Travel: Tripp Trips
After years of not going home for the past three Christmases, this year I decided to go home, and not only bring myself and Mike, but also bring the dog along. I was soooo nervous, cause if any of you have met my dog, he can be a barker. But I bought the carrier months in advance and trained him to go lay in his "travel case" and also made him sleep in it at night a few times so he'd get used to the case, we also got him a soft fabric muzzle which when he wears it he kinda submits and doesn't get too whiny. Also my vet was able to prescribe him a light sedative so that he wouldn't get too anxious. Before going to the airport, we stuffed his carrier with a blanket and a used pillow case so he had our smell with him, and lots of stuff to lay on, and gave him his meds. Driving to the airport Tripp cried in hi little carrier and I was so nervous, I didn't want to be the person on a red eye flight with a barking dog... sound worse than having a crying baby. But as soon as we stepped foot in the airport I think the sedatives hit him. The front counter people inspected him, his carrier and his documents, which Tripp just laid there and didn't care. Then I had to carry him through a the old school metal detector and the TSA agents thought he was so cute.The first flight he got a little whiny cause our flight was delayed but he soon got quiet once I carried him around. When we got onto the flight he quietly yelped a bit when people were boarding and the flight attendants were over the loud speaker but I had the carrier on my lap and petted him, when ready for takeoff I put the carrier under the seat in front of me, which the carrier fit perfectly, I was really afraid of that since this was a small plane going from SF to LA.
After that flight we had a short layover in LAX then were off again. Tripp didn't make a peep the entire time and was so good. I'm really impressed. I let him stick his head out of the carrier when we were getting off the final flight, and the woman beside us was surprised when he popped his head out! We had to hang out in the Indianapolis airport for a couple hours waiting to be picked up (for some reason flying to Indy was WAY cheaper than any Ohio flight) which we got Tripp out and walked him around the front and baggage claim. There were so many dogs I saw in all the airports, I saw more than 6, and these weren't all small dogs. I guess the holidays is the time for pet travel!
Here's some quick pics I took while traveling. I'd suggest that if you've been thinking about taking your dog, try it. But remember there's lots of prep work getting him used to the carrier and getting his medical paperwork. Every airline has their own rules, and there's only so many dogs allowed each flight, so you have to call the airline ahead of time. But Tripp is not a perfect dog, some might say he's annoying, but he was able to make a flight without any disturbance or too much anxiety (he was a bit shaky the first flight cause it was so loud), of coarse he had some medical help ;)
Happy Holidays,
Lauren
