# 12 year old Vizsla on a plane



## vizslaboy12 (Jun 27, 2018)

We may need to put our dog on a flight to South Carolina from New Jersey. Our Vizsla is 12 years old, still acts like a puppy most of the time, however we are worried about flying him down and back up. With his age should we not fly? or if anyone has had similar experiences to share that would be helpful!


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## gingerling (Jun 20, 2015)

I personally would never put mine on a flight unless he was seated next to me, the fear of decompression or other calamity in the baggage hold..this is rare but it does happen...would deter me. If you must do this, talk with the vet about any concerns about his advanced age, and get a short acting tranquilizer so he at least sleeps thru this, the whole thing is pretty scary.


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

I believe it isn't recommended to tranquilize for flights, but I agree that your vet is best suited to determine whether your dog is healthy enough to fly.


I know plenty of people who fly their vizslas frequently and even internationally without issue and my only personal experience is also with an international flight (Budapest to Frankfurt to Newark) when my dog was 10 weeks old. I was a nervous wreck for that, but it worked out just fine. So yes, absolutely things can go wrong just as they do when people fly, but it's rare. Keep in mind that high temperatures can affect if the airlines will fly dogs. There might be some ground transportation options that you could look into as well.


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## Gabica (Jan 20, 2018)

You hear more negative stories about domestic flights than international, seems they have better rules and procedures in place for international ones? I drew mine to Florida from Houston last December for the dock diving nationals and will do again this year, but maybe i am just overly paranoid and protective when it comes to my vizsla


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