with his Sherpa bag on the conveyor. With everything to keep track of going through security I very happily checked all my bags and only carried on Sam and something to read.

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