Everything you need to know about flying with a dog

Owning a dog isn’t just a choice. It is a blessing for life, and beyond that, dogs bring unconditional love and joy to our lives. Our pup Dante has certainly been one of the best things that ever happened to us. 

We adopted Dante from Exclusively Mongrels in April 2020 and it was love at first sight. But do know that there are many difficult things about owning a dog that no one ever talks about… and one of them is pet relocation. Dante is family, we would never give up on him. Don’t abandon your dog when it becomes inconvenient. Be a responsible owner!

Here is the ultimate guide to travel with a dog from Singapore to Portugal (European Union)

The “boring” part of pet relocation – administrative process:

The moment we realized that we would be relocating to Europe, we started researching pet relocation agencies and training packages. In the end, we decided to do everything ourselves. 

We chose to fly with Lufthansa and booked the flight to Lisbon, Portugal via Frankfurt, Germany about 3 months in advance. To book the flight for Dante, we called the airline to check the availability for pets (in our case, for pets in the hold because Dante is larger than 8 kg), then proceeded to book a person’s ticket online and lastly called the airline again to link the dog to the reserved ticket. Be prepared to provide the airline with the booking code, IATA-approved carrier dimensions, your dog breed, the dog’s weight, and the carrier’s weight. 

When it comes to the relocation documents, yes it may seem overwhelming and complicated at first but once you get familiarized with the steps given by AVS, it’s easy. Please check this website for more information: https://bit.ly/3uJW6za

You may also need to send all the relocation documents to your “Port of Entry” at least 48h before arrival. In our case, we sent everything via email to the respective authorities of Lisbon’s airport and made the necessary payment in advance as well. Please check this website for more information on the EU requirements: https://bit.ly/3lfPbL5

Dante flew as “excess luggage” on the same flight as me. Dante is about 17 kg, and the carrier is 13 kg which means a total of 30 kg. We opted to stagger our relocation: I flew first with Dante and my husband stayed behind and joined us later. This turned out to be a good move because in case Dante wouldn’t be able to fly on the day, we had something to fall back to. 

To give you an idea, the costs involved for the relocation of Dante from Singapore to Lisbon, Portugal (via Frankfurt, Germany) were: IATA-approved carrier + wheels (SGD $371.5), flight tickets (SGD $829.3), rabies vaccination (SGD $55), AVS export license (SGD $50), health check for export at the vet (SGD $60), AVS health certificate with manual endorsement (SGD $23), and vet check at the Lisbon airport (EU €40).

The “fun” part of pet relocation – training tips:

We purchased an IATA-approved carrier almost as soon as we adopted him because we knew that we would leave Singapore at some point. But we never thought it would be so soon. We strongly advise purchasing an IATA-approved carrier that has top compartments so that you can store a copy of the dog’s documents, walking gear, and food. Here’s the one we purchased, just for reference: https://bit.ly/2YriGjW

Dante had almost a year to get acquainted with his carrier, however, we only started training him more intensively the last 4 months before departure. Please find below some training tips that worked for us. 

Before the flight:

• Start slowly but steadily. Listen to your dog. First, we had the carrier dismantled and just toss very yummy treats to it while saying a cue such as “crate” (as in, the dog gets in this space when you ask him/her to). Do this consistently until your dog is comfortable.

• Once your dog is good with the carrier dismantled, do the same but with the carrier assembled (without the door). 

• After that, add the door but keep it open.

• When the dog is super at ease with the carrier, introduce daily meals inside the carrier (with the door open). Make it his/her den – add toys, smelly towels, or whatever your dog likes.

• Start closing the door and locking it during mealtimes when the dog seems already very calm inside the carrier. 

• Don’t forget to teach your dog to drink water from a “leakproof crate water bottle” (e.g. https://amzn.to/2YpexOa ). We added a bit of homemade broth to this water bottle to get Dante used to licking from it. 

• We also bought a “waterproof dog mat” to keep him dry (in case there were any accidents during the flight), warm, and cozy inside the carrier (e.g. https://amzn.to/2YuTHNd ).

• Dante slept inside the carrier (with the door open) at night. Bring the carrier to the spot your dog usually sleeps and let the dog have the choice to sleep inside the carrier at night (with the door open). 

• Once all these steps are done, introduce airplane sounds. You can play it during mealtimes inside the carrier with the door closed. But you can also have it in the background in the living room or wherever the dog enjoys resting. Please begin with the volume LOW and increase it over time. 

Departure day:

• Secure the “leakproof water bottle” to the carrier with cable ties on the day of the flight, otherwise, it may fall. We added only one bottle to the carrier but if you can, add two bottles instead as Dante had fully finished one bottle by the time he arrived in Lisbon, Portugal. 

• Add a used t-shirt to the carrier. Your scent will calm your dog down. 

• Keep a copy of the dog’s documents, walking gear, and food inside of the carrier’s top compartments. 

• Bring your dog to play with his/her fav mate on the day of the flight. We brought Dante to spend time with his brother Rory. He enjoyed a full day of play and was tired enough to sleep for a longer period. 

• Give your dog a light meal on the day of the flight. 

• Very important: do not give any sedatives to your dog - unless specifically advised by your pet’s vet. Sedatives can, for example, cause circulatory problems during the flight.

• Allow your dog to go potty before leaving for the airport. Changi Airport in Singapore doesn’t really have a facility for pets to relieve themselves. 

• According to the ground staff, pets are the last to board the plane and the first to get out of it. So don’t arrive overly early at the airport, 2h-2h30 before departure should work perfectly fine.

• During check-in at the airport, the ground staff will check the weight of the dog inside of the carrier. 

• Once your dog is ready to leave the check-in area and depart, the ground staff will also secure the carrier door with cable ties. 

• We gave Dante some small treats to reward him for his nice and calm behavior until the ground staff picked him up for the flight.

Training add-ons:

We found the following Youtube videos helpful: 

o https://bit.ly/3iElguh 

o https://bit.ly/3afa9Ds

o https://bit.ly/3oEkykK

o https://bit.ly/3ahtrIg

The “scary” part of pet relocation – layover:

Dante did not get to enjoy the Lufthansa Animal Lounge in Frankfurt (https://bit.ly/3lf90C8) because our layover was less than 3h in duration. The ground staff adds a sticker to the carrier when the pet has been to the Lufthansa Animal Lounge to confirm it. 

In fact, our flight got delayed for almost 1 hour in Singapore and we ended up having only 1 hour of layover in Frankfurt. Nevertheless, we are very thankful that Dante was still transferred to the next flight without any problems. They had a special car to drop him off and pick him up to/from the plane. I saw the ground staff being extremely careful with his carrier with my own eyes. 

The “relief” part of pet relocation – arrival:

After a very long trip (more than 20 as we had two flights), Dante successfully arrived in Lisbon, Portugal, and is enjoying his new life. He did such a good trip: he didn’t poop, pee or vomit in his carrier. He was looking perfectly fine when I saw him. Just excited to see me and get out, of course. 

We are so PROUD of him. All the work my husband and I did to train him for the trip really paid off. He is also adjusting well to his extended family, new weather, new time zone, new environment, and new food. He seems to be less itchy ever since we moved which is great news as well. 

Well done, Dante! You are an amazing resilient Singapore Special!

Follow Dante’s adventures on IG for more: @chroniclesofdantedog

***Disclaimers: 

1. The training tips mentioned worked well for Dante, but we are not professional dog trainers. We did the best we could for our dog. Please feel free to do what you think is best for yours. The key point here is to be a responsible owner and prepare your furbaby for the journey. 
2. Kindly note that we are not affiliated, associated, authorized, endorsed by, or in any way officially connected with the brands and/or platforms mentioned in these posts.
3. Always ask your pet’s vet for health advice. Dr. Google is not best for your pet and we do not claim to be vets either.