About Shipping

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About shipping

We had an interesting conversation this week when we made a vet visit. We were getting some puppies their wellness check up and my long time vet was telling me about a poodle that was just shipped to Michigan from Alabama and her customer is very stressed over this puppies illnesses. This poodle had been released by the breeder at 5 weeks old. The poodle was shipped at 6 weeks old. This dog had an ear infection, was sick from malnutrition, had pneumonia, and my vet barely kept this poodle alive. Needless to say the poodles breeder will not answer phone calls nor emails.

In chatting with my vet I found out that health certificates are being falsified by many breeders. This is a very scary situation. This poodle was wormed 6 times, and was given the first vaccine at 3 weeks old. Think the breeder was worried about disease??? You can surely bet they were, but by doing this kind of worming and early vaccines it only broke down puppies immune system. My vet was horrified when she learned this!

My vet did save this puppies life, to the tune of hundreds of dollars, but this was one sick baby !

I do not know yet what airline would accept a 6 week old puppy to ship, but from what we learned, the health certificate was not ligitimate. Probably made on the net, or it was used a second time from a previous puppy, but there is no way this puppy was checked by a reputible vet before the puppy was shipped.

I will be notifying a couple of airlines that I use, to encourage them to look at these health certificates more closely, and share with them what has happened.

I do not want my babies flying with a sick animal that could be contagious due to irresponsible, negligent, low class breeders who do not give a hoot about the animals after they are sold and are put on a plane.

I have heard of breeders that lie about the parents of the pups, that falsify AKC papers, but now this ?? It is very frightening... I am shipping pups next week, and you can be darn sure that I will make certain that things are in order. Thats why I love Continental. Yes, I drive a long way to use them, but the fact that they do check on issues is why I believe in them. Continental checks the health cerficates, I have seen other airlines not even look at a health certificate when I have shipped a puppy. I will be calling American, Delta, Northwest, and United to warn them of this incident.

Last time I shipped a puppy, Continental refused to ship a Golden Retriever because it had been drugged. I saw it happen...... I say good for them ! I go to the airport hours before my babies are shipped, just to run with them and get them tired because we would NEVER drug our babies, but disease is another story.

My vet is going to do some investigating also to find out what airline would allow a 6 week old puppy to fly...unless of course the breeder lied on the health certificate which looks entirely possible....

We breeders do certain things to help a puppy that is shipped. We need to be aware of other animals on that flight and ask if the health certificate was checked. We need to help the airlines stay honest, we also need to increase awareness so that the airlines are not transporting disease by air. Please do your part if you are a breeder and the next time you ship, ask questions.

Please don't ask for any special requests for getting your puppy sooner, you will be told NO...... our babies welfare is our number one priority, and since there are breeders of all breeds that will put a sick dog on a plane we have to protect the innocent babies. This is why we have so much disease with our sweet pets. Unethical breeders that are out for the buck,and not for the health of the pups.

Sad, isn't it ???? :(

Please trust that I know best and have shipped many pups and have tried all airlines, and we know you want your baby asap, but understand that with us keeping your baby a little longer,this is a smart decision and one we are very comfortable in making. In keeping our babies until they have had age appropriate health care, it will only make it easier on you, both financially, and emotionally !

UPDATE !

Many storms today when we shipped puppies. In lieu of this, it would have put my puppies in their crates for a VERY long time. SOOO...I decided to share this with all of you, safe shipping is crucial to our babies well being.

Continental is so awesome, I just cannot say enough good things about them. To make a long story short, one pup was going to California, and one was going to New York.

The plane got diverted to another part of Texas when it should have been Houston which is Continentals hub. The winds were too bad in Houston which would have been the layover destination. Super high winds forced this decision by the airline and many many planes were backed up, at one point air travel in Houston was at a complete stop, no planes flying whatsoever. Continental did everything to communicate with me and my new owners. 30 minute updates on the phone, and they did it very graciously. Delay, after delay, after delay. My California puppy was finally put on a plane and on her way. Continental gave her water and her delay although fairly long, was not as lengthy as the delay for my baby going east. New York was more of a problem due to it being so backed up. Many people were headed to NY and at this time of night (which was actually the wee hours the next morning), the flight crews were getting exhausted. I was told the flight could go into NY and arrive at 3:30 am but this was too hard on puppy, and also the new owners. I made the decision to kennel this little boy at Houston aiport in their new kennel, versus him being in his crate 12 + hours and the poor new owners being way stressed out, along with me being stressed too from worry.

Now you are all wondering about this kennel situation. This is a brand new facility in Houston to house these poor babies for reasons of bad weather etc. When I talked to the gal to make these arrangements, she was very pleased that my puppy was over 10 weeks old. She complimented me on NOT shipping an 8 week old baby. The first thing she asked, is if I had given Karo syrup or Nutrical before shipping, of course I had. This is something breeders should do, and should know, and I was impressed that Continental was on top of things that much. In a stress situation like tonight, hypoglycemia can set in fast. The first thing they will do with my puppy at the kennel is give him honey or karo syrup, there is NO other airline that cares this much. They will take this little guy for a walk, dry him off, open the food I sent so he can eat again, fresh water will be given, and he will be held and talked to. He will sleep in a clean dry kennel NOT with other animals, and he will be checked all night. In the morning, he has a new flight, and he will go in a nice clean crate, dry bedding, with more food and fresh water. THIS is why I do business with Continental. The price, a mere $100 to have puppy safe, warm, dry, fed, taken for a walk, and sent to his new owner NOT stressed out. So worth it in my opinion !

When I made the decision to not let my babies leave here until they were a tad older, I knew it was right, now I am sure of it ! An 8 week old puppy put in this situation would have been a lot more stressed and could have become ill and even die. Shipping a puppy at 10-12 weeks old is the best decision we have made along with Continentals pet safe ways, their care and kindness to animals, and simply knowing their stuff, like knowing about hypoglycemia.... We are proud to deal with Continental, and we are happy to bring you an adorable, and healthy baby. Thank you Continental for caring about our babies, there is no other airline that can come close to what you do !

To top it off, when I called early the next morning to see how puppy got through the night, they told me NO CHARGE...how great is that!!!