[Dailydrool] Congratulations (or good luck) on the move!

[Sarah Frioux]

Val,
We just flew to the mainland with Koa, who obviously has similar issues, in
June, and it wasn't really all that bad.

Our vet was aware of his anxiety issues from our first visit. She generally
won't sedate animals for flight because of the respiratory depression that
can occur. But, her rationale was that Koa is so nervous that he might
actually do himself some harm pawing at the crate door or literally
hyperventilate until he bloated. She prescribed us an anti-anxiety/sedation
medication (that I cannot currently recall - I'll have to check the medicine
cabinet), with several extra doses, so we could do some test doses. We found
that, at a really small dose, he was awake and alert, but more calm.  We
contemplated taking some time to acclimate him to a crate for long periods,
but ultimately just decided to bite the bullet and do it all at once. He was
fine on the other end, though he barked through the entire check in process,
and maybe through the whole flight. Who knows? I will say that I was
reasonably pleased with the Honolulu Airport's pet handling as well.

I wonder if Harley will be better during the move now that Bo is with him.
If anybody has any doubts about the importance of good breeding and stable
early ownership in the ultimate behavior of a dog, I think the Hawaii boys
serve as great examples of what instability can bring.

Give the boys a hug for Koa.

Sarah
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