If You’re thinking about traveling with your dog, there are a few things we need to know. What I learned from flying with my German Shepherds.
German Shepherd Traveling Tips:
In today’s article, I’d like to share some important lessons with you about traveling.
Traveling with your German Shepherd. Some people travel by car or Motorhomes, and others like to travel by flying commercial airlines.
Can you take a German Shepherd on a plane? Yes, If your dog is a licensed service dog, he or she can fly on the plane with you and is required to lay down beside on the floor. You must have your dog’s health certificate, badges, and ID tags on your dog’s and on you, when comes to checking in and throughout the flight and everywhere you go.
This is required by law. Here is a fantastic article you can read on service dog flying.
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Service dogs training tips,
A Licensed dog trainer and instructor. These service dog trainers are professional dog trainers that specialize in service dog training. Service dogs are required to pass a certification test. These dog trainers spend a lot of time training these dogs to go on and off planes, and how to act around the airport doing obedience training. There are many challenges that service dogs face once they are placed in the owner’s hands.
Important note: Each airline has its own privacy policy. Be sure to check with them when calling to book your flight.
If your dog is not a licensed service dog, then they will be required to fly in cargo. Small dogs can fly on a plane with you but are required to be in a small pet carrier and it needs to fit under the seat.
What I learned from my experiences:
My experience with United Airlines, the first trip I flew to Northern California and it was over a 6-hour flight. Because my dog was not a service dog, my dog was required to fly in cargo.
It was okay and everybody that worked for the airlines was so dog-friendly. That made me super happy because I was a little worried about my dog.
My second time flying with my German Shepherd. I use Southwest Airlines. I flew to Las Vegas Nevada. I will tell you everyone from the pilots, from the airline stewardess in clerks baggage men woman are super friendly. I would recommend flying with both airlines.
I’m sure there are other airlines that are dog-friendly, I know a few people that have flown before with their pets and had a great experience with other Airlines too.
I have never heard of any airlines that were not dog-friendly.
If you plan on flying with your dog in cargo. from my experience, you want to give your dog a light feeding, and water in the morning or evening that you chose to fly with them. It will be a lot easier for your dogs to fly with light feeding rather than flying on an empty stomach or flying on a full stomach. Just my experience.
I fed and water my dogs four hours before leaving on my trip. I wanted to give them plenty of time to rest this stomach, and have time to relieve themselves. I gave them a light drink of water when I got to the airport. This would hold them over until we landed.
I’m sure if you flew quite a bit or just once or twice, maybe you had a smooth flight or maybe you had a rough one. I’ve experienced both when flying with my dogs.
Warning: When it comes to flying commercial airlines. There’s always a risk involved, not just for our dogs but for us too.
Learn more about the airline privacy policy for flying with pets. Read more Requirements for pet owners:
Flying In Cargo:
I’m not sure if you know this or not; flying time with a dog flying in cargo. Because my dog was flying cargo the Airlines require me to fly early morning or late evening, because temperature and climate- control-changes in each state and they want you to fly a dog in cargo when it’s nice and cool out.
This is an important question you want to ask when calling any airline. These are the laws because it is too hot for the dogs to fly in cargo in the midday, depending on the time of the year that you are flying. I’m sure you heard of the horror stories of losing pets from flying when it was too hot.
The one thing that worried me about flying with my dogs, I know how dogs can react when they are stressed out. To be honest, I was more worried about my dog getting stressed out when flying cargo because I never flew with my dogs before. But it work-out well and my dog did great.
Something to think about before flying with older dogs; It’s not a good idea to fly with an older dog, especially if they have to fly in cargo. I just think it’s too much stress to put on older dogs that are older than eight years of age. It’s just my personal feelings.
Now it’s been over 15 years ago since I have flown with my dogs. Things are getting updates all the time, so make sure you check with the airlines for any unanswered questions you may have.
Warning: I’m not a licensed veterinarian or claiming to be one, I’m just sharing some knowledge that I have experience with you. It’s a good idea to check with a licensed Veterinarian to hear what they have to say or would recommend.
If you’re flying with a nervous dog. I recommend you talk to your vet first. They may want to prescribe a prescription for your dog, so they will relax and be a better experience for the dog. You want your dog calm when flying in cargo. Remember service dogs go through hours of training preparing for this, and they have been bread with certain bloodlines that can handle this type of training.
What is the cost of flying with a dog?
Most Airlines will charge $100 to fly with a small dog. But for me because, I had an adult German Shepherd, and it was required to fly in cargo. I was charged for the weight of my dog and the Size of my dog crate. At that time I was charged a service fee of 150.00 dollars for each way. I have not flown with my dog for a long time now, so things may have changed some.
If you’re flying to pick up a young puppy from a German Shepherd Breeder. The requirements are puppy needs to be in a small pet carrier that will fit underneath your seat. You must have all the health certificates and paperwork is required for small and young dogs too. These arrangements are made ahead of time by the breeder.
Read more on requirements for flying:
From my experience, the Petmate crate is the best. You are not allowed to use a wire crate to fly on a plane with your dog. German Shepherds or other big dog breeds need to be airline approved. I used a larger size Petmate Airline crate. It comes in all sizes small medium and larges. (Affiliate Link) Learn More Here!
If you are planning on staying in any hotels:
Hotel requirements: for service dogs:
You must have all your paperwork for your service dog license and tags, and service dog vest, id Badge on the service dog vest with your service dog ID badge. This is what is required by law. You can learn more information on service dog requirements with the ADA. Read the government laws for service dogs.
Hotel requirements: for pet dogs:
Because your dog is not a licensed service dog all hotels required by law when your dog is out of the crate you have to be in the room with them. If you leave the hotel room at any time without your dog, your dog needs to be in its crate. We as dog owners are responsible for damages that are dog makes like chews up any furniture or carpet in the hotel room. 
I recommend you just follow the rules if you don’t want any additional expenses that you were not prepared for. It could get expensive if our dogs destroy the room or chew up anything else in the room. (Affiliate Link) The Petmate dog crate is the only one I use. It’s a good strong dog kennel for traveling.
When traveling for long distances trips in a vehicle:
How often should you stop to water and let him go potty?
When I travel long-distance trips with my German Shepherds, I would always stop every 3 to 4 hours tops, to let my dogs go potty and stretch their legs and give them water. If I knew I was not going to be stopping at a rest area anytime soon. I always made sure I gave my dogs time to go potty and stretch their legs while stopping for gas.
Dog Training Tips for vehicle training, there’s a lot of people that struggle with vehicle training with the German Shepherds. I thought it would be a great idea to put a video together to help you.
German Shepherd Car Travel:
When it comes to traveling in my car, or truck. I always keep my dog in a crate. This is for safety reasons. (Affiliate Link) Other people chose to use dog seat belts or dog harnesses. Whatever you decide to do with your dog when traveling, just keep it safe for your dog in yourself.
Whether you’re a new dog owner or an experienced dog owner. I think you’ll agree we need to travel by making our pet safety, the number one priority.
How I train all my German Shepherds: In this training video, you will see how I trained all my German Shepherds to go in out of the vehicle. I’m demonstrating with a 15-month-old German Shepherd named Max. Before shooting this video, I have practice two training exercises with Max. This will be his third training lesson in 7 days.
Note: All training collars come off the dog when he’s in the crate while I’m driving. or any other time my dogs are in their crates. I recommend that you do the same.
Final thoughts:
I hope after reading this article you found it helpful. We all love our pets and there’s going to be times that we want to take them places with us. I take my German Shepherds everywhere I can when I’m traveling. I love taking my dogs fishing and hiking. Now I love to hear from you in the comments below.
What was the one benefit you got from reading this article? Please share it with me, and I wish you the best of luck when you decide to travel with your GSD dog.