Hello! I just realized there was a pets channel. I am looking for someone who has experience traveling with a dog (preferably large sized). Im considering going the route of service animal so he can come in the cabin with me, rather than cargo area.

no experience with dogs; but is it actually a service animal? To get it registered and recognised is not all that easy and rules still greatly vary between airlines. Ie it may be quite common in the US but not so much elsewhere in the world

He would be a service animal performing a task, so that wouldnt be an issue. Just havent needed it since he always stayed back home while I travel

then i varies greatly from airline to airline. Also this can often not be booked online and needs to go through the call center

Not sure what you mean by “service animal” but if it’s emotional support most countries don’t allow that (as far as I know only US and maybe Mexico). I took two dogs in cargo in over 25 flights and 4 different continents if you need any help

vponcvypy I would be interested to read some tutorial about it from you! I also travel with a big dog (giant schnauzer) but all our travels were over land by car and fairy.

I guess I’m trying to avoid using cargo, but open to your ideas on it.

Yes I do! :)

I would love to learn the process. I’ve been trying to figure out which doctor I should go to to get the certification.

Except for “TrustedHousesitters” which other websites etc. do you recommend? 🐕 (TrustedHousesitters lists many places in certain markets like UK, Europe, USA, Canada, Australia but they hardly ever have sits in other parts of the world.) 🌎 Any suggestions? 🙂

I would love to know if there is a deficit because I might start something...eyes

My current theory is that labor is so cheap in many Latin American as well as Asian countries that people can just pay someone to take care of their house and pets whereas in other countries it’s too expensive. But it could also be that the concept of a trusted house / pet sitter is just not as known / established in those countries.

Hello everyone,
I was wondering if anyone took the dog as a assistant dog for flights in Europe. I would like to learn about the procedure. There are some tips on internet but not clear enough. It would be great to find someone who uses flights often with assistant dog.

Are airlines usually strict when it comes to the pet carrier size? Turkish only allows 23 x 30 x 40 but my dog carrier is 28x28x45

In general, they only check the weight. Sometimes, they check the size and make problem. We had a little difference on size. We had discussion and they let us in the end. What I would say, depends on person. Sometimes they just enjoy with dog

I travel with my cat. So far we have been to US, Brazil, Argentina, Croatia, Spain, France and Turkey. Going to Guatemala in a few weeks!

do your cats travel well? I took mine on a plane once and he did not enjoy it 😢 but maybe it gets better with time?

if the carrier is soft they don’t really mind

Anyone have any recs for flying from mexico city to austin, texas with 12lb dog registered as emotional support dog? It seems like since March 2021 this has become more challenging

12lb is fine under the seat with a carrier you just have to pay.

Yup! I travel around with a ~75lb Labrador who is not a service animal, so he goes in a crate in the hold. So far we’ve flown with him to and from Mexico, and to the Azores islands in Portugal.

Everything has been good so far, but it takes lots of work to travel with him (paperwork, vet visits, finding pet friendly airlines, finding pet friendly housing, etc).

I just got approved to have him as a service animal so this is going to help out quite a bit

Anyone have experience traveling to Mexico from the US with a larger dog? I have a Husky who will be travelling with me - We would be flying. I would like to avoid cargo if possible. I am open to any suggestions.

I don't have experience in flying with a dog but I've driven my two larger dogs (German shepherd and Australian cattle dog) through Mexico for the past 2 months. Let me know if you want any details regarding having a dog in Mexico in general.

OMG! Yes! Any information you could provide would be awesome! I’ve been researching health requirements, paperwork and documents - but have had difficulty finding reliable information. One source mentioned that your dog needs to respond to commands in Spanish. Just trying to figure out what is required and any tips for travel ease. Planning on being in Mexico for 3-6 months

you can look for airlines who allow emotional support pets – but I have traveled extensively with my dogs on hold (over 30 flights) and never had any problems, just pick an airline that is trustworthy

(btw I’m in Mexico with my dog for the second time, there are tons of big big dogs here in cdmx)

Oh that’s good to know! Are there any specific requirements for flying with a dog? Or is it really dependent on where I’d be going and which airline I take?

The perfect office ❤️

It should be very easy if you are traveling on American, United or Aeromexico. Southwest does not transport dogs internationally

Are there any good general resources about traveling internationally (as a nomad) w a dog? I have a service dog under 8 kgs (so should be friendly to take on the seat in flights), but its extremely difficult to find clear travel rules for different countries.

Any recommendations/hacks that people have found?

it depends on the airline regulation, not the country. google pet friendly airlines

852428940115312690 is that always the case? If an airlines is pet-friendly, and you have a service dog, can you just take it to whichever country you want?

of course not, you need to check the import regulations of the country you want to go.

ugtyaxwxsufwui got it - so the correct term to look up to get clarity around the rules surrounding pets would be “import regulations of country X”? Any other things that I would need to look up?

yes airline regulations for travel & import regulation for importing

atygxbjyzdnh I have a small dog that I travel with a lot. I'm based in the US. Most of the places I have taken him require a health certificate and a physical endorsed by a USDA vet. Some places are harder to fly the dog into such as London. But if you are planning on being in the EU, you can get your dog an EU Pet passport and it's good for a year of travel for them.

styehaszl pet passport is a great tip! Any experience traveling to Asia w a pet too?

xdclifaxjpwj None. I've stuck to North, Central and South America and Europe. There is a limit to how long you can have your pet on a flight, I believe it's a max of 12 or 13 hours. You have to check the airline for those restrictions.

Unfortunately, she’s not registered.

rhrxjehxgglw I got my 5kg dog in Vietnam and have flown her to US, Thailand, Switzerland, Mexico, random domestic US flights. We've slowed down traveling since 2020, so this info might have changed, but it might still be helpful.

Afaik there's no single website/service that lets you filter by how easy it is to import an animal. I found I needed to change my mindset from "let's go…. here!" to "alright here's a list of top 5 places, let's check what the import/export process looks like for each"

Yes, export. You'll have (at least) three sets of paperwork to complete export papers for the country you're leaving, import papers for the destination country, animal paperwork for the airline(s), and possibly transit visa paperwork for any connection countries your flight might stop in. There are fees associated with all of these, and the airline fees can be outrageous.

Bear in mind that the airport agents don't always understand the requirements, or might misunderstand what you're trying to do, so you have to be extremely sure you've ticked all the boxes yourself. We were transiting through China and the Chinese agents took us aside and started talking about quarantine. I said no, no quarantine, because we leave in 3 hours. They talked amongst themselves and ultimately figured out "oh transit" and let us go without any issue. Stay calm and friendly, show your paperwork, and show them their country's requirements if you have internet access.

Asia-based airlines tend to be the most strict. It seemed like it was standard to either disallow all in-cabin animals or cap the weight limit to 6kg (including kennel). My 5kg dog + 1kg kennel squeaked by. They DGAF about emotional support animals and there's a good chance they'll laugh at any service animal paperwork for unseen disabilities. When I asked a Thai rep about service animals he was like "what, are you blind? No? What do you mean service animal? That's not a service animal"

Islands suck. Both as final destinations and as transfer locations. Taiwan, for example, required a full vet workup and transit visa even though we weren't leaving the airport. Australia and New Zealand have strict, expensive quarantine requirements to enter the country (min 10 days, ~$120/day, not allowed to visit the animal during that time) that just weren't worth it for me.

Bring Fido (Google it, can’t post the damn link) was a surprisingly good resource for finding airlines. Always verify their info with the specific airline directly, but it’s a good place to start. When booking flights, if your flight has multiple carriers, you need to call each one and ask what their process is for bringing an animal on board. Ask if they honor the originating airline's policies or if they have their own

My best advice is to pick a destination, research all you can about their import requirements, then go to the best-rated vet in a major city and ask if they can help you prepare your pet and paperwork for import/export to X country. If you're not based in a major city, call the place ahead of time and ask if they have experience with preparing pets for import/export

You'll almost definitely end up "over-vaccinating" your pet along the way. Different countries have different standards for vaccines, and you have to play by their rules if you want to enter. Going from US -> Mexico, for example, I had to re-vaccinate my dog for rabies because Mexico only recognizes the vaccine's validity for one year even though the US recognizes it for three years. In the US, she still had 18 months before needing the booster, but according to Mexico, she should've been boosted 6 months prior

This is all I've got off the top of my head, I'll update if I think of anything else. Hope it helps!

I've looked into pet moves and that is my best option. I can fly into France or Brussels and get picked up.

By a nomadlist member who traveled all over the place with a small dog


Tip avoid Spain at all costs – I know the case of a girl from Costa Rica who got her small dog retained in MAD for 9 months there 😕 (you can google about “Luno” )

I’ve flown with my dog (and for 5 years with two dogs, both on hold) to around 27 countries so far, in North and South America, Europe and Asia. I have a guide about it in Portuguese that i’m translating but still not ready yet – it’s a PAIN IN THE ASS to keep it updated because rules change all the fucking time. Airlines mostly follow guidelines from the countries they fly in and out and rules can also change all the time with them. Always do your own research even if you find a good source.

Emotional support pets aren’t service animals in most countries around the world (I think only North America accepts it honestly, never tried). My favourite airlines are Lufthansa/Swiss and KLM/AirFrance. Finnair was a good alternative to fly to Asia from Europe. United doesn’t have a weight limit in cabin so that was pretty good too. I also like Aeromexico (very spacious seats in economy and they let you board with a 9kg dog in cabin).

I gave up the idea of going to the UK by air (and to fly to Oceania at all) because of what Claire said above.

My general recommendation is the same when you pick a country, research EXTENSIVELY before purchasing your ticket even if you found a trustworthy source. Airline rules, accommodation options (very hard in Thailand when I was there), documentation to leave the country you’re in and to arrive in the country you’re going, flight options (if you change airlines, for example, you might need to pay twice to travel with your pet). Loads of details to consider before booking.

Regarding vaccines, I make sure to vaccinate my dog against rabbies yearly regardless of where she got vaccinated last – I go to countries that require yearly vaccination and I don’t want to re-do my dog’s rabies blood titer test unless I reaaally need to (my dog uses the same one we did in 2013, but some countries require it to be less than a year old, like Japan.)

Thank you Debbie! I actually have your book and I'm reading it right now.relaxed We are traveling from Colombia, so there are a lot of similarities with Brazilian requirements.

ah, amazing U0366BJMPQU! should definitely translate it to Spanish afterwards too ❤️

this is amazingly helpful, thank you so much!

glyykjami could you share your guide in portuguese? I'm from Brazil too

will send you a pm tkehlriry