Dear PetRelocation,
I have a healthy 2-year-old puppy. This is the first time we are traveling a long distance with a pet and I have found out all the requirements to move to South Africa.
My question is whether I will be risking his life with air travel. I have to decide whether it's going to be too traumatic for him versus finding him a new home. He is a Japanese Chin/Shih Tzu.
Thanks,
Debbie
Hi Debbie,
Thanks for your question! It's understandable that you're feeling nervous about pet air travel (many people do), and we are happy to discuss how you can go about planning a safe relocation to South Africa with your dog and avoid having to re-home him.
First, arranging safe international pet travel is all about making the right choices and being well-prepared. The most important thing you need to do is help your dog to become acclimated to his travel crate, as this eliminates a huge amount of stress for him during the flight. Pets should see their kennel as a safe and comforting place to be, so start working on crate training as soon as you can (if he isn't already trained).
Another important part of the process is choosing a pet friendly airline. A carrier with pet safe policies will provide a better experience, and it's worth doing the research to seek one out. Please take a look at these essential pet travel tips for more information about this.
Just as with human travel, there is always some amount of risk involved with pet travel. Research and planning can help address possible problems, however, and it's crucial to know that you do have some control over your dog's journey. To dive deeper into these ideas, please take a look at these tips for minimizing the risks of pet travel as well as this overview of pet travel safety statistics. Hopefully taking a look at the data (which shows pet travel is overall pretty safe) will help to ease your mind.
Finally, take a look at a few pet travel stories from pet owners who have completed safe journeys. Their accounts and photos will illustrate that it truly is possible to travel safely with a pet.
Hope this helps, Debbie! Please contact us for a pet travel consultation if you'd like further assistance, and good luck with everything.
Pet Travel Question Details:
Name: Debbie
Number of Pets: 1
Pet Type: Dog
Pet Breed: Japanese Chin/Shiu tzu
From: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
To: South Africa