Barking Boxers

Hi, my name is Barbara. I am a professional pet travel agent. In my line of work every day is a new adventure. This is a true story about Dan and his two boxers. (Names changed to protect their privacy.)

I received the call from Dan on my cell phone. I knew from the minute I heard his voice that he was desperate. It was a brief conversation with Dan pleading for help in getting his dogs from the Philippines to Washington D.C. He told me that he had to leave them behind because of total confusion at the airport when he departed Manila for the United States.

His parents were booked to travel to the U.S. out of the Philippines a few weeks later, and the dogs were booked to travel to the U.S. with his parents. But Dan was very concerned that if the dogs did not get on the aircraft with his parents, there was no one who would be able to take care of the dogs in the Philippines. I told him I would do some preliminary checking to see what his options were and call him back. He was scared to death that the dogs were going to be left behind when his parents traveled. I thought he was going to cry when I hung up.

After doing some digging, I was able to find the booking with Northwest Airlines for his parents’ trip to the U.S. The routing was for them the fly from Manila, to Tokyo, to Minneapolis, to Washington-Dulles Airport. (There was an aircraft change in Minneapolis). With Dan’s approval, I booked both dogs on the same flights with his parents. That was the easy part.

The reason the dogs did not originally travel with Dan was that, he was quoted a completely different fare for the dogs over the phone, than what they required when he arrived at the airport. He said they would not take his credit card, and he did not have nearly enough cash to cover the charges. He was frightened to leave his dogs behind, but he had no choice.

The actual cost for the dogs to travel with his parents was a mystery. Northwest Airlines in the U.S. does not set the pricing, it is done by a local operator in the Philippines. Manila is 15 hours ahead of Utah, where Puppy Travel is located. It was tricky to find a good time to call the Northwest cargo operator in the Philippines, and find someone that would answer the telephone.

After a few attempts, I also discovered that there was a definite language barrier. Fortunately, I had a friend who speaks the Philippine language fluently help me. The goal was to get them to provide a valid quotation for costs to ship the dogs as scheduled. We were trying to prevent any problems at the airport again. After getting transferred to several different extensions, we were able to get some kind of an ‘idea’ on what we could expect when the dogs’ were checked in at the airport on departure day.

I called Dan with the information, he was still nervous. It was at this point he advised me that one of the dogs (which are boxers) was on special medication for seizures. This was the reason he was so uncomfortable about the dogs making the trip. When I told him that the total travel time for the dogs would be over 17 hours, he really got upset. He pleaded with me to have someone actually check on the dogs while they were ‘in-flight’. He wanted the airline personnel to check on the dogs in case of a seizure.

I began to describe the ‘hold’ of the aircraft where the dogs would be kept. It is located in the underbelly of the aircraft-there are no flight attendants there. I also advised him that if the airline had any indication that the dogs were not 100% healthy, they would not be allowed to travel. When Dan found out they would be completely in a ‘dark environment’ he went ‘over the top’.

It was really hard for me to tell him that there was nothing more that I could do, and it was best not to alert the airline about health concerns for one of the dogs. I strongly advised him that the dogs would not be allowed on the aircraft if there was any indication that they might have health problem. Now I was scared!

He had no option but to send the dogs as planned. Oh boy was I nervous. On departure day I checked to see what time the aircraft actually departed Manila; and then I called Northwest Cargo in Tokyo. I talked to a very nice person. I told her about the boxers that were coming in from Manila; she assured me that she would check on them while they were on the ground in Tokyo. A few hours later I called her back and she told me the dogs’ were fine. Good! I also did the same thing with Northwest Cargo in Minneapolis ten hours later.

After a few days, I called Dan. I had to know if everything went well with the dogs. He was so happy! He said the dogs were adjusting well but had a bit a jet lag. He also said that his parents as well as most of the passengers on the aircraft were laughing because they could hear the dogs barking from Manila to Tokyo! That way they knew they were doing just fine! Cool.

Next month: Park Avenue Pooch!

Barbara DeBry is the President of Puppy Travel. She has been working in the travel industry for 21 years.