Thinking about flying with your dog? Be aware of the rules. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has some pretty strict regulations when it comes to traveling with animals. The good news is that they’re all designed to protect your pet! If your dog is not small enough for you to carry on board, the following dog air travel tips will ensure the safety of your dog in flight, and help you comply with federal regulations at the same time.

1. Get the rules and requirements of a number of different airlines before deciding which one to use. You should expect to pay an extra fee, but you should make sure that you can abide by an airline’s regulations regardless.
2. Try to book a direct flight. This will decrease the time it takes to get to your destination – thereby enabling you to remove your dog from a plane as soon as possible.
3. Get a bill of clean health and a travel certificate from your dog’s vet. Since this certification lasts only 10 days, you’ll need to ask your chosen airline if another one is required for a trip that lasts longer than that.
4. Take the dog to an appropriate “potty” place at the airport and place it into a dog air travel crate approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The crate must accommodate your dog’s standing height, and turning width. And it should display “Live Animal” stickers on each side. Also mark which way is up on all sides of the crate with an arrow and the words, “This Way Is Up” as well so workers don’t mishandle your dog.
5. To prevent loss or rectify a mis-delivery, write your destination and cell phone number on your dog’s crate too. Attaching a recent photo of the dog could help locate it in the event that your dog escapes from its crate. (Which is highly unlikely, by the way).
6. Place familiar items into the dog’s crate to keep him calm. A soft blanket would be nice, and so would a few extra absorbent towels (to soak up accidents). Be sure that the dog’s toys are the softest ones that he has. No toys with sharp or hard edges are allowed since they could injure him on a few bumps.
7. Give your dog access to water during the flight. The proper way to do this is with a bowl of frozen water. Frozen water won’t spill during movement, but it will melt enough to satisfy your dog’s thirst en course.
8. Secure a small bag of dog food on the front of the crate. If there’s a delay, a worker can feed your dog without you having to worry. Be sure that the crate labels the dog’s name so that the workers can coach her to eat by her name.
9. Keep the crate shut in a manner that’s too hard for the dog to open, but don’t secure it with a lock. In an emergency situation, no one will be able to free your locked dog except you – the person with the key. And in all probability, you won’t have immediate access to your dog in an emergency until after a very long time.
10. Don’t give your dog a tranquilizer or sedative. Sure he may be nervous, but your dog is in good company with a bunch of other nervous, crated animals. None of his accompanying passengers will get loose, making the environment a temporary ordeal that just doesn’t justify drugging.