moving the dog

Hi there, would be grateful for some advice re moving our dog to the states (and moving him back to England six months later).

Could anyone give me a rough idea how much it costs these days to ship a large-ish dog (80-pound greyhound) via air freight? We are planning to fly BA.

And do people find it worthwhile to use these agencies that handle kennel and the paperwork for you? If so, I would be grateful for recommendations.

And any pitfalls to be aware of?

Thanks!

The first issue that I see is sending the dog back to England six months after bringing him to the US.  In order to get the dog back into England, you will have to follow the PETS scheme, which takes 7 months to complete if everything goes well.  Go to the Pets section of the board for information on the PETS scheme.  Loads and loads of it there.

The only other issue is the dog enduring a transcontinental flight twice in a year's time.  I am not sure of the dogs age or temperment but flying is very stressful on an animal.  The younger the animal, the easier they will handle the stress.

Unfortunately, I don't know anything about bringing a dog into the states, but, I am sure you can find something on the US Customs website.

I wish you luck! 

One thing I would consider a big pitfall is the cost. I was quoted about $800 to ship my 16lb cat to England from Boston with BA, I would hate to learn what it would cost for an 80lb dog!

I second what Sadb said about the transatlantic flights so close together. I worry about how my kitty would handle one flight and consider not bringing her for that reason. Nevermind 2.

It may not be too bad to have the actual rabies vaccination and time period thing. You could probably get the dog chipped in the UK and vaccinated with the blood test and everything and have the rest done in the US?

I'd contact DEFRA and US Customs.

We brought a puppy back to the US about 10 years ago. We were able to keep it in the cabin and it really made the trip for the cabin crew. They were up and down the isle and were showing it off to all the passengers. They even took it into the cockpit to show the pilots. I'm glad they enjoyed the experience.
When we entered through Chicago, customs said it had to go through quarantine
he then went and got the US Department of Agriculture agent and as they were walking back to talk to us I saw him shaking his head. There was no problem for the pup coming from the UK because of their tight controls??
As others have said, get it in writing before you leave.

Definately do you research.  I think it would be very hard for such a short time span over here.  As another poster said it takes about 7 months from vet appointments, paperwork, waiting period, etc.
It is also VERY costly.  We moved our Golden Retriever over here and between the vet bills, the airline cost (we used Virgin who did treat her & us FAB!!), the ENORMOUS container they required for her size, etc.  well over $1,000 total just for one way.  I would check out the PETS scheme, talk to a few airlines for estimated costs, price the largest size dog containers, etc.
Hope that helps. 

If your dog is from/already in the UK, all you need to do is have the vet fill out his PeTS passport.  MAKE SURE YOU DO THIS!!!!!  If you don't, you'll be facing the whole blood test/six months wait in the US nonsense.  He also must be microchipped prior to the rabies vacc but he won't have to go through any blood tests or wait because he's already cleared in the UK. 

It is much easier to bring your dog to the US and then back again, if all the PETS stuff is done beforehand.  Your vet in uK should know all about it. 

Thanks for the advice and replies. BA quoted me £1200 one way including customs clearance in the U.S., based on his size, provided we hand over the necessary paperwork. Maybe someone else is cheaper. We are still checking.

But our dog is rescue dog and we would never give him up or put him back in a kennel for any length of time, so we will pay the cost.

I am in the process of getting info to take my Italian Greyhound back to the US. American Airlines quoted me a price of $110.00 for our IG to fly the US.
United Airlines quoted us a price of 58 pounds to fly him. We will be on the same flight he is.  When we sent him to England it was about $500.00. This was through Northwest Airline Cargo. We sent him, by himself about 2 weeks before we came. (The kennel  picked him up from the airport and he stayed there for about 2 months. )

The airline did warn me that if the destination to where we are going is 85 degrees or higher when you land, they will not let him fly with us. Make sure wherever you are going that the temp is lower than 85 degrees or arrive late in the evening or early morning.

Thanks... at certain moments during this process I have wished mine was the Italian kind, but he weights 80 lbs and measures nearly a meter nose to tail.

So far in my enquiries Virgin has been the winner, pricing his trip at £567 one way (why would BA be so much more expensive??). The Virgin guy offered their standard fee for 100 kg of cargo to ship him -- said it would actually be more expensive to ship him at his real weight!