5 Down

So, we went to the airport early yesterday and the pup got off on time. He was NOT happy to be awakened at 5 AM (which is just 2 AM California time where his new family was sleeping peacefully) and was even less happy when I made him get inside the crate an hour later. I imagine he was overjoyed at 1 PM (California time) when his people let him out again. At their request, I sent a towel which had spent 24 hours in the puppy pen with him. His new mom said he seemed to relax as soon as she got it out and put it down for him. Two other families have also sent towels for the same mistreatment, but (ahem!) I haven't heard if the smell of home has made any difference in the pups' adjustment. It DOES seem to help with younger pups.

So, with this guy, looking a little stunned, safely in his new home, that leaves 5 in the old home. Two are leaving the first week in August and one a week later. Anyone doing the math,knows the balance is two....

Now, a little airport update or two

First, most people have flown at one time or another and know it takes a while for the baggage to get to the merry-go-round in the terminal. Same thing for pets. When I give you the expected arrival time of the plane, it is the expected arrival time of the plane with your puppy on board. Depending on the size of the airport, it can take from 20 minutes to an hour for the pup to arrive at the cargo facility. Here's the thing, until the pup is there, inside, with someone reading the airbill ,the cargo people cannot tell you if YOUR pup was on board. Despite what Delta will tell you, the Delta computer system is NOT updated every step of an individual shipment (or passenger)'s trek.Sometimes, the computer WILL say there is a live animal or 6 live animals on board, but that's it. And unfortunately, sometimes it will say there are none when in fact there are one or a bunch. Or maybe none. (Animals miss their connections just like people do.) So, you arrive at the cargo terminal (or the passenger counter in small facilities) just before the flight is due in and let the folks there know you're ready to pick up your puppy. If you take your own kids and every one of their friends with you, the Delta employees will be more than happy to get that pup to you quickly. If you must go by yourself, pretend to have a life threatening cough or cold to speed things up. FWIW.

Second, pricing is willy-nilly. There is a severe disconnect between what the booking agents tell you and what the counter people say you owe. When I call in a reservation, I have my airbill right there and know what flights I want the pup on. Not just the one leaving here but the one I want it to connect to... which is seldom the first available connection. In an effort to increase the already astronomical cost of shipping, the Delta rule is a minimum 2 hour connection time or pay more. The problem is, if you pay more there is no guarantee the pup will make the earlier connection, hence no refund when it doesn't which in my experience has been 99% of the time. ANYway, I have the airbill and the flight numbers and the pup's weight and crate dimensions. The cost is figured by the puppy's actual weight and how much weight COULD go in the space the crate is going to occupy. Let's say you have a chunky little Bulldog... since they are very heavy compared to length and height, they can go in a smaller crate than say a Whippet puppy who needs much more room but weighs a lot less. The airlines intend to get theirs regardless (and it's ALL the airlines, not just Delta.)

To make a long story short, the pup who left yesterday weighed 15 pounds and his crate, without him, was 7, probably 10 by the time I got the food bowls and all his paperwork attached, for a total of around 25. On the airbill, I had "+/- 30" which the counterlady changed to 18 for some reason. When I called in the reservation, I gave the booker the wrong crate dimensions and when the crate arrived with its nifty little informational sticker attached giving me the correct size, I called back and gave a different booker the right length/height/width. But THAT apparently was never entered into the booking computer because the price for shipping the pup was much MUCH lower than it should have been. The day before, I picked up a pup that WITH the crate was less than what the California pup weighed by himself. When I booked that shipment, I was told the arriving pup would cost around $210 plus TN tax. Now, our tax is about 10%, but the shipment ACTUALLY cost me just pennies shy of $270. And this, my friends, is why I have gone to shipping c.o.d.

Can You Ship? Not Today!

The puppy going to California this morning, didn't. At 4 AM on the nose, a REALLY violent thunderstorm hit this area. Of course, for people who were up all night or have to leave for work very early and turn on the tv as soon as they get out of bed, it was no surprise since the storm tracked down from the Ohio Valley, making tremendous noise all the way. And actually, some of my adult dogs had been restless and barky most of the night, behavior I tried to sleep through. We had lots and LOTS of lightening, including a number of ground strikes around me... not a pleasant thing. The power flicked off several times before it stayed off for a while. No a.c. and closed windows. When it came back on, I turned on the tv for a weather report and the consensus was it was going to be pretty rough for several hours. So, with the a.c. back on, I turned the alarm clock off and tried to sleep. The pup's trip has been rescheduled for tomorrow and I'll probably check the weather BEFORE I turn in tonight.

The allergy litter
Everyone has checked in and the majority of the pups seem to be fine. Several have sensitive digestive tracts, but nothing major. One has developed an unexplained odor which is a sign of a digestive problem... this IS common with Shar-Pei and usually clears up with a diet change... but the rest are pretty normal. EVERYBODY says they are in love with their puppies, which is good to hear. The pups range from 40 to 46 pounds and the blacks have stayed pretty much black, most with red highlights.

This is Eno whose young owner says "Eno just makes life more funner."

Shipping Info

A report last week states that Delta Airlines accounts for more than half of animal deaths during shipping for the previous year. But what it doesn't give is the actual number of animals shipped during that time and it just mentions in passing that Delta handles the majority of animals. There were 19 deaths with Delta... 16 on flights overseas and one dog that was never loaded on a plane because it was having trouble breathing. Most of the deaths were caused by things out of Delta's control... animals tranquilized by their owners and existing medical problems. Additionally, there were 5 animals injured during shipment, usually by its attempts to escape from the crate.

I ship a large number of puppies, 99.9% on Delta, and KNOCK ON WOOD, I've never had an injury or death or even a lost dog that wasn't located within a couple hours and where it was supposed to be, in good condition, as soon as possible afterwards. That doesn't mean something just awful can't or won't happen. I've been extremely lucky so far and I've nervous every time I ship. The other side of that is I'm just as nervous every time a family drives 6-8 hours or longer to pick up a pup.

Over the years, I've learned the ins and outs of shipping and believe me, what they are required to tell you when you make a reservation is not even close to the way things actually work. THEIR emphasis is on limiting the amount of time the people actually dealing with the animals have to put in on paperwork and making it easier to deal with their cargo without losing, dropping or getting bit by it.

There is a federal requirement that the animal has a health certificate issued within 10 days of shipping. What you don't know and what any vet can (and a good many WILL) tell you is the cursory exam needed for the health certificate does little to find anything but the most obvious medical condition. I've been to a vet who did not even have me remove the puppy from the crate. Many don't ask the shipper any questions about how the animal is behaving. And yet, there are some vets, like my own, who have their own forms which they fill out in addition to the state form. They take temperature, listen to the heart and lungs, check eyes and ears, do a fecal and spend time with a hands on exam of the animal's coat, body and limbs. My vet marks on her form if she sees a flea! But no matter how thorough an exam is, it can't discover or predict the possibility of a virus already at large in the puppy's body. One of my many reasons for keeping pups to 12 weeks and for not allowing visitation is the fact that it already has 2 shots before it leaves me and is exposed to viruses that cause many diseases that can be fatal or at least, very expensive to deal with. It's basically safer for the puppies.

Shipping Mysteries

Rather, ONE mystery... price.
Here's the deal, I shipped two pups, 9 days apart, same size crate, same weight pups, 2 different prices. And I called this afternoon to set up a shipment for a friend, again same size crate, same weight puppy and got a THIRD price. And each time the cost has gone UP. $25 from the first to the second and $30 from the second to the third. But the gentleman helping me this afternoon insisted there have been no price increases in MONTHS. He has no explanation for the differences and apologised several times, as if it was HIS fault.

Yesterday, the puppy almost missed his flight because Delta's cargo computer was... let's say being difficult. The guy checking me in worked on processing it for a half hour before calling the main cargo office and getting them involved. For another half hour. The plane had already boarded and the pup was still sitting at the counter! The agent called out to the gate and told them he had a live animal shipment and not to close up until he got it out there.

The puppy made the flight and the connection and arrived safe and sound on time.

The thing is, I go to the airport with ALL the paperwork ready and the crate all set up. It used to take no more than 10 minutes for me to check in. But it is taking longer and longer. And if there is someone else booked on the same flight, the way things are going, one of the dogs WON'T be going. There really is no excuse for this... lack... of service and consistency. But, then, when was the last time an airline NEEDED an excuse?

It is getting so I cannot accurately quote a shipping price. I may have to start charging for the crate, rabies shot and health certificate and then send the pup off COD.

Shipping Update

Delta has raised their fee for smaller dogs... under 15 pounds... by $50. This means those OVER 15 pounds are going to cost at least that much more to ship. I know this because this morning I shipped a puppy for a friend... pup AND crate weighed 28 pounds and the cost was $273 (with no declared value which is actually insurance.) Add in the cost of the crate, state health certificate, rabies shot and declared value and you're right around $400 for shipping.

Since Delta is my only option out of here, the rest of this post is specifically about them although it probably applies to ALL airlines.

There is some sort of disconnect between the official Delta rules, the animal reservation desk and the personnel at counters in the airports. Sometimes this works to the shipper's advantage but much more often, it results in frustration and hard feelings.

You can not make a reservation without sitting through a 2-3 minute recorded dissertation about the basic shipping requirements, with the new rules on acceptable/non acceptable crates taking up most of the time. When you finally get a person on the line, they go over all the rules... except the business on crates... unless you make sure to tell them "been there, done it more often than YOU." One of the rules I'm told about every time, and find amusing every time, is "You must be there AT LEAST 2 hours before the flight." Probably that is true at medium to large airports. Tri-Cities has one gate. Actually, we have two but the second one is used only when an aircraft is broken down in front of the first one... which happens not often, but not rarely either. If I showed up by 5:30 AM for the 7:30 flight, my counter people would NOT be happy as they are busy checking in the people for the 6:15 AM flight (who were most likely told to be there 2 hours before the flight) and don't want to deal with a dog. Technically... at least according to the reservation desk... I can ship on the 6:15. According to the counter people... forget about it.

So, shipping my friend's puppy...
she was supposed to go yesterday (Wednesday) and I got her Tuesday night. Wednesday morning, 6:10 AM, I pull up in front of our passenger terminal (we don't have a cargo facility) and reached in to get the crate which I had not inspected the night before. To my horror, it was the forbidden type... it had LATCHES holding the top and bottom together (instead of nuts and bolts.) Now, I had told my friend she was going to have to shop around for an acceptable crate as, for years, the latch kind has been what is available everywhere, especially at Walmart. No sense in going inside, so pup and I returned home and went back to bed (after I rescheduled her flight for today.) To be fair, for years I have disliked the latch crates as the latches tend to pop open... when using them, I usually put duct tape over the latches. However, they are still being marketed as "airline approved" so I'm sure my friend is not the only one who has bought one.

Luckily for me, since I could not find an acceptable crate, my groomer gave me an old one she had (refusing my offer of the new one in exchange since she is overrun with crates.) And this morning, 6 AM, pup and I were at the airport. Now here's where there is the disconnect... first the guy (who is new) says to me "Prepaid, right?" And since the choice is only collect or prepaid, I said "Yes." Remember this exchange as it comes up later. He starts checking in the pup and mentions the flight will be leaving on time... at least that is the way it looks right then (before the flight crew arrives.) I asked if the same flight the previous morning had been cancelled (which is what pup's new momma told me when I called to tell her of the change in plans.) Counter guy says "No, it was delayed because of maintenence issues... well, um, yeah, I guess you could say it WAS cancelled." Like I said, he's new and the correct airline-speak doesn't come naturally as yet. Just in passing, I said "Glad I didn't try shipping her yesterday, then, since I had the wrong kind of crate." He asked what was wrong with it and I told him it had latches holding the top and bottom together. And he says "What's wrong with that? Isn't that the way they come?" So much for everyone at Delta being on the same page. But it gets better. Some 15 minutes later, he's handing me my copy of the airbill... and he hasn't collected my check for the shipping. I pass that over to him and he says "YOU said it was PREPAID." Now, my checkbook has been out the whole time, sitting on the counter in front of me, in plain sight, check all made out to Delta except for the exact amount... since, according to the reservation folks they can only give me an estimate and the exact amount will be determined at the counter.... Which is what I tell him. And he snarls "No, prepaid means it's prepaid before you get here." When I ask how that could be, he tells me people use credit cards. And he doesn't know how to take a check. Which means he has to call in the shipping expert who happens to be working the gate, alone, and can't just walk away to come handle HIS problem. Another 15 minutes later, the lady with the experience has straighten things out and has told him more than once "We'll discuss this later...." and I left.

Here's the thing, a few years back, Delta and NW merged and at my small airport, most of the Delta people (who were actually ASA or America Southeast Airlines... personel...) left because they didn't want to take the substantial paycuts so the NW people... who had little to no cargo experience (because NW is too expensive AND has terrible scheduling) started working the Delta counter. This caused A LOT of problems for many months and I was having to book flights around the local counter's work schedules to be sure someone was there who actually knew how to use the computer. Thankfully, that has been resolved... at least to the point that new people who are just learning the system USUALLY have someone who knows what they are doing around somewhere in the airport.

Another thing, the last few times I've called the reservation desk, I've spoken with people who speak English like they are not doing in phonically. THAT is a big plus. I'm not sure it is worth and additional $50 per shipment.

Breedings
Emy's still packing around her brood internally.
And Cotton is done breeding after being covered a couple times... let's all cross our fingers. And toes. And eyes!

Shipping Info

It looks like everything is going to be back to normal this weekend, so shipping is being scheduled as planned... for NEXT week. (It's too early to tell about weather and temps for the following week.) Don't forget: it all still depends on what happens leading up to each departure... weather, equipment, dumb people at the airport, etc... so be prepared to be disappointed even while your fingers, toes and eyes are crossed.

PLEASE read the article on shipping on the website
(http://breeders411.com/SHIP.html)
There is a LOT of stuff in that article... like shot records, food, etc.

And the emails I am sending out... yesterday and over the next few days... also have a great deal of information which you may find yourself needing in the next couple weeks. Things like adjustment (the pup's, not yours,) handling, feeding, diseases to watch for and so forth. You may want to print them off and put them somewhere easy to get to for when you need them.

A Few Things

Several of you have emailed questions about the shipping process. There is an article on the website about shipping which covers just about everything I could think of when I was writing it. Please read it and then ask any questions that aren't answered there... you won't be the only one who wants to know!

Weather
I'm snowed/frozen in until mid week... Wednesday or Thursday... which is fine, sort of. I do wish the weather had been more co-operative the last few weeks. The pups would REALLY love being able to go outside and tear around. BUT here's hoping all the bad stuff for the month will happen in the next 5-6 days so everything will be okay for all the running around to vet and groomer and delivery of pups. If any of you have an in with the weatherman, PLEASE! put in a good word for us.

MY Big News

Finally! It looks like Ost will be here tomorrow, Tuesday. Although our high is still supposed to be below freezing, Delta is accepting the shipment... at least, according to the 800 number. However, it has been my experience that those folks know very little about actual shipping... what can go and when... and the real deciders are the people at the counter when you arrive at the airport. Still, everybody, fingers crossed! I've been ready to meet this guy for 4 weeks!

Spring grooming, Who-Doos

It looks like the worse of winter is over so I've started clipping everyone. Got Emy and Di done... next to Sparky, they're the smallest and the ones I do myself. I didn't clip them in November, except for the back of the ribcage to the tail, because they were both pregnant and I keep the house really cool. All that hair kept the pups nice and warm. All those pups got the hair nice and matted! But it comes off easy then, like shearing a sheep. They went running out into the rain and came in soaked to the skin which they seemed to enjoy. Tomorrow Brogue is going to the groomer. He's not matted except for under his ears and where he's chewed a little on his rear, but he has a really thick coat and when it starts to mat it does it all over in no time. Keo will probably go this week as well. Again, she's not matted but has a ton of hair. Both Sparky and Shadow are still fairly short from their early winter clipping... doesn't seem like the hair grew all that fast this year which is odd since this was the coldest winter we've had in a long time. I actually liked it a lot!

My second attempt at a Who-Doo litter has hit a snag. Trying to get this Goldendoodle girl here from California is proving to be a job. She can't fly because we don't have planes coming in here big enough for the crate and so far, neither her owner nor I have located ground transport we're comfortable with. I remember sending a group of dogs to Idaho via ground several years ago and I was definitely unhappy with the service. If we don't get it worked out before Debbie-Doodle comes into season, all bets are off. I even talked with my vet... again... about doing surgical a.i. with Keo and Brogue. They are all for it... but it's not THEIR money (until I spend it there!) I really hate disappointing the people who have been waiting so long for one of these puppies. AND I'd love to have more Keo pups... her one and only litter was wonderful.

Sounds like maybe the rain has let up a little... I should try letting some dogs out and maybe get them all settled down before Dancing with the Stars starts at 8.