Traveling can be stressful if you haven’t done it in a while. Throw in pandemic woes with an airplane full of unmasked people and add flying with a pup for the first time, and it could very well be a recipe for disaster. But if I, someone who is an anxious flyer, can do it so can you!

Kona hasn’t flown since he was a puppy and I’m sure he has no recollection of his first flight. So our return to the DMV (DC, MD and VA—not to be confused with the Department of Motor Vehicles) was his first flight as an adult pup. We have friends that have flown a lot and have heard about nightmare and success stories. Taking all of their experiences into account, we ended up choosing Alaska Airlines. So I’d like to share our experience flying with Alaska Airlines from SFO → DCA and DCA → SFO. Your flight experience will largely depend on two things: how well you’ve trained your pup to be comfortable in their carrier for the flight and the crew.

Choosing a carrier:

• Read your airline’s pet policy carefully and try to adhere to the pet carrier dimensions as much as possible (or risk getting turned away).

• Function over fashion. This is a personal choice, but if you want to save money and time, we highly recommend going with the simple, no fuss, tried and true Sherpa carrier. Based on measurements alone, the other carriers should’ve been a good fit but were too small in practice. We tried Roverlund (loved the camo and orange design), but it was too small, rigid, and quite heavy. We also tried Wild One, but the zipper situation was a mess even for Papa Bear and it was way too small.

• The Sherpa carrier has a spring wire frame, which allows the rear end of the carrier to be pushed down several inches to conform to under-seat requirements. Initially we tried to adhere to the ridiculously small size requirements and got the M for Kona. We didn’t want to give the crew any reason to turn us away. But because the Sherpa does have some flexibility, in the end we opted for the L, as we wanted him to be comfortable.

Before flying:

• About a month before flying, start getting your pup used to their carrier (if new). We played airplane pink noise and tried to recreate being on an airplane (put the carrier under a seat and covered it with a blanket).

• A week before flying, don’t introduce new food to your pup’s diet.

• A few days before flying, make sure to hydrate your pup. You can add extra water to their food, feed bone broth, goat milk, etc.

• On the day of flying, avoid giving too much water.

If possible:

• Choose flight times where you will have time to take your pup for a long walk and get them pottied ahead of time. We had to get up at 5AM so that we could potty Kona and leave for the airport at 6am for our 8am departure.

• Get to the airport early, but not too early. Plan to arrive 1.5 hours in advance so you can walk your pup and try to get them to go potty one more time.

In flight:

• Be sure to pack mess-free food and treats, and either a water bowl for water or a syringe for giving little bits of water throughout the flight.

Upon arrival:

• It’s nice to let your pup stretch out after a long flight (or even a short one), but we recommend keeping them in the carrier (of course, the top can now be unzipped for air) until you get to the nearest pet-relief area. This can help prevent potty accidents as you’re walking through the airport. Walking often gets the system going—our friend’s pup had a big pee immediately after getting off the plane. Another friend’s pup pooped while en-route to the pet-relief area. If you’re traveling with a pup that doesn’t fit into a carrier, we recommend putting a belly band or diaper on them to avoid airport messes.

Given that there was a four week gap between flights, we made sure to continue to use the carrier throughout our trip for car travel, when dining out, etc. so that Kona would continue to view the carrier as a safe space. On the return flight home we did not play airplane noises in preparation because he did so well on the flight. Hope these tips help! What are others you’d add to the list?