Moving the Dog to France

I love my dog Koki way too much. It actually is strange to me how attached to her I am. I grew up with dogs and of course loved having them, but Koki is MY dog. Ashley and I raised her from a puppy. We spent time training her, socializing her with other dogs and people, and even took her to school. Like I really love this dog. But my love PALES in comparison to Ashley’s. If Ash had to choose between me and the dog, she would not hesitate on picking the pup. When it came to researching ways to get Koki to France, Ashley had to leave that to me. You see, if you start researching how to move a dog abroad, lots of sites such as the Humane Society recommend that you do not fly dogs–particularly in cargo–because, sometimes, they do not make it and it was stressing Ashley out.

Well, Koki is 50 lbs and cannot fly in the cabin anywhere. Unless we decided to send her by boat (which you can do luxury style for 4k) or charter a flight (as low as 10k by one service!), she was going to have to go in cargo. Many airlines—big ones such as Delta and most smaller airlines–do not even allow dogs to fly anymore. If they will fly your dog, you’ll want her to be in a temperature and pressure controlled area. It is also highly recommended that you fly your pet direct to avoid gettin lost in transit or left out on the tarmac in the elements. In most European airports to transfer flights, I found that you would also have to claim your dog and then recheck them. I could just imagine Koki hating me forever if I took her off a flight only to try to shove her back into the crate for another! Blarg, lots of restrictions! 

Now that made it tricky to get a flight. There were only two airlines flying direct from the US (like anywhere in the country) to Nice and neither allowed pets. With Koki vetoing any transfer, I looked for airports nearby but ended up with Paris. Paris opened more affordable flights and the next best was flying into Italy (which would mean her and I having to cross borders). After researching airlines that do take pets, I went with AirFrance. They had a pretty comprehensive pet policy, assured me that the space was temperature and pressure controlled, and only charged an extra $200 for her. You generally have to call the airlines to ensure that they have space in the cargo for your pet which meant I had to book a flight and wait a couple days for them to confirm space (they said if there wasn’t they would get me another flight or refund). Whew, flight booked! 

Unfortunately the flight was only step one; to get started on this journey though there was more to be done. Step two: get her a crate meeting all the requirements of the journey (check with your airline, but there is actually an organization that sets standards for this kinda, IATA). I got one off Amazon that was almost perfect, but I was required to buy metal bolts since it came with plastic. Koki had her dinner and sleep in the crate in upcoming weeks so she would be comfortable and feel like it’s her home. I also got her what looked like a big hamster feeder for water and taught her to use that so she’d be sure to have water on the flight. All that was probably around $200, but ok, good, baby girl had what she needed. 

Step three: I needed to get her paperwork in order. Super annoying. Overall, they do not require much from US to France, but the timeline is quick. All they required was a USDA approved vet to examine her, sign off that she’s in good health, make sure her rabies shots are in order, and check her microchip. Our normal vet did all that (though it was $100 bucks). The trickier part was that paperwork had to be sent to one of two USDA offices to be verified and signed off on for like $30. And from the vet appointment to USDA to landing in France, everything had take no more than 10 days. I probably spent another $50 on FedEx sending paperwork around. 

With all that accomplished we were ready to fly! We had been to the airport a number of times (mostly to drop off and pick up mum) and Koki was always fine. But of course this time she panicked. I took her to the pet relief area and she must have smelled other dogs’ fear because from that point on she was not happy. Luckily my father-in-law, Frank, was there to help me look after her, put the crate together, handle the baggage, and check in. Koki and I went into the back workings where I met a very nice TSA lady who checked over her crate and tested it (and her food!) for explosives. Which I guess is good.

Think the crate is big enough?

AirFrance was super cool. After I got onto my flight, a hostess came and told me Koki was aboard. They legit asked me what temperature I wanted her area set to. Though they used Celsius so I had no idea what to say. “Just, uh, set it to the same as for the rest of us.”

In Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, I picked her up in oversized luggage easy enough and then immediately walked into the customs area. I had all my paperwork but absolutely no idea what to do with it. I stopped in front of a group of customs agents, but everyone else kept walking around me and the agents ignored the giant dog crate and myself. I walked up to the doors to exit and did the same thing with more agents who glanced at me and then looked away. Cool. I walked out. Maybe you don’t need all that paper work after all? Perhaps don’t press your luck.

We quickly made it out of the airport, but failed to find any pet relief area (seriously de Gaulle, get yourself together). Koki did not actually seem to mind and was just super happy to be freed from her crate. After that long red-eye, we were finally free in France and off dragging way too much baggage into the car rentals to find a way south! 

Luckily Koki has not seemed at all traumatized from the ordeal. Though I will say that she still seems to look at her crate with distrust… 

Still need to find her a beret