Mahalo!

I am so happy to hear from readers, and especially glad to know that I can provide information to help you bring your pets here happily and safely! You've motivated me to stay home and write a post instead of going to the beach
:-) Doggie health update - no more fleas. hooray. Weather is hot, Tasha got a haircut. Here's a pic of her with a lot less hair, she seems comfy.


Now I'd like to answer some questions here so all readers can benefit from the answers. One friendly reader wanted to know what I taped and attached to the kennel. You might laugh when you see it, but here it is:




Looking inside, you will see that it's carpeted. The light blue around the edges is a puppy training pad. on top is half of an area/bath rug from Costco. The other half is in the other crate. Then I slept in a T shirt for a week without washing it, so it smelled like mommy, and we put it in the crate for something familiar and comforting. And the rope bone is her favorite toy. For the outside:

• I bought zip ties and fastened them through all the holes to make sure the crate would not come apart. The last thing you want is an escaped dog running around an airport runway. Some (maybe all) airlines require you to zip tie the door shut at check-in. That scared me - I would want airline personnel to let them out in case of emergency - so I included scissors in the envelope taped to the back. And extra zip ties, so we could get in and out of the crate during the layover.



• I bought yellow duct tape so I could write information on it. I used a sharpie permanent marker to write the dog's name over the door, our cell phone numbers, our addresses, microchip numbers, flight numbers and airlines and flight times, etc.



• I taped a photo of the dog on top of the crate, with a sign, "Hi, my name is Tasha, I am very sweet and friendly I should be on flight (#) on (date) at (time), being transferred to flight (#) on (airline) at (time). I don't recall exactly, but I think I detailed that she needed to be taken to baggage claim after the first flight and highlighted it.



• Because Danzig has severe separation anxiety, I also taped a photo of both dogs on top of the crate and wrote a sign asking them to "Please keep us together so we can see each other." Those requests are highlighted. I taped all the signs down with clear packing tape. On Danzig's crate I included a note that he is very shy and might growl but not to be afraid of him, he's just scared.



• I used those clear FedEx shipping label holders to include copies of their documents (vet health certificate, quarantine paperwork). I also put the dogs' photographs and signs inside these plastic holders before taping them down in case I needed to edit them before the trip. Everything taped down with clear packing tape. The way baggage is handled, you want everything taped down solid.



• I taped a USPS Priority Mail envelope (made of Tyvek - tough stuff) to the back of the crate. Inside the envelope - waterbites gel (because you can't put gel in your carryon), extra food, extra zipties, scissors, extra duct tape, and those rope leashes you get at the vet for free, just in case. I used a bungee cord to help keep the envelope shut as well as duct tape.



• I placed "LIVE ANIMAL" labels all around the sides with "UP" arrows. The airline travel kit by Petmate comes with some of these labels and the water/food dishes that attach to the door. The labels also have a place for writing feeding/water instructions, which will be specific to your dog or cat. Northwest also provides such a label that you can print from their website.



• I used bike water bottles to hold extra water, after making sure whoever (airline employee) could easily remove the bottle and fit the nozzle through the door/cage holes and squeeze the bottle to dispense water into the dish (in case of a delay). Initially, I bought water dispensers for guinea pigs to attach to the inside of the door, but I couldn't get the dogs to drink and they were leaking so those went back to the store. I bungeed the water bottles to the crate. I also put a strip of duct tape over the bottles on the day of travel to secure them, and we were easily able to take them on and off during the layover to use them. If you don't have bike bottles, Arrowhead and Smartwater make bottled water with squeezy top dispensers.



• We had a special carryon bag just for the dogs. This contained their quarantine paperwork, leashes, treats, medications (TravelEase/ Happy Traveler) and cleaning supplies/poop bags. You don't want them having an accident in an airport without some way to clean it up immediately.



• I got those circular white metal rimmed paper tags - you see them most often used on keychains for identification - and made temporary tags with flight information to put on their collars. I read another suggestion to make collars out of white underwear elastic and write the flight info directly on the elastic to make sure there's no way it will get lost.

• I happened to have extra bungee cords so I used them to fasten the doors shut so they wouldn't swing open during the non-zip tied portions of the journey (overkill and probably not necessary).

Note: Check the airline's weight limits for your dog combined with the crate before adding too much flair!



I know, I went a little crazy on this project. I've seen other dogs traveling with absolutely nothing on their crate but the baggage tag. By the time they're checked in there will be so much more "flair" on the crate because the airline adds their own RED "UP" arrows and other various tags and labels and baggage stickers. So you may want to keep it simple to avoid too much information.
All the embellishments survived the flights. I already posted these pics before, but here they are again, showing the crates coming off the first airplane. Later I'll post pics of the layover, the pet relief area, the quarantine station, the moment we were reunited in HNL, etc.


Note the small cargo door size - a reason to check to see if your crate will fit.





Another question relates to how I "bribed" airline personnel. Well, I didn't really bribe them, and it probably wasn't necessary, but I wanted the pilots to know they were on board and to pay attention to the ventilation systems in cargo. They control the climate and air down there. I also wanted to make sure the flight attendants knew where we were sitting so they could give us the status updates (that the dogs have been boarded) so I wouldn't run screaming from the plane if there was a chance they were lost luggage. I prepared goodie bags with a really cute photo of the dogs. I included a note with the goodie bags (in this case, chocolates) that said the pictured dogs are flying with us today on (detailed flight information) and that we were sitting in (assigned seats) and to please make sure the appropriate ventilation systems/temperature controls were working properly and to let us know any information as it became available. I gave the treats to the pilots/flight attendants as we boarded each flight.

For the question about crate size - I also had the same idea that I wanted my dogs to be as comfortable as possible and be able to stretch out, so I wanted two 500 (extra large) crates for them. See my earlier post http://move2hawaii.blogspot.com/2008/11/some-things-you-might-want-to-start.html
With the airline restrictions, we had to get 400 size, and it turns out that was better. Your pet will want to feel secure and cozy. In the case of turbulence they won't be bounced around as much (remember no seatbelts for dogs). Tasha is the taller dog, and her ears touched the roof while standing, but we had no choice and it worked out being fine. Besides, these crates are a complete bear to lug around, especially two.
I think I already mentioned this, but if your pet hasn't been in a crate before, get one now and start getting them used to it. We even tried to associate them with happy times by loading them in the crates to go on adventurous hikes. We also held "treat time" inside the crates. This way, when it's time to fly, they will hopefully want to go in the crate.

For the question regarding the health certificate, there is an instruction sheet you can take to your vet to have the health certificate prepared. It is located at
http://hawaii.gov/hdoa/ai/aqs/AQS-39.pdf
I will go over more details in my future post about final preparations. If you go to http://hawaii.gov/hdoa/ai/aqs/aqs-checklist-5.pdf - under step 5, "Documents," it is the third check box requirement.
Whew, pau for today. Mahalo again for your questions and reading along.

Booking your flight(s)

If you've microchipped your pet and had the blood tested and are at the 120 day waiting period stage, it's time to look at flights. One of our anxieties was the long journey because we were not coming from a major hub airport. There was going to be a stopover no matter what. With the layover, your pet could be confined to their crate for 10 hours or more, and airline personnel aren't allowed to open their crates or walk them. You are allowed to write feeding/watering instructions on the crate, but we weren't comfortable with the idea of having them drink water during the trip but not be allowed out to go to the bathroom. A possible alternative is to drive with your pet(s) to an airport with nonstop flights to Hawaii. For example, drive to San Francisco or LAX so they can fly nonstop to Hawaii in only 5-6 hours. Another option is to separate the trip into two parts, stay overnight in the hub city so you can claim your pet from baggage claim, spend time comforting them and assuring them that you will be at the other end of the next plane ride, and ensure an early nonstop flight the next day that arrives relatively early.

Side Note: Make sure you book your flight so it arrives in Hawaii while the quarantine office is open! Otherwise your pet will have to stay overnight at the airport quarantine station.

We decided we wanted to do the whole trip in one day. In my research, every airline told me we would not be able to see our pets during the layover. I believed that only way we could see them was if we booked separate flights on separate airlines, claimed them at baggage claim, then rechecked our bags and dogs for the next flight. This is the way we were going to go. So then I went about researching which airport would be the best place to have a layover with dogs. I checked the temperatures of each airport, because during certain months of the year the airlines have temperature restrictions.

Side Note: Check the average temperatures for the airports around the date you will be traveling at the times you will be there. Check the airline's restrictions for pet travel. With some airlines, if it is too warm or too cold (either at the departure airport or where you will be arriving) they will not allow your pet to be checked in or to board. The crates might spend a long time sitting on the tarmac on a baggage cart outside, especially if there is any kind of delay.

I found that Portland International has a "pet relief area" near baggage claim. We'd never flown through Portland before, but it seemed to have the best chances for acceptable travel temperature (could be too cold in Denver, too hot at LAX) so we went with Portland. I will post some pictures from the layover in Portland.

I should mention the "secret loophole" that I discovered at the end of the flight booking process that saved us a lot of money and enabled us to spend the layover walking our dogs. In my various interrogations of airline personnel during the flight booking process, they were always adamant that we could not see our pets before they were transferred from one plane to the other, no matter how long the layover might be. I researched the different airlines and their track record with transporting pets. They have reports available for fatality rates and incident reports (I know, I went a little overboard). We also had some drinks with a Northwest pilot on our previous trip here at Kaneohe Yacht Club and he explained their entire pet program. They have climate controlled areas for pets and a special "Priority Pet" program. The flights on Northwest would be expensive, over $1000 each, and we couldn't see the dogs between flights. But after we zeroed in on Portland as the layover city, I looked into Alaska Airlines as the first leg of the flight. It turned out that Alaska was just starting to fly to Hawaii. Alaska flies into Portland on their own plane, then continues to Honolulu on an Alaska flight "operated by Northwest." By booking through Alaska, we got the exact same flight from PDX-HNL (which is the most important flight) for over $800 less.

The best part, was when the reservation agent said, "I'm sorry, but you'll have to claim your pets at baggage claim during the layover and re-check them with Northwest." WOO HOO!!!! This is because they are two separate airlines and they didn't want to transfer the dogs directly between planes. So we were going to get the benefits of the Northwest Priority Pet Program while paying for Alaska Airlines discounted airfare, plus we could spend the layover with the dogs. The downside was we had to pay airline pet travel fees to the separate airlines, so their tickets cost more than ours, but not by much.

Side Note: Check the size of the plane you are taking into the hub airport (i.e., not the one that flies over the ocean to Hawaii, but the potentially smaller other plane). Many of the planes flying into Portland have a cargo door too narrow to fit a large crate or only enough cargo space for one or two crates. For example, the plane we took only had room for one extra large crate or two large crates. Make sure you call and reserve the space for your crates when you book the flight!

We had our tickets purchased, and space for the pets reserved on the flights. Time to prepare for the trip!