Flying to pick up my puppy

• Pet-Friendly Hotels

  For Greenville, SC

  If you’re planning on spending a night in Greenville, here are some great pet-friendly hotel options! GSP airport hotels are also listed.

  www.visitgreenvillesc.com/places-to-stay/pet-friendly/

  For Bernville, PA

  You may decide to break up your trip with a stop over in Bernville. Check out these pet-friendly options!

  www.bringfido.com/lodging/city/bernville-pa-us/

• Travel Insurance/Choosing an Airline

  If you choose to pick up your puppy and will need to make airline and/or hotel arrangements, please be sure to also purchase travel insurance. Your puppy’s pick up date is subject to your pup passing his/her final vet check. Although it’s extremely rare, sometimes your Adoption Day may need to be adjusted to the vet’s recommendations. We will notify you ASAP if your Adoption Day changes so you can update your flight/hotel arrangements. We’re not able to reimburse you for those costs, so we strongly recommend you purchase travel insurance for your protection.

  Please do your research before you book with an airline.  You’ll want to make sure that your puppy is allowed to travel at 8 weeks of age. Some airlines require 10 weeks of age for domestic travel.

  Typically, our puppies go home with their forever families on the weekend after they turn 8-12 weeks of age. Before you book your flights, please double-check that your puppy is old enough to fly! (For example, you may decide to fly out on a Friday, yet your puppy may only turn 8 weeks on the Saturday.)

  Secondly, some airlines require that the puppies are able to stand up naturally within their carrier.  This will work fine only if your puppy is a Cockapoo, Cavapoo or mini —a puppy that will be no more than 20 pounds fully-grown.

  For airlines that do not require a puppy to stand up in the carrier, always double-check the weight restriction permitted in a carrier. For example, most airlines will permit a puppy to board that is 20 pounds (weight including the carrier).

• Documentation

  Some airlines require USDA documentation/approval and also a document that states the puppy’s date of birth vaccinations.

  Your puppy will be vet checked and will have had all its necessary worming medications and vaccinations due up until they’re 8 weeks old. We will have a vaccination record for you that you can give to your vet at your puppy’s first appointment.

  In light of our Health Guarantee, we recommend that our adoptive families set up a vet appointment with their vet in the first week, just for their vet to look everything over, and schedule the pup for their final vaccinations. Most vets like a 10 week and 14 week vaccination; many even do a 16 week vaccination.

• Local Airports

  For Greenville, SC

  1. GSP (Greenville-Spartanburg, SC)- no more than 30 minutes from a pick-up location.

  2. CLT (Charlotte, NC) – 1hr and 50minutes from a pick-up location.

  3. ATL (Atlanta, GA) – 2hrs and 50 minutes from a pick-up location.

  For Bernville, PA

  1. MDT – (Harrisburg Intl’ Airport) – 1hr from Bernville, PA

  2. PHL – (Philadelphia Intl’ Airport) – 1hr, 30 minutes from Bernville, PA

• Choosing a Carrier

  Check out our Puppy Shopping List where Nathan has selected his preferred puppy items. You may find it useful as it serves as a checklist of sorts as you prepare to bring your puppy home! You’ll find helpful descriptions beside each travel item as you decide what you might need. www.crockettdoodles.com/shopping-list/

  To figure out the right carrier size for your puppy, here is a little formula:  take your puppy’s projected full-grown weight from the puppy announcement and divide that number by 4.  That is an approximate weight of your puppy at 8 weeks of age.

  For example, if your puppy’s projected weight is 8-20 pounds fully grown, take 8 and divide it by 4 = 2 pounds.  You can approximate that your puppy is in the 2-4 pounds weight range.

• Feeding While Traveling

  If you are flying back home the next day after picking up your puppy, you will need to be really careful about limiting the amount of food your puppy eats before your trip.  If puppies have too much food in their tummies during travel, they can can become nauseous.  Very small breeds need to eat regularly to help regulate their blood sugar, but small quantities are better than too much.

  For water, you can give your puppy something to drink no more than two hours before the flight.  Give your puppy a chance to go potty before flying!

  If your flight time will be lengthy (flying internationally or across the country) you could ask a flight attendant for an ice cube or two to offer your puppy mid-flight!  That should prevent any possible dehydration.

  Your puppy should be able to “hold it” for about 4 hours.  So if your flight time is longer than that, you may want to have a little puppy pee pad in the carrier.  Then again, he/she may decide to hold it for the whole flight if he can manage it!  (Dogs are den animals and do not like to soil their little den).

• Finalizing Payment on Adoption Day

  In regards to the payment of the final balance, we typically don’t offer PayPal because it is a little hard for us to keep track of regarding puppy balances and also because of the fees involved.  Cash or certified check is our preference for the pick-up.

  Certified checks may be made payable to Crockett Doodles.

• Packing for the Trip

  A traveling water container could be a good idea for a journey that includes a lengthy layover or simply just to offer your puppy when you have arrived at your final destination.

  You can never go wrong with having a few paper towels handy!  

  A little toy in the carrier might help to entertain your puppy on the flight.

• Public Places

  It is very easy for your puppy to contract a parasite on your way home.  Please use great caution as you maneuver through public places during your travel.  Be very wary of places that unvaccinated dogs may have been. You can never be too careful at this stage of your puppy’s life.

  Ask your vet about when your puppy is ready and it is safe to frequent public places such as a dog park, public walking tracks, etc.  Typically, your puppy will be ready to frequent public places when all rounds of vaccinations have been completed – usually at 16 weeks of age.

• Flying In and Out on One Day!

  Some of our families chose to fly in and out on the same day!  Usually this works really well as it can save on hotel costs and busy schedules!

  During the summer months and middle of winter, this can be a precarious plan!  From a staff member’s experience from working in the airline industry, it is more common than not to experience delays due to weather during the middle of summer and middle of winter due to the extreme temperatures possible those times of year.  We would recommend that you allow for delays as you plan out your itinerary!

  Leaving too short of a window between your arriving flight and your return flight can lead to unnecessary stress on a very happy day.

  As you can, we would usually recommend choosing to stay in a local hotel overnight.

  If flying in and out on the same day is definitely a better option for you, we would recommend to always allow for a generous window of time!