The pet shipping policy at Texas TLC Goldens is simply: we don’t do it if the puppy will be in cargo. “But wait!” you say, “Doesn’t that limit your potential customers?”. The answer is: yes, but we don’t care. First, we require meeting our new puppy parents and a good parent should want to meet us as well. Shipping is also a “not fun” experience for the dog. We have had two very different experiences with shipping Golden Retrievers on planes, so we will relate them both and you’ll understand why.
Emma
We got our lovely Emma a few months ago from Europe; from Romania to be exact. We wanted the unique body style and color of a true “English” Crème Golden Retriever but it’s almost impossible when buying domestically to be sure you are getting exactly that since AKC does not recognize the European Goldens as being a different breed and does not note that anywhere in the pedigree. That said, unless both parents were actually shipped over from Europe with a proper “export pedigree” (yes that’s a thing) then transferred to AKC, you just don’t know so we knew we’d need to get the puppy directly from the source.
We found a good broker in Europe that has shipped well over 10,000 dogs, has outstanding reviews by the thousands and attractive policies. We asked extensive questions and required tons of paperwork and pictures before we closed the deal. The cost was not all that much more than a US based puppy even with shipping, so we moved forward.
Emma was 4 months old when she got on the plane. This is a minimum age for shipping since proper vaccinations must be complete; especially the rabies vaccine. She had a heath check by a certified vet just before departure and was placed in a fairly large crate with food and water and started her journey. The airlines used have a special compartment for animals that is properly heated and cooled and has proper cabin pressure. The animals are last on / first off to make their stay in the hold as brief as can be achieved and are never left out in the sun on a hot tarmack.
The first leg of her journey was from Budapest, Hungary to Dubai; a 5.5-hour flight. She arrived around midnight and was offloaded and cared for by what appears to be a really good quality pet service for the next 10 hours. She was bathed, fed, watered and given the chance to get out of the crate for a while. She boarded her last flight the next morning and then spent 16.5 hours in the air; just barely under the 17-hour maximum allowed by the airline. When she arrived in Houston, Texas she was not allowed out of the crate until she cleared customs which took another 3.5 hours, so she had spent 20 hours straight in that crate, most if it in the hold of an airplane.
When we picked her up the crate reeked; I mean REALLY smelled BAD. She was in shock by that time and scared to come out of it. We cleaned her up as best we could, put the crate in the back of our pickup and carried her wrapped in a blanket in the cab. She was quiet and withdrawn; that is until she spotted River and Harley in the back seat. She immediately came alive and was a puppy again! She was hungry, tired and still smelled bad, but she was a puppy again.
We made the short drive to our son’s home in north Houston then bathed and fed her. We also hosed out that horrible smelling crate so that we would not make people ill when we stopped to gas and get snacks. By the time we got home after a 4-hour drive, she was fully puppy again and already fitting in with the pack and has been a joy ever since.
Would we do this again? Maybe but only if there was no other choice. If you are not a breeder then there are few reasons to do this and I don’t recommend it, at all. We will likely need a good “English” sire in time so it’s possible if we don’t find what we need domestically but we really, really hated seeing how she arrived even though the broker and airlines did their level best to assure as much safety and comfort as possible. Emma is none the worse for wear now but that’s not the point.
Dexter
We wanted a beautiful dark Golden Retriever sire and our grandsons needed a puppy, so we decided to put the two things together and went on a search. Our rules were that he had to have dark and beautiful parents that were completely cleared for DNA defects and normal or better OFA clearances on hips and elbows. We were surprised how difficult it was to find what we needed in Texas. Most Golden Retriever puppies of this quality in Texas were either light or medium or had parents that were not fully tested and those that were had breeders so very proud of their dogs that it required a second mortgage to buy them.
We finally found what we wanted but, horrors, they were in update New York. The breeder was a really nice lady that truly cared for her 8 Golden Retrievers on 2 acres in her home and bonus: her husband is a practicing Veterinarian. The Dam was a sweet girl that was not too large and was almost mahogany colored with white accents on her belly. The sire was a magnificent looking boy that was quite dark all over and gorgeous long hair. Both parents were clear for everything we cared about but the Sire; he was a “carrier” for ich. This was almost a deal breaker since there was a 50% chance than any puppy in that litter would be a carrier as well, but the husband volunteered to have Dexter tested and he came back clear! Both parents tested normal or better on hips and elbows and the sire scored a very rare “excellent” on his hips! Typically getting full registration costs as least the price of the puppy (basically the puppy costs twice as much) but they made that bit affordable, so we could afford the trip.
Now the rub: how to get the puppy back to Texas. We were unwilling to ship a 2-month-old puppy in the hold of an airplane after our experience with Emma so we elected to have one of us fly up and carry him back in cabin. I even scored first class seats for the return flights on a sale. there was an extra fee for the pet in cabin but it was manageable. Sound good, right? Yeah read on…
I arrived in Syracuse, NY on a Saturday evening, rented a car and drove the 45 miles to pick up Dexter. I had a wonderful visit with the breeder and her husband and met all their dogs. I then loaded Dexter up in a small carrier of exactly the maximum size allowed to carry in cabin and drove back to Syracuse to a hotel for the night. I discovered when I arrived at the hotel that motion sickness in dogs can be a thing. I had never experienced it before since none of my dogs have ever had it but Dexter , did. He was miserable and a mess and scared, so I threw blankets on the floor of the hotel and slept with him after cleaning him and the carrier up and getting him fed and watered.
I resolved that I would prevent so much misery on the plane, so I called Terri; she researched and found that we should give him half a tab of Dramamine before the flight. I had a 7:30am flight so I got up at 3:30am and drove to a local Walmart to get the meds. As it turned out the first Walmart was closed so I had to find another, and Dexter spent over 30 minutes in the car during our search and again was sick. I’ll spare you the story of my walk through Walmart with a sick puppy but I got the medicine and gave it to him; terrified of what would happen on the flight.
Long story short, we flew 2 hours from Syracuse to Chicago and spent the 4-hour layover in the United lounge after a brief trip outside. We then flew the 3.5 hours from Chicago to San Antonio. Dexter was unhappy but quiet. He did not want water or food the entire journey, but he (and I) survived just fine. Dexter is now happy with our grandsons and a little ball of energy. He’s growing like a weed and should make an outstanding sire as well as a wonderful pet for our grandsons.
Your experience may vary but while the experience could have been better, it works. Knowing what we know now, if we decided to do this again we would come prepared with Dramamine and hand towels just in case. Not all puppies get motion sickness and frankly, this is our first but we’d be prepared.
Side humorous note: I carried Dexter in my arms 100% of the time when in airport terminals. This is not strictly permitted but I did it anyway. I now know what the beautiful people feel like in a crowd. Every single woman and child (without exception) and a few men immediately followed me with their eyes and smiled. Heads turned everywhere I went. Many wanted to pet him and quite a few asked questions. It was a surreal experience.
Summary
So, in the end, based on our experiences, even if we did not require meeting the prospective puppy parents, we do not ship our puppies in the belly of a plane, ever. If the parent wants to fly here and meet us and is willing to carry the puppy in cabin for the flight(s) we are fine with that but be prepared just in case…..
About the Authors
Bryan and Terri Curry love all dogs in general, especially Golden Retrievers. They have had dogs for all but 6 months of their long lives and all have lived happy and much longer than average. Bryan and Terri are co-owners of Texas TLC Goldens; a small responsible breeder producing high quality Golden Retriever puppies.