flying your pets in cargo

Just did something like this to get a dog here from Arkansas.

I can elaborate if you like but I had a really frustrating experience with Delta. We ended up using NWA (Northwest) and sent him on a passenger flight (costs were similar to other airlines for dogs as cargo). I was very pleased with NWA all around. I of course called tons of times and always got the exact same information and the folks I talked to were all very knowledgeable of the procedures, rules, etc.

My dad dropped him off (which included doing a fair amount of paperwork apparently) but said the NWA staff was all really friendly and nice to the dog. While waiting to pick him up in the baggage area of LGA, the NW employees overseeing the baggage (they actually counted how many came on the carousel AND asked to see id when people claimed bags from other flights, something I've seen no other airline do!) were really nice and helpful. As the door opened where live animals come in I could see the baggage guys baby-talking to the dog and the lady guarding unclaimed bags got him out of the crate for me while I signed off on his papers.

I got an IATA approved crate from futurepet.com or something like that. Actually, I didn't realize how to measure the dog and got one that's way too big for him, so PM me if your interested in buying a nice kennel for pet shipping

NWA gets a thumbs up from me on this.

My dog was fine. We didn't expect any problems, though. He's a very stable dog that recovers easily and quickly from new and strange things. I've had dogs that would probably die of panic on an airplane and would never have considered shipping them. Even with this dog, I was nervous about sticking him on a plane that long.

There are lots of things to make it easier. My dog had never been in a crate so I sent it early and my folks got him used to it--he started off just being it open with a treat, then shut in for a while. At the airport, he wasn't crated until my dad left.

There ended up being some bad weather here so his second flight was delayed several hours and he was in transit far longer than I wanted, but he really was fine in the end. He was eager to get out of the crate, but not too stressed. Instead of 6 hours total, he was in the crate 9 hours and had eaten the peanut butter out of his kong and not peed or even gotten sick!

I have no doubt this can be a horrible experience for you and/or the dog, but it can go smoothly.