This article was written by Gabby Aguilera of Gabby's Pet Sitting and has previously been published at https://www.gabbyspetsitting.com/blog/category/pet-travel/2. It has been reproduced here with the full permission of the author.
One of my favorite things to do is bring my dog on adventures with me. Even though he can't come all the time, the world is more dog friendly than you'd think as long as you come prepared. I adopted my dog, Taco, in Beijing and now live in Cincinnati. I spent close to a year prior to our flight back to the US researching travel requirements and recommendations and preparing him for the journey. I've collected the resources I found the most helpful below, so hopefully you won't have to spend a year preparing to adventure with your pet.
Dog Jaunt - This website is my holy grail of pet travel. Whether you are taking your pet by car, plane, train, boat, or public transit, Dog Jaunt has something for you. It has helpful product reviews and extremely detailed information about a wide range of very specific travel situations. For example, I was flying with Taco on a 14 hour international flight and then transferring to a domestic flight once I got to the US. This site not only had an article specifically about long distance flights with small dogs, but also an article on transferring from an international to domestic flight with a pet and what to expect going through customs.
Pet Travel - This website is my go-to when I am flying with my dog. My favorite part of this website is the airline pet policies page. With over 160 airline pet policies all in one place, you can quickly search your airline and find what you need to know about bringing your pet on board. Along with airline policies, Pet Travel has information about pet friendly hotels, international pet travel, and general pet safety.
SeatGuru - Not all airline seats are made equal. SeatGuru isn't a specifically pet focused site, but if you are bringing your pet on board with you, it's very helpful in picking a seat with sufficient under-seat space for your pet.
BringFido - This site is great for finding pet friendly hotels, restaurants, and activities. You can find places to stay with your pet in over 54 countries worldwide and book directly from the site with no extra booking fees.
CDC - The CDC site is helpful mostly for people importing and exporting pets to and from the US. There are helpful FAQs and in depth information about country-specific requirements that are necessary to know before bringing your pet into the US.
These are my personal top 5 sites for all things pet travel. I will also be posting articles about different products I've used with my dog that made the travel process a lot easier and more on how I prepared Taco for extensive plane and car travel so keep an eye out for those soon!