howdoesitgetbetter

Thank you very much for sharing your experience. That's so comforting to know about JetPets. For my beagle Chester it will be bit easier because we will fly only 9 hours direct flight from Brisbane to Tokyo and stay there for couple of months before we continue on to Europe.

Thank you soooo much for replying. I greatly appreciate it. It took me 10 minutes to clear my dog in Tokyo after arriving from Mexico City so I guess it should be about the same when I will be taking him back to Tokyo from Brisbane in this upcoming April. I will do more research on the transport people and ask around here in Queensland. All the best to you and your dog. :D

Does it mean you would not recommend using Dogtainers?

What pet transport company did you use? Thank you.

My beautiful beagle Chester is a "frequent world traveler". He was born in Mexico where I lived at that time and since Australia doesn't allow direct import from Mexico I had to first take him to another country and stay for more than 6 months before he was allowed into Australia. Because I lived in Japan before I decided to take my Chester from Mexico to Japan first and after 8 months from Japan to Australia. My entire life & work had to be re-arrange because of all the regulations required by Japan. It took me 2 years (!!!) before Japan allowed Chester to come (mistake by the vet, vaccination and lab tests) to Australia. Yes, I was prepared to do whatever it takes. The flight from Mexico to Japan got delayed due to weather (snow storm) and my Chester was without water for 23 hours. Chester was on the same flight, same plane with me but in the cargo area in his cage. The entire flight I was sending him telepathically all my love so he knows I am not far away and he will be OK. Upon arrival in Tokyo he didn't recognize me due to extreme dehydration but I was just overjoyed that he survived. I cried from happiness and was very proud of him. Japanese quarantine people were kind and all the documents were already prepared so it only took 10 minutes and Chester was released from his cage. Long before we even arrived in Tokyo I was in frequent e-mail contact with the Japanese quarantine to make sure all the paperwork is in order. Then while we were staying in Japan we experienced March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, the Australian government was assisting all Australians with leaving Japan but they couldn't help me and my dog because of the regulations (6 months minimum). I cannot even describe how stressful it was. And so we ended up staying in Japan 8 months in total before Chester was allowed to come to Australia and the procedures, applications, vaccinations, laboratory tests it took over 2 months...an absolute nightmare. Luckily Chester passed all tests and we finally obtained approval from the Australian authorities. Again, Chester was flying on the same plane with me (Japan Airlines) in the cargo area but when we arrived in Sydney the quarantine people picked him up and I only could visit him the next day. Therefore I didn't even know if he survived the flight! So very very stressful! Now regulations changed but in 2011 he had to stay in the quarantine in Sydney for 30 days and I was allowed only 2 visits per week (2 hours inside the kennel) and 2 groomings per week (30 minutes each). I promised myself I will never ever go through this. Due to my work, I have to leave for Japan in April 2015 and of course Chester is coming with me. Then in June 2015 I am taking him from Japan to Europe.

Please let us know if you were happy with Montana and if your pugs were also happy.

How do they prevent dog fights? My friend's dog was attacked by another dog in some pet facility and I wonder if this could have been prevented. For this reason I am very worry to place my dog in pet motels.