Travel with Pets - Travelling without pets.....very sad.

Seems to be as good a place as any to talk about this.

My wife and I are flying to the UK tomorrow for our holidays. We have just dropped off our two dogs at the mother in laws...where they will have the run of a large safe garden and will be well fed and cared for.....a process which we do every year.
However both my wife and I are feeling a bit guilty and the guilt seems to get worse each passing year at the thought of leaving them. In fact we both admitted to each other at being a bit sad about it all.
I'm a rough tough Scotsman or so I thought I was....I couldn't really care less about not seeing the mother in law for three weeks but the thought of not seeing the dogs. :eek:

Anyone else feel like this when leaving their pets behind?

I recently vacationed in Mexico and missed my Cavalier Angel terribly. :(
Luckily she stayed with a trustworthy neighbor who has 2 dogs of her own so at night when all 3 climbed into her bed she had her own "3 Dog Night". :)
Also I think as she gets older I want to spend more quality time with her.

As for your mother-in-law, IMHO the answer is that dogs give you unconditional love. I never met a mother-in-law that did. :p

Three weeks doesn't seem like a long time to leave them with her. I really wouldn't feel guilty about it. How do your dogs behave when you pick them up? Do they seem happy, or do they seem upset?

As for your mother-in-law, IMHO the answer is that dogs give you unconditional love. I never met a mother-in-law that did. :p

:D

Too true. ^

How do your dogs behave when you pick them up? Do they seem happy, or do they seem upset?

They go crazy. :D

Just off the phone to MIL and she assures us both of them are doing fine. To be honest we've not thought that much about them since we've been away so I guess it was just the actual leaving them that was the problem.
The good thing about it is, it means one isn't too bothered when the holiday is nearing its end. :)

I miss my cat like crazy every time I go away. ;)

We were only gone for 24 hours! Got home yesterday evening around 7 pm and the Maine Coon has not let us out of his sight yet. He scolds*, he lectures, he purrs, he demands hours of attention to atone for abandoning him, all alone, with the DS, whom he still refers to as "Little Pest" 14 months after LP joined the family.

The DS, while less intense than the Maine Coon, also makes it clear he does not approve of overnight absences.


*if you've never met a Maine Coon, you have no idea how talkative a cat can be!

I recently vacationed in Mexico and missed my Cavalier Angel terribly. :(
Luckily she stayed with a trustworthy neighbor who has 2 dogs of her own so at night when all 3 climbed into her bed she had her own "3 Dog Night". :)
Also I think as she gets older I want to spend more quality time with her.

As for your mother-in-law, IMHO the answer is that dogs give you unconditional love. I never met a mother-in-law that did. :p

Oh, how true :)

Oh, how true :)

I have a friend who used to go to Venice every Thanksgiving to escape her mother-in-law. :)

We hate leaving our pups too. The longest we've left them is for 3 weeks but they were able to stay with friends which makes me feel sooo much better. Did a couple of weekend trips and had a petsitter drop by and those weekends were more stressful.

Just think about how happy your animals will be to see you again--and really they don't hold grudges (for long...)

Seems to be as good a place as any to talk about this.

My wife and I are flying to the UK tomorrow for our holidays. We have just dropped off our two dogs at the mother in laws...where they will have the run of a large safe garden and will be well fed and cared for.....a process which we do every year.
However both my wife and I are feeling a bit guilty and the guilt seems to get worse each passing year at the thought of leaving them. In fact we both admitted to each other at being a bit sad about it all.
I'm a rough tough Scotsman or so I thought I was....I couldn't really care less about not seeing the mother in law for three weeks but the thought of not seeing the dogs. :eek:

Anyone else feel like this when leaving their pets behind?

Yes, and it does not get any easier each time. We actually drove 1600km to Sweden (and back) so that we could bring our dog with us as he loves the car. It is a bit strange to think that we flew the kids up but drove with the dog. Needless to say, it was a very quiet and pleasant trip!

I think you have managed to find a nice, safe place for them. Time does not equate for dogs the same as it does for us, and they seem to have forgiven you when you come back. If not, just bring them one of those pink sausages from BA and they should be happy enough;)!

I hate leaving my pups, but after seeing how upset they were when I picked them up early from doggy day care, I think they have a great time, and enjoy while we're gone. When I picked them up early, both of them were mad at me, like, "Mommy, we still had playtime. We want more playtime!"

Well we got back and lo and behold the mother in law had the dogs waiting for us at home.....we usually collect them the next day as it was 11pm.
They went mad as usual although not sure if that was because we were back or they suddenly realised they wouldn't be spending another night with the mother in law. :D

Happy to hear you are home and reunited with your beloved dogs. I do want to say leaving them behind, hard as it is, I think is best for your dogs. Sedating them, crating them and loading into the cargo hold seems like cruel and unusual punishment and far worse than the separation. JMHO

We are just back from two weeks in Provence and Nice, France. Our kids are grown, and I thought that made us empty nesters. our little 12 pound dog, back home is a huge magnet pulling us back to the nest. I thought at this point in our lives , we could live out our travel dreams. Mrs says she can't leave the dog that long ever again.
We are considering taking Gracie the Dog, next time. Perhaps three weeks or more next year. with no job to get back to, and the Dog with us, we could stay as long as we want.
I'm thinking if we make the trans Atlantic flight, from East Coast USA , to somewhere in France, without a "walk", we might just want to stay and get Europe out of our systems. but, what if Gracie needs to "go outside" over Greenland? she's usually good for 10 hours at night, when we are home.
she'll need to ride with us in her carry on bag. she has had lots of domestic flights.
I'm guessing France is as easy as any country in Europe to get her into. we might cross over to Italy, by car.
I've got enough FF miles in several programs to get us 2 business class tickets to Europe. ( Skymiles, Dividend Miles, BA, or AA ) Any suggestions on which might be the most in cabin dog friendly?
Any other suggestions?

When I recently traveled alone, I missed my cats more than my wife. But I know when flying, the stress on a cat or dog is probably more than staying with someone at home.

Happy to hear you are home and reunited with your beloved dogs. I do want to say leaving them behind, hard as it is, I think is best for your dogs. Sedating them, crating them and loading into the cargo hold seems like cruel and unusual punishment and far worse than the separation. JMHO

I agree. Mr. Kipper was in a wedding over Halloween weekend, and we opted to board the kibblers from Friday until Sunday, so that we could enjoy the reception and stay at the hotel, rather than leaving early to be sure they had a chance to do their business. When we arrived to drop them off, we could barely keep them from jumping out of the car and pulling us over to get inside--they knew where they were, and couldn't wait! When we picked them up on Sunday, they were happy to see us, but after two days of all day playtime, when we got home, they both slept most of the day, and all night.

We have a 90-lb Rottie and flying with her isn't an option; I don't want to put her through the stress of the cage and cargo hold. We're currently using an outstanding petsitting business; we get the same sitter all the time, and she takes the Pup on all sorts of adventures like a walk over to the "trendy" neighborhood for Sunday brunch on a dog-friendly restaurant patio. I feel really comfortable leaving the Pup with the sitter, and the Pup doesn't really acknowledge that we've been away. She's happy to see us and bounces around when we walk in the door, but TBH she does that when we come home from the grocery store too. The downside is it's a very expensive service, but I guess you get what you pay for.

We used to have a trade with another couple: we'd take their Bull Mastiff when they went out of town, and they'd take our Rottie when we went out of town. The two dogs got along great, and size-wise it was a fair trade. But they moved out of town and we've yet to find any other pet care traders locally.

We used to have a trade with another couple: we'd take their Bull Mastiff when they went out of town, and they'd take our Rottie when we went out of town. The two dogs got along great, and size-wise it was a fair trade. But they moved out of town and we've yet to find any other pet care traders locally.

That's a great idea.

When I moved to the UK for a year on a sabbatical, I realized it didn't make sense to take Kitty Canuck with me, since she'd have to spend half the year in quarantine. Luckily, I managed to rent my apartment in Toronto with the cat in it to a young woman who needed an apartment for a year and missed her pet at home. Kitty was well taken care of. In the UK, I really missed having a pet. The traders I worked with suggested that I should "go long on a cat with a put option". :)

Actually, what I managed to do was a find a Canadian colleague who travelled frequently; he and his wife were pleased to find someone who would take care of their cat, over Christmas etc.

Yes, I feel bad for the cats because they don't know when I'm coming back. They might think I'm never coming back. I feel guilty going for even 1 week or 2 weeks. Even less than a week.

Yes, I feel bad for the cats because they don't know when I'm coming back. They might think I'm never coming back. I feel guilty going for even 1 week or 2 weeks. Even less than a week.

I was told once by a vet that it makes no difference to your pet whether you leave them for one day or one month as they have no comprehension of time. I can understand that but only if you leave them in their normal environment. I imagine if you leave them somewhere strange like a kennels or cattery it might be different.

I left my little Pekingese when I spent a week in Paris & that was tough seeing all the little dogs there.

This past year, I left her again for 5 months to take a cruise gig and that was absolutely brutal. I called every Saturday & my dog would lick the phone when she heard my voice.

I've since taken her on two road trips (once to Asheville & the one big trip to SC & DC). She's really good in the car, just sleeps until we pull off the interstate.

On March 7th I sent my two little dogs on a Continental Cargo “Pet Safe” trip from San Francisco to Lima, Peru. I paid over $550 to send my dogs there where my brother was going to pick them up at the Lima Airport.They arrived at the Lima Airport at approximately 10:30 PM as planned. However, for reasons that are still unclear to us they were kept in their kennels in the cargo area for the next 3 hours. My brother was there, begging them to give him the dogs.At that point, they turned the dogs over to Peruvian customs and again they just sat. All of their paperwork was in order but no one would turn the dogs over. They were just sitting there in the cargo area in their travel kennels all night. They kept telling my brother that it was their shift change and that they were waiting for someone who works in the daytime to deal with it.At about 10:00 AM they finally agreed to turn the dogs over to my brother. He took the kennels and realized that our French Bulldog was in extreme distress. He immediately saw that she was showing signs of heat stroke. He took a taxi to a nearby veterinarian’s office but within minutes of arriving, she passed away. .We called Continental Cargo with an hour.They would not give me the number for their contacts in Lima. They would not call there for me to find out what happened. They agreed to “investigate” and call me back. They never called back. Nowhere in the transactions did anyone tell us that there would be such enormous problems in Lima. We assumed it would be quick and easy to pick them up.Upon attempting to return with our one surviving dog, Continental Cargo would not even talk to us in Lima. They have a policy there that transactions must go through a third party broker so there is no accountability or specific information. They tried to charge us over $560 to return him to the US plus $300 for the broker! And they required us to leave him at the airport in his crate at 10:00 AM for a flight that leaves at 11:00 PM. There was no flexibility. They seriously required him to be in the crate for 11 hours BEFORE beginning a nine-hour flight. No one could provide any reason for this either.We called Continental Cargo in the US from Lima to try to get some help after all that had happened. They wanted nothing to do with us and suggested that we find another airline to get our dog home. We ended up having to buy a $1,330 ticket on American Airlines to get him home.Continental's “Pet Safe” service is a complete falsehood. There was nothing-pet friendly or safe outside of the US. If they can’t provide their service, they should not do flights to Peru. Nothing about how the Peruvian Customs Service handled them was safe, and Continental can blame the Peruvian systems for our loss but they can’t be trusted to take other peoples’ pets into that environment. She was not just my pet she was my baby too, now after one month we are still grieving for her loss.

On March 7th I sent my two little dogs on a Continental Cargo “Pet Safe” trip from San Francisco to Lima, Peru. I paid over $550 to send my dogs there where my brother was going to pick them up at the Lima Airport.They arrived at the Lima Airport at approximately 10:30 PM as planned. However, for reasons that are still unclear to us they were kept in their kennels in the cargo area for the next 3 hours. My brother was there, begging them to give him the dogs.At that point, they turned the dogs over to Peruvian customs and again they just sat. All of their paperwork was in order but no one would turn the dogs over. They were just sitting there in the cargo area in their travel kennels all night. They kept telling my brother that it was their shift change and that they were waiting for someone who works in the daytime to deal with it.At about 10:00 AM they finally agreed to turn the dogs over to my brother. He took the kennels and realized that our French Bulldog was in extreme distress. He immediately saw that she was showing signs of heat stroke. He took a taxi to a nearby veterinarian’s office but within minutes of arriving, she passed away. .We called Continental Cargo with an hour.They would not give me the number for their contacts in Lima. They would not call there for me to find out what happened. They agreed to “investigate” and call me back. They never called back. Nowhere in the transactions did anyone tell us that there would be such enormous problems in Lima. We assumed it would be quick and easy to pick them up.Upon attempting to return with our one surviving dog, Continental Cargo would not even talk to us in Lima. They have a policy there that transactions must go through a third party broker so there is no accountability or specific information. They tried to charge us over $560 to return him to the US plus $300 for the broker! And they required us to leave him at the airport in his crate at 10:00 AM for a flight that leaves at 11:00 PM. There was no flexibility. They seriously required him to be in the crate for 11 hours BEFORE beginning a nine-hour flight. No one could provide any reason for this either.We called Continental Cargo in the US from Lima to try to get some help after all that had happened. They wanted nothing to do with us and suggested that we find another airline to get our dog home. We ended up having to buy a $1,330 ticket on American Airlines to get him home.Continental's “Pet Safe” service is a complete falsehood. There was nothing-pet friendly or safe outside of the US. If they can’t provide their service, they should not do flights to Peru. Nothing about how the Peruvian Customs Service handled them was safe, and Continental can blame the Peruvian systems for our loss but they can’t be trusted to take other peoples’ pets into that environment. She was not just my pet she was my baby too, now after one month we are still grieving for her loss.

I'm sorry for your loss! Stories like this are why I won't fly my two. If we can't drive them there, they don't go.

On March 7th I sent my two little dogs on a Continental Cargo “Pet Safe” trip from San Francisco to Lima, Peru. I paid over $550 to send my dogs there where my brother was going to pick them up at the Lima Airport.They arrived at the Lima Airport at approximately 10:30 PM as planned. However, for reasons that are still unclear to us they were kept in their kennels in the cargo area for the next 3 hours. My brother was there, begging them to give him the dogs.At that point, they turned the dogs over to Peruvian customs and again they just sat. All of their paperwork was in order but no one would turn the dogs over. They were just sitting there in the cargo area in their travel kennels all night. They kept telling my brother that it was their shift change and that they were waiting for someone who works in the daytime to deal with it.At about 10:00 AM they finally agreed to turn the dogs over to my brother. He took the kennels and realized that our French Bulldog was in extreme distress. He immediately saw that she was showing signs of heat stroke. He took a taxi to a nearby veterinarian’s office but within minutes of arriving, she passed away. .We called Continental Cargo with an hour.They would not give me the number for their contacts in Lima. They would not call there for me to find out what happened. They agreed to “investigate” and call me back. They never called back. Nowhere in the transactions did anyone tell us that there would be such enormous problems in Lima. We assumed it would be quick and easy to pick them up.Upon attempting to return with our one surviving dog, Continental Cargo would not even talk to us in Lima. They have a policy there that transactions must go through a third party broker so there is no accountability or specific information. They tried to charge us over $560 to return him to the US plus $300 for the broker! And they required us to leave him at the airport in his crate at 10:00 AM for a flight that leaves at 11:00 PM. There was no flexibility. They seriously required him to be in the crate for 11 hours BEFORE beginning a nine-hour flight. No one could provide any reason for this either.We called Continental Cargo in the US from Lima to try to get some help after all that had happened. They wanted nothing to do with us and suggested that we find another airline to get our dog home. We ended up having to buy a $1,330 ticket on American Airlines to get him home.Continental's “Pet Safe” service is a complete falsehood. There was nothing-pet friendly or safe outside of the US. If they can’t provide their service, they should not do flights to Peru. Nothing about how the Peruvian Customs Service handled them was safe, and Continental can blame the Peruvian systems for our loss but they can’t be trusted to take other peoples’ pets into that environment. She was not just my pet she was my baby too, now after one month we are still grieving for her loss.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I hope you're able to find some peace...and resolution with Continental.

I just read that Delta will no longer accept bulldogs as cargo (http://consumerist.com/2011/04/delta-bans-bulldogs-after-increase-in-dog-deaths.html) because of higher death rates.