Lilly Bits O' Heaven - Angelic Shichon Puppies
Flying Your Puppy Home
We are often asked:
"When will our puppy be ready to fly?"
Each puppy is treated as an individual but as a general rule we like to wait until the puppy is over 2 lbs and cleared by our vetrinarian to head home.
What should we bring to the airport?
The day has arrived that you finally get to meet your puppy and everyone is so excited. We want you to be prepared and have everything you need at the airport.
Arrive at the airport about 1/2 hour before the flight, just in case they arrive early. You can always call and check the arrival time before you leave home. Normally it takes about 15-30 minutes after the arrival time for the airlines to get your puppy to the pick up desk.
Picture ID & Flight Information & SCISSORS
Bring your Drivers License and all your flight information. They will ask to see your identification. The front door to the crate is often secured with zip ties. Bring scissors to make it easy to open.
My phone number - Call me right away please :) I will be waiting to hear from you.
The Litter Box
Bring your litter box in the car. Your puppy may need to relieve themselves. Once you are back in your car with the puppy you can take them out of the crate, give them a kiss and some kind words then offer them an opportunity to use the litter box. If they don't go, that is okay, at least they had the opportunity to relieve themselves.
Baby Wipes, Household Cleaner Wipes, two plastic grocery bags & clean towel.
Just in case of an oops - bring baby wipes to clean the paws of your puppy and household wipes to wipe down the crate if needed. Bring one grocery bag to put your used wipes in and the other in case you want to put the washable crate liner in. The clean towel you brought you can fold up and put in the bottom of the crate for a cozy trip home. You may not need these things but it is always better to be prepared.
Nutri-Cal, Water & Small Plush Toy (My favorite is a First Stages Toy)
You can bring a bottled water and simple tupperware container. That way you can pour the water into the tupperware container and offer your puppy a drink. Nutri-cal is a high calorie supplement gel sold in a tube at most of the major pet stores. Offer some to your puppy by squeezing a little out of the tube. They like the taste and may lick up to a teaspoon of Nutri-cal. If your puppy turns his head you can put a little on their nose to give them the idea and once they taste it they may want more. Nutri-cal gives the puppy energy and a quick boost to make the trip home in the car.
I suggest that once you have offered the water, nutri-cal & potty that the puppy rides in the crate for the duration of the trip home in the car. We can not put a toy in the crate for the flight but if you bring one that is small, soft, fun and maybe crinkly, you can offer it as a distraction for your puppy on the way home.
What should we do once we get home?
When you get home, hopefully you have followed our instructions and have prepared your puppy safe area with an exercise pen in a busy part of the house. In the exercise pen you should have the food, water, a few toys and the litter box all ready for your puppy. Just set the crate in the exercise pen and open the door. Your puppy maybe tired and want to get a drink, a potty, and go back to bed. That is okay, you have many years to get to know each other from here. If after your puppy has settled in they begin to play, wag their tail and engage you, then pick them up and get to know each other. Just remember they have had a big day and to let them rest afterward.
Take Pictures!
I would love to see pictures of you, your puppy in their new home and everyones joy. Don't forget to shoot a few off in an email to me when you can :)
Bubba and Bertha arrived safely to their destination and their new family purchased a soft sided crate for the trip home. The puppies fly in an airline rated plastic crate. The crate is yours to keep and use.
Thank you to the Decker/Canuel family for sending me this screen shot of how they tracked Bertha and Bubba's flight with a website called: Flight Aware
We have dedicated this page to the special concerns of those families who can not pick their puppy up in person.
Our preference is for you to fly out to Portland and pick up your puppy, and we do everything possible to help this happen, even meet you at the airport. We always want this to be your first consideration. We also have a puppy nanny service, which is actual round trip flight cost, modest name brand hotel (hampton, holiday inn etc), $400 nanny fee and overnight parking.
At LillyBits we do our best to find the shortest most direct route possible for your puppy to fly home. I make all the travel arrangements for our puppies and take into consideration the weather, our preferred airlines and travel time in addition to the needs of the family.
