Help, please: family dog & travelling

[SonjaSW11]

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Hello everyone

We are a family with young children (5/7/9 years old) and we are thinking about adding a dog to our family! The children are not too young anymore, we live in a house with a little garden and I am working from home.

The only worrying issue is: All our relatives live abroad and we join them 3-4 times a year (by plane). The question is: Shall we adopt a little dog that could easily travel on the plane with us? Are bigger dogs really traumatised about travelling in the cargo hold? I have spoken to dog owners on airports who had their dogs in the cargo hold and they confirmed that their dogs do not mind. Other people are horrified when I mention this - and I am very much aware that a dog is not a cargo but a member of a family!

Your advice would be very much appreciated! Of course, Holidays4dogs etc. would also be an option for a weekend but I think that a dog would love to spend the summer in a warm climate with a pool :- ). And no, sadly, travelling to the South of France by car is not possible.

Thank you!l

Sonja.

 

[JoanneF]

I wouldn't put my dog in the hold. I believe the noise, the movement, the smells, the vibration and the isolation would be horribly traumatic. There are a few airlines that do allow dogs in the cabin - the dogs have to be under a certain weight, and usually in a container. I would consider that for my dog but I am not aware of any that fly from the UK to France, so if that was a deal breaker you would have to do some research - please post back if you find any as I genuinely would be interested in this. Would the train be an option (with regular toilet breaks for the dog)?

 

[SonjaSW11]

Hi Joanne

The Eurostar does not allow any dogs apart from Guide Dogs, of course. So no, unfortunately, that's not possible either. British Airways use a specialised company for transporting animals and the Air France fares for the hold are very reasonable.

I know that a small dog in the cabin would be the best! Any recommendations on a brand that won't weigh any more than 8kg including the container?

We'll see, maybe somebody else has been in this situation before?! The children have asked for a dog for a long time, my husband grew up with dogs and I have always wanted one!

Sonja

 

[gypsysmum2]

Get a motorhome You can all travel in it, including the dog, and go by Eurotunnel. Nobody has to leave the motorhome during the journey. There are toilet facilities in your motorhome and you can eat a meal while on the train, play games around the table etc. You can stop anywhere you like during the journey. France is very motorhome friendly. If you don't like the idea of staying in a motorhome for a long holiday then park it beside your villa or hotel for the duration. As the children get older they can camp beside the motorhome. Great fun. If you added up the cost of all the flights and considered what an inflexible way of travelling the air is it could be a solution for you.

Consider if you fly with the dog that the dog will have to be in its crate for a long time without toilet facilities.

Look at the Kennel Club website where they help you choose the right breed for you. The kind of dog that could fly with you would be in the Toy Group. Dogs like the Chihuahua, Papillon (my favourite) and Pomeranian come to mind. Do take care to find a breeder that exposes their dogs to family life, including children, during the rearing process. Many toy breeds are bred by more mature breeders who lead fairly quiet lives and the poor puppies have quite a culture shock when moving to a home with a busy family life. You should also insist that you collect the puppy at eight weeks of age. Some breeders like to hold on to their toy breed puppies for longer and they do need to be out in the world socialising from eight weeks onwards. Guide dogs send their puppies to their new homes at seven weeks to get them started early.

 

[SonjaSW11]

Hi gypysmum2

A motorhome sounds like a fun idea - for a holiday in the UK but not for a trip to the south of France! My husband never takes more than 2 weeks holidays or even only one week and it's not worth going all the way for a week. I had actually thought about it in the past (even without a dog) but renting a motorhome for 2 weeks is more expensive than flying back and forth a couple of times (even for a family). And the other problem are 3 children with bad travel sickness - no watching DVDs, reading books or playing card games in the car for us.

But thank you very much on the information about breeds! I'll have a close look.

 

[JoanneF]

If you are only going for a couple of weeks at a time, you might find that good kennels or a home sitter are less stressful for your dog than flying in the cargo area. I hope you find a good solution.

 

[lurcherman]

Always put the dog first, me personally I wouldn't get a dog in your situation but that's just me.