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Just a question if anyone has ideas of dog transport companies?. I have 2 shar-pei I am taking with me to move, but no way am I taking them on plane....Are there companies on the east Coast that deal with this? I know they have relocation co's. for transporting your car, etc...My two pups are very skittish and I cant drive long distance anyway w. them in car.
I recall this question being posed a while back, it may have been in the pet forum, the folks over there may be able to give more specific help. We always drive with ours, but they love the car and travel well, frankly I would worry too much if they were with anyone else.
There are many paid transport companies. Yes, make sure they are bonded and insured. Then check into the vehicles they use for the transport - the ENTIRE transport. There's one here locally that was highly recommended. I booked the transport but when I got to the drop off point I was told the dogs are in crates over night in a barn in the winter and then loaded from the back to a horse trailer where they spend the transport. If the dogs are friendly - and some dogs that are usually friendly will be terrified of this situation and can be fear biters - they'll be walked. The others are stuck in those crates, some as long as 10 to 14 hours. So dogs get to their destination either ready to explode or covered in their own waste and either way terrified.
Find out how many transports they've done and get references. Ask what their policy is on checking on your dogs and making sure they're not exposed to temp extremes. What is their policy on emergency medical care for a dog that has an emergency during transport? Because of what I went through I wouldn't recommend the company I used. Instead, I'd suggest contacting some local rescues and see if they use transport drivers. If so, ask if you can offer to donate $20 to each leg of the trip for fuel if they'll transport for you. If you're moving to an area that they commonly transport to / from, they can combine a dog or two of their own and cover the expenses, which benefits you both.
ETA: If you're going less than 12 hours, I'd highly recommend you crate them and take them with you. You think they're nervous when you're with them? Put them in a car with a complete stranger and you no place to be found. They'll REALLY panic. Also, anytime you put a dog on a transport, there's ALWAYS a chance of a flight risk for them. I'd rather take mine with me than entrust them to strangers. I've traveled with three rotties and two rat terriers and six cats, along with our five teens. It was stressful, but I knew the animals were safe.
I never used a dog transport service but did check a few out when I was adopting Chaos as she was in the high kill shlelter in Texas and I am in California.One looked very good but it would have cost over $3000.00!And she was a small puppy not a large dog . Despite my being very nervous about flying a dog as checked baggage, I decided to save money and do that and I flew to Texas spent the night, had lunch with the friend that pulled her for me, picked up the pup and caught an evening flight home and it all went great.
Personally, I’m allergic to almost anything with DNA (including goldfish) so I'm probably not the best to person to give advice about pets. As an operations professional in the moving industry, however, I've referred hundreds of pets owners to a company in Austin, Texas, called Pet Relocation, LLC.
The couple that operates it knows a just about as much about movin' pets as I know about movin' their owners. Their website is PetRelocation.com. They also operate a social networking community for anxious pet owners faced with unusual relocation circumstances at My Pet Move.
Personally, I’m allergic to almost anything with DNA (including goldfish) so I'm probably not the best to person to give advice about pets. As an operations professional in the moving industry, however, I've referred hundreds of pets owners to a company in Austin, Texas, called Pet Relocation, LLC.
The couple that operates it knows a just about as much about movin' pets as I know about movin' their owners. Their website is PetRelocation.com. They also operate a social networking community for anxious pet owners faced with unusual relocation circumstances at My Pet Move.
Don't underestimate your value in this discussion. You provided a source that perhaps people reading your post can use in the future. I've got bookmarked now. Your connection is very valuable, and I thank you for posting it.
When using a pet transport service, make sure you have fully checked them out top to bottom. Many of these companies are simply brokers who book your pet on commerical transport from trains to trucks and even airlines all the while not disclosing to you the method of actual transportation.
As for traveling by air, pet transport on air carriers are actually safer than over the road. For one thing, airlines are required to report to the USDOT any injury. lost or fatality with pets in airline transit. Over the road operations have no such reporting requirment. As a result airline incidents make the news but pets killed, injured or lost in over the road commercial transport vanishes into thin air. It is estimated on best available data that for every 1 pet that died, got injured or was lost while in air travel, there is probably a dozen or more incident in over the road commerical pet transport.
Out of curiosity, how far are you moving? Is there any chance you'd change your mind and take them yourself? Put a good size crate in the back, get some Ace from your vet for them for the trip if they're nervous; they'll sleep the whole time. Seriously, it sounds overwhelming but it's really not bad, especially if they're crated and sedated. I just have a hard time trusting my pets to anyone else, especially a stranger. Very few people have transported for me.
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