Crate Size

My dog is 32" long. I put that into the British Airways website and it tells me that the crate must be 37.5" long.

I went to Petsmart and bought the crate that is "for dogs 36" long" and has a length measurement of 40".

Now I measure the inside length dimension of the crate and it is 36 3/4" without including the door opening and 38" including the door opening.

Sigh.

The other two dimensions are ok.

Will this be ok? Why on earth did Petsmart put 40" on their label?

Andy

Others will probably weigh in, but my understanding of the airlines' size requirements are that your dog needs to be able to sit, stand, lie down, and turn 360 degrees in the crate without touching the walls/roof. If that works, you should be OK, otherwise you'll need a bigger crate.

Will this be ok? Why on earth did Petsmart put 40" on their label?

Andy

Diagonal size?

Diagonal size?

The label says "40 x 26 x 30". This is the outside dimensions including the flange(!) and rounded up.

Andy

Others will probably weigh in, but my understanding of the airlines' size requirements are that your dog needs to be able to sit, stand, lie down, and turn 360 degrees in the crate without touching the walls/roof. If that works, you should be OK, otherwise you'll need a bigger crate.

Thanks. This is one thing I really didn't want to be worrying about. Now I just have to embark on the three month program to coax my nervous dog into the crate to see if he will really fit...

Andy

Thanks. This is one thing I really didn't want to be worrying about. Now I just have to embark on the three month program to coax my nervous dog into the crate to see if he will really fit...

When I was having my dog "try out" crates, he was really reluctant to get in one that, technically, should have fit. (Though I think, like you found, the measurements are external size and not actually representative of how much space there is for the dog!) I went up a size (to the largest one available, sadly) and he was quite happy to follow the treat into the crate and hang out there, so that's the one I bought.

One thing I wanted to add on this thread ... couple of weeks ago, I went to the British Airways desk at Dulles outside Washington, DC.  Just so happened I spoke with a gentleman who had worked in the pet reception center for 30 years!  He said that when you measure a dog for a crate, you don't just measure from rump to nose.  You have to have your dog lie down on his/her elbows with legs stretched forward, and measure from rump to tip of front paws.  That's because when a dog is lying in this position, the paws extend beyond the snout!

Just thought I'd pass that along for those worried about crate size.

Cheers!
~Teddy

We brought over a Maltese and a Lhasa Apso and both ended up in a medium size crate for flight.  I found that different manufacturers gave different measurements to each size crate (xsm, sm, med, lg, xlg), so I hunted until I found the right size without to much extra space, but both had plenty plenty of room.  Both could have fit in the small sizes but would have been bit tight and I wanted to play it safe and let them have some room in the crates.

I was told by BA that there has to be at least 2 inches above the head when standing up w/ head up.  (I think they said 2 inches above), and I was also told they had to be able to turn around in the crate.

As a note to anyone:  No collars are allowed on them in the crates while flying, but you can put the collars and leads in the plastic package that comes with the 'live animals package" you have to also get.  Buy some plastic ties also b/c we were told and did have to use extra ties to tie down the top of the crate to the bottom. 
Also..... if you put any kind of bed in the crate for dog, make sure that if he wiggles around and it could get on top of him/her that there is plenty room for the dog to be able to move it himself/herself back into place underneath.  (can cause serious problems if bed gets on top of dog and remains there)

The people at the Animal Reception Center in London were all very nice and very good to all the animals we saw the day we picked our little ones up.

Just so happened I spoke with a gentleman who had worked in the pet reception center for 30 years!  He said that when you measure a dog for a crate, you don't just measure from rump to nose.  You have to have your dog lie down on his/her elbows with legs stretched forward, and measure from rump to tip of front paws.  That's because when a dog is lying in this position, the paws extend beyond the snout!

That doesn't match with the BA World Cargo website, which has a crate size calculator. http://www.baworldcargo.com/biztools/pcst.shtml

I put in the measurements and bought the right size container and there is plenty of room for him to stand, turn around and lie down.

Perhaps he was offering a suggestion rather than the minimum crate size.

Andy

That doesn't match with the BA World Cargo website, which has a crate size calculator. http://www.baworldcargo.com/biztools/pcst.shtml

Andy, yes, I was just now looking at that BA World Cargo page...  I think the fello was only trying to explain that measuring from the rump to the tip of the nose is not enough, as most people would probably erroneously surmise.  You add "the distance from the ground to the elbow joint" to the tail-to-nose measurement ... and I think he was trying to explain and simply that because the elbows are roughly below the nose when the dog is lying out straight like that. 

Anyways, if I hadn't gotten that tip, nor stumbled onto the BA website, I probably would have just measured from rump to nose!

Thanks for bringing so much clarity to these issues!  Hope I haven't confused anyone!

~Teddy

You add "the distance from the ground to the elbow joint" to the tail-to-nose measurement ... and I think he was trying to explain and simply that because the elbows are roughly below the nose when the dog is lying out straight like that. 

Ah. I didn't realize the calculator does that. I was just blindly following it. Thanks for pointing that out!

Andy

One other tidbit the fellow did emphasize was the importance that the crate have the proper ventilation, not just in the front, but in the back as well.  Not sure exactly what he meant by that, since most the the standard in-every-pet-store crates have the wire door in the front and slits or holes on side and back.  Since he claimed his job was to clear pets for travel, I assumed he knew what he was talking about on all this.

I also didn't know how you were supposed to put water in the crate for dogs -- sloshy spills, etc!  He explained that you just have enough empty room for the water container, and the airline handlers give water when the pet is settled in the cargo area.

I got the impression that it might be a worthwhile venture to go the the Animal Reception Centers and actually talk to the people there to get good info on these "gotchas."

~Teddy

I also didn't know how you were supposed to put water in the crate for dogs -- sloshy spills, etc!  He explained that you just have enough empty room for the water container, and the airline handlers give water when the pet is settled in the cargo area.

The pet travel store sells large water cups that clamp onto the door. It must be secured and able to be filled from the outside.

Andy

I also didn't know how you were supposed to put water in the crate for dogs -- sloshy spills, etc!  He explained that you just have enough empty room for the water container, and the airline handlers give water when the pet is settled in the cargo area.

I filled the dishes and put them in the freezer, so that the ice would melt over a few hours. The airline folks will also provide water, though.

We bought those water/food cups that can be clamped to the door -- it had a decent lip on it, so splashing was minimized.  We also froze them beforehand, like equestrianerd mentioned.  We had "dry fur" absorbent pet pads in the bottom of both crates and both pads were dry as a bone when we picked up the cats at Heathrow ARC.