Help Needed! Flying our bullies overseas, need some recommendations.

[Boogs and Avi]

We are military and have orders to go overseas in November; we know that it's incredibly dangerous to fly the kids in the cargo hold, so we are looking for other options. We've been requesting quotes from pet shippers, but we would like advice and recommendations from all of you. They will both be over one year by then, Avi is very small and has an elongated pallet, and is a scaredy at about everything. She had a puppy murmur that is gone now, and she weighs 42 pounds. Booger is a big muscular guy that breathes awesomely and has no health issues. He's quite athletic as well. Any help in making these decisions would be great!!

 

[ddnene]

I don't have any advice on shipping bullies, but I did ship my cats from Alaska to Germany. We are retired military... I had actually contacted the local consulate to get tips on the best way to handle it. Of course we had shipped them in the cargo hold, which I know you can't do w/the bullies. If you fly into England they are VERY strict on their pet requirements, I remember at the time they required a several months quarantine because of rabies concerns. Even though I had them both vaccinated for rabies, it was really strange! Good luck and keep us posted :D

 

[2BullyMama]

[MENTION=410]Telly03[/MENTION] is military and did this recently with Moe from Hawaii to the mainland.... may be he can help.

 

[Vicaroo1000]

There are many marvelous "Pet Mover" services available now. No reason to ship anyone in a nasty cargo hold anymore! Google "Pet Movers" -- or better yet, hit Angie's List for reviews -- and go from there. I'm sure these services are expensive but for 100% assurance that my pups would arrive safe and stress free? Priceless.

Some years ago, a local airline here delivered a dead show dog to the owner. An Australian Shepard, no less. I can't imagine the horror...!

 

[RaRett]

I would take care of the elongated pallet, ASAP (prior to moving overseas, who knows what type of vet care you will find there) Which country are you moving too? some have restrictions on dogs due to rabies etc.

 

[Telly03]

You could try contacting an Air Force terminal to find out which bases would have the best traffic to get you where you need to go. Then work with those terminals to see which flights allow pets. If they have something you can use, you can get this option on your PCS orders to give you top priority.

We did this for our move from Hawaii to Mainland. The pets flew in the passenger spaces and it went well. The flight only got us to California though and we had to drive to Maryland, but it was fun.

 

[Boogs and Avi]

Update: We can't fly them within the US, but once we get to Baltimore (via road-trip from Nebraska to Maryland), they will be in a climate control cargo hold that is kept the same climate of the passenger space. Let's all just cross our fingers and hope for the best. Thank you to everyone who provided advice and inputs!!

 

[Ftse 100]

Good Luck hope it all goes well for you.