Bring a puppie with me? Any experience

[R&AINC 1]

Hi,

So I finally booked my ticket to fly to th USA. I would like to get a german shepherd puppie before I leave and bring it with me. Has anyone done that? I know I have to go though customs and it will be longer than usual, so I was wondering what would happen to the dog. Also what size crate do i need to get? What type of payperwork do I need?

Thank you in advance for your help.

[Ontarkie 14,512]

I was just wondering if it was something specific about this puppy your thinking about getting, if not you may just want to get one once you get to the US. If you really want that puppy in particular, I'm sure others who flew their pets will have more info but if I remember right puppy's under a certain age I think 6 months have less vaccines required but for flying I'm not sure. You may want to check the airline.

[Kathryn41 3,205]

If you don't already have the puppy and there isn't any special reason for getting a specific puppy back home it would be easier on you and the dog as well as cheaper to get your new puppy when you arrive in the US. There are lots of good German Shepherd breeders here if you want that specific breed. If it is because the puppy is from a special dog, however, then yes people have brought their pets with them. You need to go to the Airline sites to see what their requirements and restrictions are. Remember that young puppies may have extra problems travelling due to their age. You need to ensure that the airline will fly animals, what criteria they use to accept animals, if the animal needs to make a connecting flight, how long it will have to stay in its cage without a bathroom break, food or water; what the weather is like where and when you are travelling (some airlines won't transport animals during hot summer months because of the additional risk to the animal).

Here are some links you can read: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dq/animal/dogs.htm

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dq/animal/index.htm

[R&AINC 1]

Hi,

There is a specif reason why I want the puppy. For me coincidences in life are very important. I believe in "that happened for a reason". SO something happened and I thing she will make us happy back in the usa.

With regards to the price, I have also checked and the price will be higher in the USA. Plus If I do not get this one, I won;t probably get one when I get there.

I have already tormented the airline like 5 times today. And I have been to a pet shop to look at crates. Lufthansa seems to be on top of things on cargo and they have explained me all the cost etc. Nevertheless, we would "both" need to go though customs I think.

I will fly to JFK. I am sure that it will take at least 2 hours to go though customs for me. So the poor thing will be waiting and waiting. So I was wondering if anyone went through this and can give me any tips.

Thank you.

[CheeseQuavers 0]

I wouldn't bother. Its soooo stressful on young puppies, the only real reason would be because you wanted a dog to show or work from specific lines.

I am worried enough about my two and they will both be at least 9 months old when we move to the USA. I am bringing along a show prospect/breeding female young adult from some of the best lines in the UK, but from here it will cost us around £2000 for getting just the two boys out there safely. You need to make sure you have certain things ready, such as the rabies vaccination, which is very important and also can be deadly when administered inappropriately to a young puppy. The risks totally outweigh the benefits. Its too much of a traumatic experience for a young puppy.

It would be much cheaper and easier to buy once you're in the USA. You will need to make sure you're settled down in your home before you decide on a breeder and litter of puppies.

Edited January 22, 2010 by casandra

[CheeseQuavers 0]

Also, please be aware that the GSD dog when not bred responsibly can be vulnerable to many neurological and behavioural disorders/temperament issues. Puppies go through various fear periods and if your puppy were to experience a traumatic event (such as the ~8 hour flight, locked up in a crate) during one of these fear periods, there could be extreme consequences throughout the pup's life. It can take years for behavioural problems to crop up, so I really would not recommend getting a puppy until you are 100% settled in your new home.

Also if you end up renting, you might run into a problem with landlords or managing/housing assosications. Most rentals will only allow pets with certain limitations, ie no larger than 30lbs full grown weight etc.

Edited January 22, 2010 by casandra

[R&AINC 1]

I plan to crate train her as i will have her for a month and 1/2 prior to travel and she will be 3 adn 1/2 months at time of travel. I have seen many websites and breeders that ship puppies so I think that if ti was so dangerous. The cost of bringing her with me is 150 euros(but she has to fly the same day as me) + the cost of of the Crate (another 100).

[Gemmie 142]

Yes, many breeders and websites might ship puppies but it doesn't mean it's healthy or sensible. You said that you believe everything happens for a reason or in coincidence, but please consider the happiness of the puppy.

I would personally not recommend flying a puppy unless absolutely necessary. In your case, since you haven't bought her yet, it's not necessary. Especially at 3.5 months when she's just had a month or so to get used to her new home and then is shipped across the ocean to new surroundings. It's just very traumatic.

[CheeseQuavers 0]

Also please consider what sort of breeder you are getting this puppy from. Do they health test? Can you give me the parent's hip scores, eye test results? How many instances of epilepsy are in this dog's pedigree? Have the parents been vWD tested? What about Dilated Cardiomyopathy? All of these illnesses are ingrained in the majority of GSD lines. I have many friends who have had to part ways with their dogs before the age of 3 because they developed DCM, this disease is utterly devastating.

I do not think that shipping a 3.5 month old puppy is a wise idea. My dogs are 10 and 7 months of age now both should be 10-12 months when we leave, they just had their microchip and rabies vaccinations yesterday and Buckles was microchipped. In 3 weeks they will have another set of rabies vaccinations, then 3 weeks after that they will require a blood test. This whole process will cost me around £350. Is your crate IATA approved? They are very strict about this, if the dog does not fit perfectly within the crate, they will refuse to fly the puppy, you will have to purchase another crate.

This would be a lot of pain and trauma to inflict on a puppy at such a young age and you should avoid doing this if at all possible. If you can tell me what area in the USA you'd be moving to I would be more than happy to help you find a good quality breeder who health tests and also is really active within the breed. I have quite a few working breeders as friends/contacts.

[verunka 0]

I do not know exact requirements for shipping the dog, but after my experience with transporting my bird from US to EU I advise you that is not easy. I needed CITES permits from both countries - I dont think you need it, but I needed International health certificate and certificate from State veterinary and custom forms. International health certificate was valid only 10 days and prior the flight I had to sent it to validated it from the state veterinary, all within 10 days prior departure - this certificate was needed by airlines. The other paper work - State veterinary approval was saying that I am bringing suchj and such animal that wll stay on that adress and so on, I had to apply in advance. Custom form - 2 days prior departure I had to fax paper work to custom office in both countries (US and Czech republic) to let them know we were going to leave through one of the port of export of animals (not every airport is available for port of imprt/export). + I had to have 2 forms of CITES (ministry of agriculture), for export and import. To get all the paperwork in order it took me 4,5 month and cost me my nerves

I did it for me and my bird because we love each other and he depends on me because I brought him up. Lots of hard work, paperwork, help from many nice people, vets, offices, airlines, flight attendants, now I can not thanks enough that me and my parrot are together, but if you have a choice I advice you to wait intil you get to US and then buy a doggie over there with your partner. Good luck in whatever you decide.

[Peet 1]

First of all, I didn't read all the replies.

But, I brought both my dogs over from the Netherlands to the US recently.

First of all, check things over with Lufthansa, over and over again. There is much to consider, like for example temperatures.

We had to go through hoops because we had to reschedule the flights. It came to close to the temperatures that they wouldn't fly them anymore.

Get an good idea for the size of your dog at that age, they won't allow a crate too big, or too small.

Make sure you have all vaccinations and learn your dog how to drink from one of those bottles that they use for rabbitcages also.

Than, no matter how well you crate train your dog, being in the belly of a plane is totally different.

Going through customs is your least worry.

Both my girls were crate trained, but I had two unbelievable scared dogs once we arrived.

It took weeks for them to return to normal.

If there is any way you could decide on getting a pup once you are over, I would do that.

Too my dogs it was traumatizing.

I realize that isn't the case for all dogs, but certainly for pups good experiences are very important.

[DainandVicky 4]

Hi,

There is a specif reason why I want the puppy. For me coincidences in life are very important. I believe in "that happened for a reason". SO something happened and I thing she will make us happy back in the usa.

With regards to the price, I have also checked and the price will be higher in the USA. Plus If I do not get this one, I won;t probably get one when I get there.

I have already tormented the airline like 5 times today. And I have been to a pet shop to look at crates. Lufthansa seems to be on top of things on cargo and they have explained me all the cost etc. Nevertheless, we would "both" need to go though customs I think.

I will fly to JFK. I am sure that it will take at least 2 hours to go though customs for me. So the poor thing will be waiting and waiting. So I was wondering if anyone went through this and can give me any tips.

Thank you.

The price of the puppy may be cheaper but did you check what it costs to fly them here? It's exorbitantly expensive to fly a pet on a domestic flight, let alone an international one.

[DeniseBill 4]

Before I came to the US I asked some information about my dog to bring him with me. He was a Shih Tzu and a small one. The people of the flying agency said that I could just take him with me in the plane. They allow about 3 small dogs into the plane to take and sit on your lap the whole way.

unfortunately I had to put him to sleep because he got really sick so I don't have any information on how it went.

[lizandpat 0]

You might want to also consider the reputation of the airline as far as how they care for the pets while on the flight. My husband didn't bring a dog, but he did bring our cat and was told by the airline that he didn't need to provide anything like food or water because the flight crew would make sure that our cat would get something during the trip. It wasn't until they landed in Houston after being in the air for over 11 hours that we learned that not only did our cat never receive any food but he'd gone the entire trip without a single drop of water!

With the puppy being so young, I'd think long and hard about bringing it with you on such a long journey.

I wish you luck on whatever you decide to do!

Oh..and Hi Peet! *waves frantically!* Glad the girls are adjusting!!!

Edited January 26, 2010 by lizandpat

[VanessaTony 3,567]

I'll be honest I looked into it and decided while it wasn't too expensive (AU$170 if it was with me) MY dog would have been under 3 months. Under 3 months requires 30 days AT YOUR COST of the puppy being put in quarantine. it was just far too expensive (plus for me it was a 22 hour flight) and I just thought it was unfair.

It is of course completely up to you but given the cost, the possible trauma to the animal I personally wouldn't.

Here's a good article: http://www.transitionsabroad.com/tazine/08...with-pets.shtml