IATA Airline Standards
Before you reach anywhere near your credit card, you’ll first have to make sure that the crate you’ve chosen is compliant with the standards of the IATA, also known as the International Air Transport Association. Simply put, these are the law for pet travel in the skies.
To make sure that your pet is safe & comfortable, they have requirements & restrictions for every crate that comes on board. They are as follows:
- No matter which airline approved crate you choose, you’ll need to adhere certain stickers to the surface. They first require three, one on the top & each of the sides, that say “LIVE ANIMAL.”
- They also need you to have directional stickers, along with a Shipper’s Declaration stating when they last had food and water, affixed to the crate.
- Along with these stickers, you also need to adorn your crate with your contact information & the name of your pup. You can do this with any sort of strong tape, especially duct tape.
- The floor of your crate has to be solid and not allow any leaks.
- For safety reasons, the crate has to be quite robust, and they only allow crates made from rigid plastic, fiberglass, metal, weld metal mesh, solid wood, or plywood (the allowance of the last two depends on the airline).
- Your pet has to have ample room in their crate, to the point where they can lie down, turn & stand with ease.
- The IATA itself might not require it, but quite a few airlines will turn you away unless you use metal nuts, bolts & screws to secure your kennel.
- To further enhance security, you’ll have to have holes on the corners of your crate of choice to allow for the fixation of cable ties.
- When you’re travelling domestic, you’ll need to be sure that there’s ventilation on at least two sides of the kennel. International air travel, due to the longer journeys, requires vents on every side.
- As we mentioned before, you can’t have wheels attached to the crate when getting it prepared to go on the plane. They’re great for moving through the airport, but once you check them in you’ll have to take them off.
This is a non exhaustive list of requirement for an airline approved dog crate for pet travel. Read the full list here.
Crate Training For Your Pooch When Flying
Air travel can be an intense experience for any dog, no matter how big & tough they are. Making sure that they’re ready for the journey is vital for their peace of mind. It’ll be good for yours, too.
PetRelocation, a company dedicated to safely moving pets across the world, has a few good tips for people crate training their dog to get ready for a flight.
Start Training Without The Crate’s Top
They suggest you start the process as soon as you know you’ll be travelling with them in tow. They suggest this mostly because you’ll have to start the process from the ground up.
No, really, they recommend you get them used to the bottom of the crate before you attach the top. Getting them familiar with the bottom surface will make the introduction of an enclosing roof that much quicker.
Introduce Your Pup’s Belongings
Throughout that process, it helps to get them to spend more and more of their time in there. Whether you decide to feed them in there, put their bed in there, or involve it in playtime, anything positive that gets them in there is the way to go.
Positive Reinforcements Are Crucial
Speaking of positive, that sort of reinforcement is pivotal in getting them to accept going inside & staying there for increasing amounts of time. When they make the move to explore, make sure to use a happy voice & let them know you’re proud.
This works well into playtime. Point inside of the crate, say the word “crate,” and throw their toy into the furthest corner to make sure they have to go all the way in to grab it.
Once they do so & come out, offer them their due belly rubs, yummy dog treats, and positive insistence that they’re a very good boy or girl. Make sure you let them out, though, since locking them in at the end can ruin the game quick.
Be Patient And Repeat The Steps
You’ll want to avoid any setbacks you can, since patience is the name of the game. The ideal time frame is a few weeks, but things can take a big longer or shorter depending on their comfort level when they’re away from you.
Try keeping them in there for increasing intervals of time. It can be while you’re taking out the trash or picking up the mail, then going out for a quick bite to eat, then working out for an hour or two.
You shouldn’t be keeping them in there for much longer outside of an international trip, though.
Don’t Crate Them For Too Long
Dogs want to run free, and if you keep them in the crate too long it can start to seem like a punishment. Getting them in after that is a nightmare.
Tips On Cleaning Your Airline Approved Dog Crate
Once you get them out of the kennel after a long flight, you might have a surprise, or several surprises, waiting for you inside. We can’t stop nature, so that means we have to clean up after it.
When you’ve got a conventional plastic travel crate, there are a few simple things you can do to get things looking like new.
First, get your spray bottle ready, and mix up with some water and a bit of mild dish detergent, filling about 10% of the container with that. Spray down the crate and get the most intensely affected areas nice & soaked.
If you’ve really got a mess to work through, then you’ll be advised to arm yourself with a sponge to work in the mixture.
Wipe off the area with a paper towel, and do it again if you’ve got more mess to get through. Once you’ve repeated that process to your liking, rinse off the remaining soap with water & dry off the crate.
Make sure to also take apart the crate when you do this cleaning. Things can get tricky in the seams & corners, and you won’t do yourself any favors if you keep those areas concealed & hard to reach.
If your crate is past a certain point, you’ll have to enlist a hose to break down the big messes before you get in to take care of the nitty gritty.
After you use the hose, you can go & grab the aforementioned detergent & water mix. If you’re looking for an effective alternative, though, you can break out some Clorox wipes (a generic version would work), or even a bleach & water solution.
The exterior faces its own challenges. It might not have to deal with #1 or #2, but it can get plenty dirty without any help from them.
You can try one of the cleaning solutions or wipes, although a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, or a generic variety, will be better suited for taking care of the deeply-ingrained dirt stains.
By the way, make sure to steer clear of any cleaning products with ammonia in them. Since it’s an odorous chemical that’s also present in their urine, they’ll smell that and think it’s okay to use the crate as a bathroom.
Whichever cleaner you use, though, you’ll have to protect yourself from it. Wear gloves throughout the whole process to make sure you don’t run into trouble with any corrosive chemicals.
