Aug 11

Aug 11 Have Corgi, Will Travel

I swore I’d never fly with my dog again. Not that anything traumatic happened the first time, it’s just additional stress layered on to the already stressful process of traveling. My new motto? Never say never.

Last week, Pokey and I flew to Kansas City to visit my family—and to be honest, it went a lot better than expected! We had flown with Pokey when he was a BABY headed back to Phoenix, but I had no idea how he was going to do as an adult with a developed personality. He handled the Denver Airport, which included the longest TSA Pre Check line I’ve ever seen, the tram with three stops, and the busy terminal C with grace (and lots of pets from his adoring fans aka strangers).

We ended up flying out a day later due to a cancelled flight, but here are some tips to traveling with your dog! If you have a rat, you may as well enjoy the convenience of their portability.

First Things First: Arrange for Travel

Call your airline and add your pet to your reservation. Get the carry-on pet carrier size specs and make sure you provide all the documentation you need. Southwest Airlines is our preferred airline, and they’ve been great the times we’ve flown with Pokey. You can find Southwest Airline’s Pet Policy here.

Once you have the carrier specs, order a carrier. We decided going with a Large SturdiBag based on the positive Amazon reviews! While Pokey didn’t/doesn’t love being in a bag, we tried getting him used to it as early as possible by feeding him his favorite treats in there and practicing the amounts of time he was in there.

Packing!

I packed Pokey’s food into ziplocks, and a little extra in case we were stuck. Luckily KC has plenty of dog supplies stores but I was being careful. I also included a few toys, bones etc, in my backpack in case we needed some “entertainment” on the plane. I also brought his portable water dish so he could have a sip of water before flying.

Day of Travel

Make sure you have everything packed and ready to go!

A tired dog is a good dog. Since our rescheduled flight was earlier in the day, Pokey and I got up in the early hours to eat, and take a long walk before driving to the city to the airport.

I gave myself plenty of time to get to the airport. The check-in line was a little long, so I’m glad we had that extra time to check in, and then run back outside for one last potty break before going through security. Note: DIA actually has a pet relief room in every terminal, Pokey just wasn’t interested.

After getting through security, Pokey and I hopped on the tram and headed to our terminal, stopped to get a smoothie, and then settled in to wait for our plane.

Take off!

When it’s time to board, it’s time to load your dog into the carrier. Throw a new toy or bone in the carrier to keep your dog occupied and board the plane. Lucky for us, both times none of my seat mates noticed I had a dog! The trip to Kansas City from Denver isn’t too long so it was a stress-free experience, Pokey slept both ways and didn’t make a peep.

Traveling with Pokey wasn’t as much of a nightmare as I thought. He was so calm and well-behaved and completely exceeded my expectations. Who knows, if he doesn’t get any bigger we may have to go elsewhere!