Has anyone flown their dog cross country?

[LexyLou]

Hi all,

We are moving from CA to New Jersey in April and have to "ship" our dog out. She is a 60 lb wuss and I'm freaking out that she's going to lose it.

My vet prescribed a tranquilizer but the canine moving company we are working with says the airlines don't allow animals who have been tranquilized on the plane.

Has anyone done this, and do you have any suggestions on how to make it as smooth as possible for my baby girl?

Thanks.


ETA: I saw the other thread about flying with dogs but my dog cannot ride in the cabin with us and will actually be going through a dog moving company. They pick her up at our house and load her on the plane and then get her when the plane lands and brings her to our new house.

[jesvet]

Don't tranquilize her Lex, it can be more dangerous for them to be sedated and possibly experiencing respiratory depression than for them to be awake. Benadryl is a lot safer. Try giving her a 25 mg tab at home and see how she does, you can go as high as 50 mg. It lasts about 6 hours, enough to take the edge off and maybe help her sleep some.

[LexyLou]

Do you think they'll let her on the plane with Benadryl?

I'm sick over this but there is no other way to get her out there.

[jesvet]

Don't tell them. ;)

She won't look any different/drugged. Give it right before you leave for the airport.

[skyblu]

Jesvet, I have a question for you about Benadryl.

I don't know if you remember but our dog is a wuss sometimes too, and he gets scared when we leave the house. So I'd given him Benadryl a couple of times and he seemed to handle it better.

But then I read somewhere that although it makes them sleepy, Benadryl doesn't take the fear away, so they feel just as scared but groggy on top of that. Is there any truth to that?

I know that personally, if I take Benadryl, I'm out like a light, thus having no chance to feel anxioous.

What's your take? (sorry to hijack the flying thread!)

Thanks so much!
~A.
PS: How are you doing on your Devil Dog supply? I can either send you a box, or I can send you my puppy, who fits the description very well ;)

[jesvet]

sky- pharmacologically speaking, it's not an anxiolytic, so it wouldn't suppress a fear response. But few of the tranquilizers out there have that effect, unless you're talking about a specific anti-anxiety drug like Clomicalm. Long term not much except for desensitization training is going to get rid of the fear. I still think it's worth it- like you said, when you're groggy you don't care as much.

As for the Devil Dogs- ROFLMAO! I have two of my own terrorizing the house, I can't imagine adding a Weimie to the mix. As for the confection- girlfriend, I'm 7 months pregnant. THOSE Devil Dogs are more than welcome in the house, lol. ;)

[LexyLou]

Thanks Jes!

[keska]

We've flown our 2 cats cross-country 3 times without any meds and they've always been fine. The first 24 hours after they arrive, they tend to stick in the same room with us but after that, they've settled back down into their normal routines. I actually think it's much less stressful on them than the longer hours they would spend on a car ride. We tried driving once and it was 15 straight hours of crying to the point that one cat lost his voice. Since then, we've always flown them and they've come out in much better shape.