International travels

[XTNa]

Hi there. As Christmas approaches, my partner and I will be traveling overseas with Atlas, and might visit a few different locations in the EU. So far, looking over the certificates of vaccination and acclimation, everything seems pretty straightforward, but I'm still really nervous about having Atlas fly (we are flying from NYC to Budapest, Hungary on a Delta nonstop flight (thank goodness for the nonstop!)). Anyone have experiences they can share about long flights, particularly overseas? Any absolutely necessary/sanity-saving "do"s and "don't"s to share?

Thanks, all.

 

[gmacleod]

You've picked a cold time of year for Budapest Daytime temps aren't likely to break freezing... Nice city - but it's going to be cold :D

Do either you or your partner speak Hungarian? It's the sort of thing that can come in quite handy when you're dealing with documentation, as you'll probably have to if you're bringing a dog.

As for the actual travelling - not that much to say really. A direct flight is a must, but there shouldn't be any particular hurdles to bringing a dog from the US to that part of Europe (in certain other countries there would be). There are requirements around crate sizes. The dog must have fresh water available during the flight, and must not be given any sort of sedative. It is probably worth checking as far as possible the airline's reputation in respect of pets. Unlike some parts of the world, conditions for carriage of animals in the US is not regulated - care standards are a voluntary guideline only.

 

[XTNa]

Budapest and speaking Hungarian: Yeah, it couldn't be helped. My partner is Hungarian, and we're going to see her family. It was in Budapest, actually, that I fell in love with the Boxer breed--her mom has been a lifelong Boxer fan, and when I met her dog, I loved that she was so smart and playful and easygoing, and I was delighted to learn that those are standard boxer traits. We weren't going to bring Atlas at first, but then we learned that she was quite excited to see her baby grandpuppy, so...we're flying the dog. :D

As I mentioned, the documentation looks pretty straightforward, and is bilingual. For the water, I'm going to get a licky-water-bottle thing to hang on the side of the crate that quite resembles the kind that hamsters use. :D As for the crate itself, I got one that follows the guidelines posted on the Delta site.

Thanks for your input, gmacleod. The "not that much to say" actually assuages some of my nervousness, since looking around, it seems that there a bunch of breeders who have used Delta to transport new pups, so it can't be that bad. Thanks again!