Susan Sims: Hi I’m Susan Sims.

Nicholas Sveslosky: And I’m Nicholas Sveslosky. We are your hosts for Travel Tails on Pet Life Radio. You know, as editor and publisher of Fido Friendly Magazine, we know travel.

Susan Sims: And we can’t wait to share our years of travel experience with you during our podcast each week.

Nicholas Sveslosky: And one of the topic discussions that we receive a lot of requests on is about flying with your pet in the cargo area or in the cabin when your destination demands you to travel by plane instead of ground.

Susan Sims: I know, and it can be very stressful time for both pets and their guardians, but if you find yourself making this type of decision, it is important to ask questions of the airline regarding safety and procedure.

Nicholas Sveslosky: You know a lot of our listeners probably won’t know this, but you know it very well Susan, when my black lab Tasha came home to me for the first time she arrived by plane.

Susan Sims: I know, we actually shipped her from Idaho to California where you were living at the time, and we were a little nervous, we had never shipped a dog before and we weren’t really sure what to expect.

Nicholas Sveslosky: I was really nervous, I mean we saw her in Idaho, we said, “That’s the dog”, and then we had to leave to California before she could be separated from the owners at the time, so we were really nervous to get her coming back down.

Susan Sims: Yeah, yeah, she was such a sweet dog and we took her to, there’s a special spot, it’s not where you would check in as a normal passenger, it’s like they’re a cargo station and we, we took her there and there was just a small area but they let us just play with her and waited until about five minutes before they were going to board her, and at that time we were able to actually put her in the kennel and, and watch them come and get her and then they took her, after they loaded all the luggage then they came and got her in put her in the pressurized cargo area. So, that made us feel good and, you know, course we had to wave good-bye, but she looked so cute, she’s in there just looking out there, like going, “What’s going on?”

Nicholas Sveslosky: That’s, yeah, you know, that’s exactly how she arrived, when she came down we picked her up in LA, she was looking outside the crate kind of curious, and it took us a while to find the correct spot where she was, or they brought her in because they don’t, it’s not where the normal flights and the oversized baggage, you actually, we had to go to a separate place for oversized bags, cargo for an airline, so it wasn’t in the main terminal, it was actually a building, you know, aside from it. And this is some good advice for all the readers, please exercise your dog after you get him out of the crate ‘cause they will have a lot of pent-up energy and they’re ready to go, so of course you want to take them out and go to the bathroom, but what we did is we made the classic mistake thinking that right after the cargo trip she could go right in the car, and it didn’t take about twenty minutes before she was bouncing back and forth between the front seat and the back seat wondering when the heck she was going to be released.

Susan Sims: Yeah…

Nicholas Sveslosky: So make sure…

Susan Sims: she has a lot of energy, even now. She’s only like two or three years old but, and she’s a lab, so typical lab energy if you can imagine. I can just visualize her, you know, doing that, it’s kind of like, “Wait a second, I was just cooped up for an hour or however long that trip was.”

Nicholas Sveslosky: Yeah, it’s good to bring along toys or something, I mean if they’re, if they’re like my lab Tasha, if your dog loves to, you know, chase a ball or chase any type of toy, just to do that enough to where they get tired and then of course you can give them water, but then that they’re ready to go back into a confined space is really helpful for your dog to kind of get over maybe some of the experience that they had, if there’s loud noises or anything like that, so…

Susan Sims: Yeah, not, and I know after this, it wasn’t too much longer after that that she had another experience and you took off to do a trip to Colorado where you had to take her as cargo in the plane that you were taking, so what was that like?

Nicholas Sveslosky: Yeah, a crate, a that time she was what we like to call a jet set pet, and, you know, she was ready to go on the plane, but it was a little different because she was going to actually be flying with us, so, you know there were certain steps that you had to take in order to make sure that the flight was a success.

Susan Sims: Yeah, so tell everybody what you did because I think this is important for people that are even thinking about doing this, you know, if you call the airlines, I guess, is one of the first things you would do?

Nicholas Sveslosky: Yeah, well actually I’m going to run through a good checklist, and for all the listeners our there if you’ve got a pen and paper, I’m going to run through some items that will be good to kind of reference to. It’s not everything, but this is definitely a good start. So, if everybody’s ready…

Susan Sims: Ready.

Nicholas Sveslosky: the first and foremost… Okay, good. The first and foremost thing is you want to make sure that Fido absolutely loves his crate. So, what that means is that if you have to spend some time, you know getting your dog ready and comfortable with being in the crate for long periods of time, it is well worth it for the ease of your dog. Once they start feeling like the crate is their den, then they get much more comfortable in any type of environment or anything that’s going around because they feel safe in that environment, inside their kennel or crate. The second thing that you want to do is check the length of the flight and make sure that, if at all possible, you have a direct flight. So that way you can avoid, you know, delays, lost baggage or anything like that. You know, the length of the flight is going to be important to match up with your dogs temperament and if you’re going to be shipped, you know, if they’re going to be shipped cargo or under the seat, may give you an indication of how long of a flight you can take with them. The third thing you’re going to want to do is, like you said before Susan, is you want to check with the airline and their policies regarding flying Fido, you know, with the appropriate feeding times, kennel requirements and required vet records and weight limits for your dog. The fourth thing that you’re going to want to do, and this is one of the most important steps, is that you have to get a clean bill of health from your vet for Fido to fly. Your dog cannot fly without any vet records, so you’re going to want to be able to be there probably no more than 30 days out, most airlines require vet records at the 30 days out, so I’d say about 10 days in advance is good to get that clean bill of health and make sure you have that with you and plenty of copies, even at home, in case, you know, you’re somewhere and you lose the records, somebody can fax them to you. The fifth thing you want to do is prepare the crate. Now, by preparing the crate there’s going to be a few steps that you can do, but once you do this you’re going to feel a lot better about your dog if they have to be out of your sight in the cargo area. You’re going to want to stick live animal stickers on the crate so you can let people know that there’s a dog inside the kennel. You’re going to also want to maybe type up a one-page profile of your dog and all of your contact information. You’ll probably want to put a letter on there, something that kind of makes it more of a friendly feeling if somebody’s coming up to your dog for the first time, they don’t know if your dog is a friendly dog or not, so a simple letter saying something like, “Hi, I’m Tasha. I’m a nice Labrador Retriever and I don’t bite. Please contact my parents if I’m lost and I will probably need to be fed and walked so I can relieve myself. I’ll be forever grateful.” And you can tape this to the outside of the crate and maybe title it something like, “If I’m lost or delayed”, and then that way somebody, if they can see a crate there for a little while sitting there, they can, they can read through that and be able to take care of your dog. Make sure that there’s water and food dishes that are attached to the inside of the crate, maybe put a t-shirt in there that has your smell in it and a toy that your pet loves to be with. And then be sure to tape maybe a small bag of food and a leash on top of the create, so that if somebody is going to feed or walk your dog they have those right there. The sixth and final thing is make sure that you give plenty of reassuring hugs and kisses. You know, when you’re calm and confident, then your pet will follow your lead and realize that there’s nothing to really worry about. If you get emotional about the separation and the trip, then your pet might pick up on some of this and may be caused for concern about the adventure they’re about to take. So you can check with the airport about available areas on site, but plenty of exercise and play before take-off really helps Fido prepare for the trip.

Susan Sims: That’s great and I, it was funny when you were talking about that, there’s, there’s actually different airports now that provide dog walk areas, and one of the things I found interesting is that, you know, there might even be little doggy stations. I picked up some information about LAX and I wrote this down, it has a small pet park and it’s located at a certain part of the terminal, so you, this is one of the things you would also do is contact the airport and see if there are areas like this, but at LAX there’s actually a little dog house and there’s a stand, they have the plastic bags so owners can clean up after their animals and a trash can…

Nicholas Sveslosky: Oh, that’s neat.

Susan Sims: then they gave the little, it’s like…Ain’t that cool? And then Austin is kind of interesting, they have a dog walk, it’s the airport, they call it the airports dog walk, and it’s landscaped and it’s also lighted, so that’s kind of cool, so, you know, if it’s during the evening there’s lights so you can see your way and they offer a pet drinking fountain, a dog, where you pick up bags and once again, and trash. And then at C-TAC, they have a small area outside their main terminal to serve as a pet-a-potty for traveling animals and they even have absorbent sand and plastic bags and garbage bag, you know, cans there, so…It’s really interesting because the more and more that we’re with our pets and we’re traveling with them, and more and more that includes airlines, they’re actually making it really possible for you to enjoy the experience because now you don’t have to worry like, “Where am I going to take my dog?”, they’re setting up these special places, so that’s really neat.

Nicholas Sveslosky: Yeah, it’s really good to see that it’s making it easier, I mean, flying by plane is probably going to be one of the most nerve-wracking things about traveling with your dog ‘cause you may see this exotic location or you may see, you know, a place that’s in a different state, but then you got to come to the conclusion like, “Okay, how am I going to get there?” So, you have, you know, people that are making it easier and more comfortable for us to travel, then it just opens up the door so much more for us to bring our dogs everywhere we go.

Susan Sims: Yeah, exactly. And actually we’re going to take a break because we have somebody waiting to talk to us just about that type of thing, and Susie Kerwin-Hagen is the representative for Midwest Airlines and we’re going to get to chat with her and she’s going to tell us how your dog can earn mileage when flying, so that’s going to be a lot of fun, so sit and stay. We will be right back with more Travel Tails on Pet Life Radio.

Nicholas Sveslosky: Welcome back to Travel Tails on Pet Life Radio. I’m Nicholas Sveslosky along with Susan Sims. And before the break we were talking about flying the fur friendly skies and the importance of preparing your pet for travel.

Susan Sims: And you know there is an airline that has actually taken a step further by not only providing excellent service to their passengers who fly with them, but also provides a premier pet program where your pet actually earns miles.

Nicholas Sveslosky: Yeah, that’s right, and on the line right now, we have our Midwest representative Susie Kerwin-Hagen. Susie welcome to the show.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Well thank you very much for having me today Susan and Nicholas.

Susan Sims: It’s always a pleasure to talk to you and you know I’m a big fan of Midwest Airlines, having flown with you in the past and I have to say my favorite part of the flight is the fresh baked in-flight cookies.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Oh yes, I know, it is mine to. Unfortunately I have, you know, had too many flights and too many cookies, no I’m just kidding.

Susan Sims: You know, it’s actually, I had no idea and I have to tell you when you’re, and you get in your seat and you take off and you’re sitting there and everything’s fine, and all of a sudden this smell just permeates the whole cabin and it is to die for. In my whole life, I’m serious, you’re in, you’re captivated by this and you just can’t wait for them, for the flight attendant to come by and offer you these cookies and they’re enormous.

Nicholas Sveslosky: I’m picturing it right now.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Oh, it is wonderful and it’s the hallmark of our brand. It’s, you know, our brand, Midwest Airlines, is such an incredibly caring brand, and that’s, everything we do here at the airline as we expand our services and products really relates to excellent customer service and the true caring for others. And, the cookies, you know, what is more warm and open and friendly than warm chocolate chip cookies and a cup of coffee or a glass of milk? I mean, that to me is just, has family written all over it, so…

Susan Sims: Yes.

Nicholas Sveslosky: It has a good feeling of home.

Susan Sims: Yeah, it…

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Yes, a great, a great element and we’ve been doing that since 1987 and all of our aircrafts are configured to bake cookies in the aircraft and so that’s why, you know, people are, who have not flown us before we get these wonderful letters saying, “Oh my gosh, all of a sudden I’m laying there and I’m just dozing off and I smell this aroma comes over me and I think, ‘Where is it coming from, you know? Who has a scratch and sniff in the aircraft’, you know?” But no, it’s truly our cookies and it’s, it’s just when the flight attendant comes down with these warm cookies, tray of warm cookies and napkins and she smiles and looks at you and, “Would you like a couple of cookies”, and that’s just a very nice way, and that’s who we are, that’s our brand and we’re very happy with the ability to extend that to others.

Susan Sims: Yeah, and I think, you know, obviously we love that facet, but we also know that you’re the pioneer for the Premier Pet Program and there’s all kinds of goodies that Fido receive when they’re aboard the aircraft, so why don’t you tell everybody about the Premier Pet Program. What is that and what does that offer for you and your pet?

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Sure, I’d be happy to. With my extensive history in showing dogs and breeding English Setters and being an American Kennel Club Dutch, well lets say, just say over twenty years… I never want to go into details about age, right?

Susan Sims: Exactly.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: But I, I really wanted to be able to build a program that was an extension of our brand but specifically related to traveling with your pet and care of your pet when they fly because I know that, you know, flying, even, you know, human passengers flying, it’s an anxious time and it’s very hussle-bussle and it’s busy and it’s congestive and it’s frustrating sometimes and…

Susan Sims: Sure.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: So I wanted to make sure that our passengers knew that we had a program that would offer comfort and safety and also a few extra treats along the way, and then also be a reward or a loyalty program that would give the passengers something back.

Nicholas Sveslosky: Awesome.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: So, I started with the basics of flying three times and you get your fourth trip free, so you don’t earn miles but it’s better than miles because you actually get a $150 dollar value option in return. So, you are able, once you complete three round trips, you will get the fourth round trip free for your pet on Midwest Airlines, which is a $150 dollar value, below cabin if they’re a larger dog, and if there’s a small, if they are a small dog, you will get a $200, it will be worth a $200 dollar value, excuse me.

Nicholas Sveslosky: Oh, that’s so great, I mean…

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Yeah.

Nicholas Sveslosky: just to have a airline even think about including your pet in some type of reward program really, really says a lot.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Well thank you and, you know, it’s, like I said, it all goes back to an extension who we are. The biggest concern for me today, and it has been for many, many years, is the care that the pets receive while they travel. I know that there’s this anomaly in the industry that, you know, it’s a heightened concern about the safety. You know, we’ve heard about Fefe, you know, getting let out of her carrier and running, she’s still out there somewhere, after coming how from a dog show. It was an accident, of course no one wants this to happen, but it’s reality. And what I wanted to do is train our people who handle our animals to handle them the appropriate way, to be able to engage with the pets, to make sure that they’re comfortable, making, just, and all that means is just being alert and aware of how their behavior is. You know, if they seem excited or anxious or barking or really upset, you know, we take the time, our supervisors who watch that area where they’re being held until they get on the aircraft, they actually go and retrieve the passenger and have the passenger come to the pet, just to make sure that the pet is alright and, because I don’t want to put any pet on an aircraft that is not behaving appropriately or seems very nervous or anxious just for the pets safety.

Susan Sims: Right.

Nicholas Sveslosky: That’s great.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: And I want the pet parent to come back to the pet to check that out. And then, another tip is we provide blankets, you know, in the winter we travel a lot to different cities that are very cold, and then what happens is we wrap the kennels, we put this blanket around the dog kennels so that they, of course the dogs are very warm bodied and they’re made of a plastic material with the vents on the sides, so we put the blanket over the top of the carrier so that the heat that the dog is generating stays inside the kennel.

Nicholas Sveslosky: Oh, wow.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: And that, that just gives them a little bit more extra comfort, and I think a comfort of anxiety too because they see all these things happening around them, they have a very different smell that’s not familiar and they have no idea where they are or what’s going on, so it helps bring that anxiety level down a bit too. One of the other…

Nicholas Sveslosky: Yeah, you know, this is actually really good info, I think, sorry, I didn’t mean to jump in there, but…

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: No, no, no, that’s fine. I didn’t want to take up a lot of your time, so I’m trying to hurry through it.

Nicholas Sveslosky: Oh, no….

Susan Sims: Your time, not a problem. I’m going to put some cookies in the oven while we’re talking.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Oh, good. Good tip, good tip Susan.

Nicholas Sveslosky: Yeah, I can taste them. No, it’s really good for me to hear this and I know probably for our readers just because when you start to get ready for a trip, I mean there’s so much that you got to thing about, so much to worry about, but then on top of that, if you’re going to be flying with your dog and you, it’s almost like you feel like you’re handing the life of your dog over to somebody else and when you hand it over to a big airline it’s just that, you’re handing it over to almost nothing, so for, I think for our listeners to hear that there’s someone and that an airline cares so much about their pet, makes us that much more ready to take that step if it is our first flight, or to maybe even go somewhere where we wouldn’t have thought of to go before.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Right, we, you know, it’s so important, those pets are people’s family members and we realize that and understand that and I, that’s something throughout the industry that I’m really trying to change is that image or stereotype of it being an animal. You know, they are animals, but they’re people’s family members and we need to treat them that way. They’re precious cargo, as my tags say ‘precious cargo’ on them, you know, I want our people to handle them as if they were part of their own family. So we make sure that dogs are lifted with, you know, a person in the front and a person in the back, they’re not put on a bag loader and left unattended. You know, just a ride up and, you know, if they’re not attended they very easily can fall off of a bag loader. I want to make sure that all of our pets are strapped down inside of the aircraft. Not all air carriers do that and we went through every aircraft that we have in service and bought, purchased straps to actually, you know, strap each and every kennel down tight so that if there’s any turbulence or any moving whatsoever that crate stays put. We do checks on all of our heating, cooling and pressurization down there, so that we make sure they’re 100 percent operable and are working without any issues. So, and then a couple of the nicer things that we do, we provide, like you said Nicholas, packing for yourself is hard enough and your family, but then getting to actually pack for your dog, etcetera is a big deal, so they get a travel pack at the ticket counter complimentary, and in there are a few items that could possibly help while you’re traveling with your dog. Dogs get very dehydrated while you’re traveling, so we’ve put a bottle of water for them in there so you don’t have to search for that…

Nicholas Sveslosky: Oh good.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: and there’re also security issue for that, so you take the bottle of water and you put it into your checked bag at the airport and you send that through and when it comes off of the bag belt you get the water out and then you retrieve your dog and you have water right there for the dog. Just bring along a bowl and your carry-on and you’re all set. We also have some sample cookies in there, some, just a little treat because you always want to have just a little something in the dog’s stomach when you fly, not too much, but it’s the nausea. Dogs get airsick just like people do, so we need to address and have a little something in their stomach, just enough to help it feel settled. And then there, there’s a fun, Foster and Smith, which is a dog supply company nationwide, wonderful company in Wisconsin here, they provide us with dog toothbrushes and toothpaste for travel.

Nicholas Sveslosky: Oh wow.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: And we have a, we have sample size shampoo and conditioner from Isle of Dogs, that they’re a premier grooming products, and so if you need to bathe your dog while you’re gone you have shampoo and conditioner, if there’s an accident or something, you know, you have supplies. And then of course the best thing in there is the copy of the Fido Friendly Magazine, so for all of you out there that are traveling, it’s the best thing to have in your carry-on or in your suitcase or just in the car. I love mine, I take it with me in my briefcase all the time and…

Susan Sims: Yay.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: It’s a great go-to. Well, it’s a great, it’s a great resource for everyone. You know, people, I’m the dog person here at the airline and we have five thousand people that work here so, people come to me and say, “I want to go to Colorado and do you know of any place in Colorado that, you know, you can visit with your dog?”, and I’m like, “Well, here, here’s a magazine, read this and then go to this website”, and, you know, so it, it works out really well, it works out really well.

Nicholas Sveslosky: That’s perfect.

Susan Sims: Thank you.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Oh, you’re welcome. You guys have definitely earned it.

Susan Sims: And we’re not even paying her. Thank you.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Oh, no, no, no paying. No, no, no, you know, when it’s true like that, for those of us that really have the caring genuineness of our animals, and, you know, both you and Nicholas are doing such a wonderful thing for people out there and their pets, and Midwest Airlines, you know, we’re doing our thing in the travel industry and, you know, when we all get together and put all of our wonderful things together, this world’s a better place for our pets.

Nicholas Sveslosky: I agree. I think this industry, being in the pet industry is probably one of the most rewarding things just because the people that are truly involved in any aspect that has to do with the care of your animal are genuinely good people because they wouldn’t be in it otherwise, it’s almost like everyday you get to talk to somebody that is a fun and loving person.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Yes, yes

Susan Sims: Yeah.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Yes, absolutely.

Susan Sims: It’s kind of like the heartstrings industry.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Ooh, it does, it does, you know, and when we all pool together and, our resources and our talents and our love for our animals it’s amazing what we can all do together, and I think that goes to everyone out there in the world. You know, if you truly have a love for animals, you know, there’s something that you can contribute somewhere, whether it’s in your community or your town or your Humane Society or, get in touch, there are so many organizations online to just make a difference, and please take advantage of it if you can, it’s important for our animals.

Susan Sims: Yeah, I agree, they really do…

Nicholas Sveslosky: You know, there’s…

Susan Sims: and that’s, that is important for people to remember.

Nicholas Sveslosky: Yeah, and I know, you know, you expressed a lot of great care as far as talking about when, you know, Midwest does have a kennel with a dog inside on its airline, if you wouldn’t mind Susie, if you could take us step by step, you know, what somebody would expect when they are going to, you know, preparing to bring their dogs to Midwest Airlines and then all the way to the end, so what they can expect before the flight, maybe also if something were to happen, if, if the flight gets delayed or if there is a, you know, a change in flight that you’re going to have to make a stop and change to another plane, how the dogs are handled in both situations, a delay or a change, and then finally, properly, when we come to the oversize baggage and collect our dogs, what we can expect.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Well from the beginning to the end, as the pet parent arrives at the airport and the pet is checked in at the ticket counter with their health certificate and everything is tagged and labeled accordingly, the pet is then given their Midwest Airlines Premier Pet Cherub Traveling Treat because of course they can’t have chocolate, so they get their cookie too, so they get their customized little Cherub dog cookies at the ticket counter, and then they’ll get their, the pet parent will get the Premier Pet Travel Pack and then, depending upon when they passenger arrives with the pet, if they are two hours early and they check in and they don’t want to leave the dog right away, they can, you know, depending upon how busy the airport is, they can keep the dog anywhere from up to an hour before departure or a half hour before departure, depending upon how long you think it’s going to take you to get through security. And keep in mind that the gates, you know, do start boarding about 20 minutes prior to your flight, so that’s something to keep in the back of your mind. Then at, when you are ready, we will call our handlers, our agents to come up and two of them will come up and take the dog back to a holding area that is heated and air conditioned depending upon what time of year it is, and they will place the dog in an area where they will be held until they are put onto a special cart and then, potentially if it is cold, they will wrap the kennel, if it’s not, they will keep them in the air conditioning exceptionally late, just maybe five minutes before the plane is going to depart because they want to make sure the dog stays cool or warm, whatever it is, and then they bring the dog to the aircraft, they put it onto a ramp up to the forward below bin, which is, we call them our below cabin aircraft bin because it is right up near the pilots, there is nothing else in there but pets and maybe possibly a wheelchair if we have someone on the aircraft with a wheelchair. But we put our pets in there, then they are strapped down by the attendant, the attendant signs off that the dog was strapped down and it was loaded and the dog was in appropriate behaviored, seemed fine, then that tag is taken up to the flight attendant and the flight attendant takes that acceptance tag signed by the ramp agent to the passenger on the aircraft, and…

Susan Sims: Oh good.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Right, so the passenger then knows that their dog is loaded and everything was, was A-okay. When they get to their destination, they will go down to get their bags and they will go to the baggage claim and get their bag and then whatever, if they look around they’ll see elevators near the baggage claim and the closest elevator to your baggage claim, where your bags are coming off is where, most of the time, 99.9 percent of the time your dog should come off on that elevator. And then you’ll just wait there for your dog. But, you know, when there are people and systems and things sometimes get awry, but you can always stop at the baggage claim area and they can direct you to where your dog will be brought up on an elevator. The dogs are always unloaded first, but you will not necessarily get your dog before you get your bag if they’re unloaded first, it’s kind of a thing you might think, “Well, if my dog was unloaded first, why don’t I have my dog before my bag? Where’s my dog?” And that’s something that people just don’t know, that the dog is actually brought back to the holding area that’s heating and air conditioned, and they are held there until they can unload the rest of the aircraft first. Then the dog is brought up to the passenger. And the reason that happens is because, you know, the ATA and FAA, they have us on tight schedules and we have to unload that aircraft to get all of the gear off that aircraft and turn that aircraft around and board passenger in 25 minutes.

Susan Sims: Wow.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: So, it’s a big job, it needs to be done meticulously and, you know, we don’t want to rush, you know, bringing a dog up and the people aren’t there yet or something happens, so we put the dogs off to the side, get all, everyone else off first and the bags, and then we bring the dogs up to the passengers because then we know for sure that the passengers are going to be there waiting for their dog.

Susan Sims: Yeah, it makes a little more sense that way too, and then they don’t have panic set in.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Well sure, sure, it’s definitely, they definitely, you know, that’s something people don’t understand and I try to, you know, communicate that in as many pieces as I can so they do understand why that happens.

Susan Sims: Yeah.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: But if we do have delays or there’s a maintenance issue and the dog, there is a dog on board at the time, we will actually ask, if we do deplane the passengers, we will ask the pet parents to come to the gate.

Nicholas Sveslosky: Wow, that’s really neat.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Yup, and then we’ll have them go get the pets down, we’ll, we’ll escort them because of course this is all a very secured area and we’ll take the pets off, we’ll put them in an area that’s comfortable for them while they’re waiting as well, the pet parents will have an opportunity to water them and take them out to the bathroom.

Nicholas Sveslosky: That’s great.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: So, and if there should be a problem with a dog that is being shipped on us by air cargo and it doesn’t have a pet parent with it and they get hung up overnight, one of the people at the stations or our flight crews will take the pet with them overnight and tend to it, so…

Susan Sims: Aww, that’s like, that’s so sweet, that’s a little…

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: It’s a pet foster, yeah.

Susan Sims: Yeah, pet foster. I love that.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: It’s a pet foster parent, yeah.

Susan Sims: Yeah. I, I love it, so it sounds to me like you can really fly anytime of the year because the below cabin is temperature controlled.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Oh, yes. You know what, I’ll tell you, I have taken dogs out to aircraft actually during the Westminster Dog Show, I pretty much go to work and I load dogs because I know there are a lot of dogs traveling with us and I want to make sure that everyone is a-okay and boarded properly. So, you know, that’s February in Milwaukee and that’s pretty darn cold at that time.

Nicholas Sveslosky: Wow.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: And they come out, they come out on the cart with a blanket over their cage and they get, by the time those dogs are brought out, the aircrafts already been running, the engines have been running for a little bit and it’s darn warm down there. So they just go right into the warmth, they’re strapped down, you know, it’s lit, they see people, and it’s just, you know, it’s no different than riding in the back of a van. And that’s pretty much the story.

Susan Sims: I love it. Is there, is there anything else you think that our listeners should know and if not, I guess they could find all that information out on the website.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Sure, you want to go to www.midwestairlines, with an s, dot com, and again, my name is Susie Kerwin-Hagen. You know, some of the other caps, you know, always check with their veterinarian first, but I don’t, I don’t recommend sedating animals just because people aren’t aware and veterinarians aren’t aware that altitude plays a role in the absorption of that sedative, and with every dog it will be different. So you don’t, that’s a little bit of an unknown anomaly and there have been dogs that have passed because they were too heavily, between the sedatives and the altitude it just was not, the dog had an issue with that and did not, was not able to sustain that.

Nicholas Sveslosky: Wow, that’s an excellent…

Susan Sims: Wow, that…

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: So, be very careful….

Susan Sims: Yeah, that’s kind of sad…

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Be very careful about that, yeah, it is very sad. Be very careful with that because I would much rather see you put cotton in their ears and go to your local health food store and get something natural, there’s a lot of natural things out there and, you know, maybe that’ll just take a little bit of the edge off if you really think it’s necessary, but crate train, crate train, crate train your dog.

Susan Sims: Yes.

Nicholas Sveslosky: Yeah, get them to love that thing.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: That is so important.

Susan Sims: Yeah.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: If you want to travel with your dog, you need to crate train them. They need to know that that crate is their home and they’re safe when they’re in there, and that needs to start at home. Comfortable, safe travel with your dogs, whether it’s in a car or a plane or train or anything that moves, is to crate train at home from the time they’re babies. And make sure that they know that the crate is a safe place and a comfortable place for them to be and that it’s not a punishment place, okay?

Nicholas Sveslosky: Right.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: If you’re punishing, then don’t put them in the crate because they’ll, you know, they’ll link those two together as well. So it’s a, reinforce that this is a comfortable, safe place for those dogs to travel if you ever want to travel with your animals.

Susan Sims: I think it’s a…

Nicholas Sveslosky: It’s a home on wheels.

Susan Sims: Yeah home on wheels and I, mine are eight years old, is it too late to crate train them?

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Not really.

Susan Sims: Okay.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: No, it really isn’t.

Susan Sims: Okay.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: It really isn’t. I mean it’s, it definitely is not too late to train them.

Susan Sims: Okay.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: You know, yes you’re going to have to put up with a little bit of, you know, resilience…

Nicholas Sveslosky: Stubbornness.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: and a little bit of stubbornness, ‘cause I think you have, do you have Labrador’s?

Susan Sims: Yes, we have two Labs and…

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Yeah?

Susan Sims: Yeah.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Yeah, Labrador’s can tend to be a bit on the stubborn side, but…

Nicholas Sveslosky: As long as they’re exercised and tired, they’re good to go.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Yeah, that’s true, that’s very true, as long as they are exercised…

Nicholas Sveslosky: Yeah.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: But, you know, that’s just one of the most important tips is that the training does start in the home. It just helps them feel more comfortable.

Nicholas Sveslosky: Yeah, well that’s, that’s…

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: In a very hectic environment.

Susan Sims: Yeah.

Nicholas Sveslosky: Yeah, that helps ‘cause there’s going to be a lot of loud noises and things they’re going to have to go through on the adventure so, well Susie I want to thank you so much, this has been a lot of great tips and info, and again for anybody that wants to find out more about the Premier Pet Program or to find out more about Midwest Airlines, just go to midwestairlines.com.

Susie Kerwin-Hanes: Please do. Thank you very much for the time.

Nicholas Sveslosky: Thank you.

Susan Sims: Thanks Susie, safe travels and we look forward to talking to you again real soon.

Susie Kerwin-Hagen: Me too. Have a great day. Bye.

Susan Sims: Okay, thanks.

Nicholas Sveslosky: Bye.

Susan Sims: We’re going to take a break and come back with our travel tip, so sit and stay, we’ll be right back with more Travel Tails on Pet Life Radio.

Nicholas Sveslosky: Welcome back to Travel Tails on Pet Life Radio. This is Nicholas Sveslosky along with Susan Sims and before the break we were talking with Midwest Airlines spokesperson Susie Kerwin-Hagen about their Premier Pet Program, and she was kind enough to walk us through a lot of the steps that you need to take for the process of flying with Fido. And this brings us to our Fido Friendly travel tip. When flying with Fido, be sure to contact your airline to find out policy and procedure. You’re going to make sure you have the necessary vet records and that Fido is healthy and ready to fly. Most airlines give you about a 30 day window for a clean bill of health and the ready to fly vet records, so you want to make sure to take into consideration your return date and that that falls within that 30 day window as well. Our January/February issue of Fido Friendly Magazine will include an informative page of websites and phone numbers for travel resources, both domestic and abroad for you.

Susan Sims: And if you would like to find out more about today’s topics or just about traveling with Fido, you can go online to fidofriendly.com to subscribe or just stop in one of your local Border’s, Barnes and Nobles or Pet Smart location and pick up a copy of Fido Friendly today. And yeah, we would love to hear from you with the questions or comments you have, and please feel free to email us at Pet Life Radio and until next time, safe travels and leave no dog behind. This is Susan Sims along with Nicholas Sveslosky for Travel Tails on Pet Life Radio.