Shipping puppies

[Linda,Yankee & Finn]

OK, I would like to hear the pros and cons of shipping a puppy versus driving a long way with a puppy. I see some breeders refuse to ship puppies while some have no problem with it. Why is that?

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

I find the comment from Puppymillfighter to be a bit on the insulting side. It;s as if to say the people buying, the breeders that are shipping and the airlines that carry, are all stupid and thoughtless. Does he/she really think all three parties involved are so irresponsible as to not consider the health and safety and stress factors involved in shipping such precious cargo?????
It wasn;t my first choice to ship either, but in all the worse case scenerios of horrid things that can happen to a pup, especially a puppy mill pup, I'd think flying in a crate, in a climate controlled cargo hold, with other animals, for a few short hours, does not even hold a candle to what we hear about animal abuse. Yes, some might get stressed, some might even get an infection, and yes, some might cry and whimper the whole time missing it's litter mates. Tell me NONE of this is going to happen when we have our pups in our safe and caring homes?
IMO, any pup will get through it and over it once it reaches it;s new loving home. Discouraging shipping certainly limits the availability of many puppies going to many loving homes. Which is worse?

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Boy isn't that the truth!!! I was a wreck waiting for my puppy to come into the loading dock.
Our daughter is faced with the same situation regarding vacation and her concerns are size (71pds), cost of a large crate, and knowing his personality so well now, how nervous and upset he will be that he might try to break out and hurt himself. Big difference in 70 pds vs 7 pds.

[Linda,Yankee & Finn]

I will not get a puppy from just anybody. I would ask my DK mates about any breeder that I haven't already heard about on here. I drove 7 hrs with my grandson to the breeder to get Yankee, slept in a hotel, drove 7 hrs back. If I didn't care, I wouldn't be asking this question. I love all animals.

I am simply doing my homework. Thanks to everyone who made helpful comments.

[fergie11]

More than the shipping I'd just be concerned about not meeting the breeder or the place the puppy was at - but with the help of this site that's not to much of a problem either. There are a lot of breeder's out there now though. I'd try to find one with 6-7 hours so you could just plan a road trip and pick up the puppy. I drove 6 hours one way for both my puppies and we had so much fun. I even made the trip to pick them out so I did it 4 times. You'll have this dog 15+ yrs so those trips are worth it. I'll always remember those trips. The pups travelled great and we "bonded" all the way home. Both of them have loved car rides ever since and never had any tummy problems in the car. With regard to the plane - I put my human kids on a plane from WI to FL when they were about 6 and 7 so if I could do that, I guess I could do a puppy.

[Linda,Yankee & Finn]

I am trying to find a breeder that is within driving distance that has what I'm looking for. No luck yet.

I also went to see the puppies before I took Yankee home so I did do the 4 times as well, twice with my grandson. Yankee slept in the hotel bed all night and no accidents. Here is a pic of him in the hotel.

[Adina P]

I see your point about the importance of finding a breeder who cares where puppies go, provides a health guarantee, and will take a puppy back, etc. But there ARE breeders who do all those things AND ship.

My breeder, for instance, shipped a pup to California (she's in MT) and the family just had tons of problems with the pup and my breeder DID accept the pup back and helped rehome him.

I also know cases where breeders have a dog in a guardian home (so by default this is in a short driving distance and the home underwent extensive interviewing in advance) and later the home turns out to be awful.

I guess my point is that it is not so black and white. I always encourage puppy buyers to look for:

-- health testing on both parent dogs--and PROOF of this
-- meeting the breeder if at all possible along with the parent dogs and if this is not possible talk to as many people as possible who have done so.
-- getting an excellent health guarantee that does not require return of puppy
-- asking lots of questions of the breeder and expecting lots of questions in return
-- looking over contract to be sure the breeder requires puppy to be returned should they ever need to rehome

If all of this is in place, it is highly unlikely that the breeder is a puppy mill or BYB.

[Debbie, Brianna and Duncan]

Adina, I think this is an awesome response and you've given wonderful advise!

[Jacquie Yorke (DRC)]

I think the general concensus based on what I have been reading here is that it's not a good thing to ship puppies.....I'm glad to see that.....I have all the same issues with it as all of you do....Bottom line is why put an animal through it?....

Why don't we ask Jacque to come into this discussion and tell us why she refuses to ship her puppies? I happen to respect her tremendously in this regard...

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

Jacquie the thing that you have to remember is some people live in rather inaccessible places, ie north western Canada. Everywhere is long way away. Reputable breeders in these parts know and understand this. The very closest "city" Prince George to me is a 7 hour drive. (no doodles there) The closest major urban centre Vancouver 16 hr drive. Or 15 hr ferry plus drive.(pets not allowed off vehicle deck and people only allowed to access to car deck at certain times during the sail) This would have been much worse for the puppy, 2 full days in the car, than a direct 1 to 2 hr flight. BC Breeders are well aware of this and well aware of geographical limitations of their fellow province mates. Abby was in the air for an hour and was just fine.

The breeder has application, phone calls, references, access to previous vet records and all sorts of way to feel an element of trust to a prospective purchaser without meeting her. (Not to mention anybody willing to invest 2 grand to get a dog will probably actually take care of the dog and have tenacity in regards to behavior problems (not all but most people). Anyways breeder does have a clause that if you cant keep the puppy it goes back to her for rehoming..

So shipping is the best option in some cases.

[Denise & Hunter!!!]

The big difference I see here is if you know the difference between a US carrier and a Canadian carrier - the statistics for customer complaints, mishandled baggage, etc. is MUCH MUCH worse on US carriers than Canadian - even comparing the larger Canadian carriers to a small US carrier.

[Jacquie Yorke (DRC)]

Here is an article published in the NY Post...no date so not sure how recent it is......I have been told that conditions with the commercial airlines in regards to transporting live animals are much improved over the last few years but still...would you really want to take a chance?

IT'S A DOGGONE SHAME!

They're dropped, crushed, lost and rerouted.

By Laura Italiano - New York Post

In the very worst cases, they freeze to death on icy tarmacs, or overheat and suffocate in stifling cargo holds.

They're dogs and cats. Thousands of them are killed, injured or lost annually after their owners entrust airlines to carry and deliver them safely.

Heat alone - typically from the cargo holds of planes delayed on hot tarmacs - kills or "severely" injures more than 500 animals a year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which keeps only a partial accounting.

For the pet, these holds turn the skies into a hell.

A November study by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals in San Francisco found that animal crates are almost always shipped along with routine baggage in cargo holds with no air- conditioning or air circulation.

Temperatures routinely exceed 115 degrees.

"These are animals that are struggling to breathe, their hearts are racing, and they're in a panic, suffering extreme stress and anxiety," said Dr. Lila Miller, a veterinary adviser for the New York-based ASPCA.

Their paws are often bloodied, and their teeth chipped and broken, in their frantic attempts to break out of their shipping crates to escape the infernal heat.

"That's torture," police-dog trainer Mike Cain told the Charlotte Observer last year after his five Belgian Malinois arrived dead from heat stroke and suffocation in Atlanta on a Delta Airlines flight from the Netherlands.

More common - and virtually unpoliced and uncounted - are the dogs and cats whose shipping crates are dropped, crushed, sent to the wrong location, or damaged enough to allow the animals to escape.

There's the Staffordshire terrier from Boise, Idaho, whose crate was dropped and smashed from a height of four feet last year by a Delta baggage handler as his owner watched in horror.

The Air Transport Association boasts of the industry's "excellent record" shipping pets, and says less than 1 percent of the 500,000 pets that fly each year experience health problems.

"We carry hundreds of pets throughout our system each day, normally with complete satisfaction to their owners," said a spokeswoman for Delta, an airline that turned up again and again as this story was researched.

*The USDA has only 70 inspectors to police nearly 11,000 sites - not only airports, but puppy mills, zoos, circuses and research labs.

*Airlines are not required to report pet mishaps. No one knows how many of the nearly 170,000 passenger baggage complaints logged each month by the U.S.Department of Transportation involve pet cargo.

*An airline's civil liability is limited by federal tariff law to only $2,000 per piece of luggage - and a pet in a crate is legally luggage.

Unless a pet is small enough to qualify as carry-on luggage, "You can be 99 percent certain you are putting your pet in a cargo hold that is not ventilated and has no temperature control," said Nancy Blaney, the ASPCA's national lobbyist, who is currently fighting for a bill that would address all of these problems.

[LuvMyAbby&Kaela]

Jane wasnt there a series/show on TLC about ariports/airlines there in the US. Always something going wrong. I think it is different here... dont bite my head off but I am pretty sure Air Canada has stricter standards, and on the large passenger planes the cargo area in which the pets are kept are actually to the best of my knowledge are accessible by staff. (dont quote me here - I just remember reading something about it on the Q&A) And small planes are no problem at all because they dont go to the altitude that large planes do.