Tips for air traveling with dogs?

Hey folks! This is Frank from Sit Happens Dog Training.

Welcome to another Q&A session where I answer questions from y'all on the internet.

Today's question is:

"Tips for air traveling with dogs?"

Answer:

So great question. So again the question is what are some tips for air traveling with my dog? First and foremost, you should have your dog trained. Okay? Whether or not you feel like you have the ability to train your dog or you need to hire somebody to do it, your dog should be trained and socialized for uh situations like air travel. Okay? So, that's the first thing. Uh secondly, you should consult with your vet. If your dog has any kind of health conditions, respiratory, heart conditions, you need to consult with your vet. I'm not a veterinarian, so I'm not going to give any advice on health conditions with your dog. So, that's first and foremost. Um secondly, you should look at a cabin or a cargo hold for your dog. So, if your dog's under 20 pounds, a lot of folks will go ahead and and have them uh stay with them in the actual main um area of the plane. But if your dog is bigger than that, you have to go and look at a cargo hold. And you still need a crate. So, there are soft crate and hard crates that you can look at. Um, hard crates are more beneficial for when you're going to put your dog in a cargo hold. Okay, so you know, the these are the the most important things to think about. Um, book your flight early. Um, it's really important to make sure, especially if you need to get an additional seat in the actual plane with your dog, that there is a spot for your dog on the plane. Okay. One thing that a lot of people uh make the mistake of doing is giving them giving their dog sedatives um before a plane flight because their dogs have anxiety. Um that may be a not good thing on a air on a flight because what happens is um the altitude could adjust your dog's you know um regular um and just like us regular workings internally. And when you add any kind of um anti-anxiety medicine, it could affect their um health. So talk to your vet about that. Again, it's very important to talk to your vet about that. Um other thing I want to bring up is make sure you feed your dog at least 4 hours before a flight. Okay? um make sure they have water up until the flight, but you want to make sure you're controlling the poop schedule and all that stuff. All right, so these are there's other things that I can bring up, but those are the main tips that I can, you know, make sure you guys are, you know, focused. And I have somebody at my health right now.

Summary:

 Frank Silva offered tips for air traveling with dogs, emphasizing the importance of training and socialization for situations like air travel. He also recommended consulting a vet for any health conditions and advised against giving sedatives to dogs before a flight due to potential adverse effects from altitude changes