How we got our fur friends from Texas to Costa Rica
We launched this adventure from Austin Texas, only a 3.5-hour non-stop flight from our destination, Liberia, Costa Rica, not by air but by land. We rented a Dodge pickup to drive approximately 1500 miles in the opposite direction of our destination to Los Angeles. Why? Dogs.
We planned to leave Texas the first week of June. To fly dogs on a plane it must not be hotter than 85 degrees when they take off and when they land. Why? The part of the plane the dogs are in is pressurized and heated and or cooled as necessary so that’s not the issue, the problem is the tarmac. During the loading and unloading process they sometimes sit on the tarmac for a while.
How do you leave Texas in June on a non-stop flight to Liberia, Costa Rica when it’s under 85 degrees? You don’t. You pack your 2 suitcases, 2 duffle bags, 2 carry-ons, 2 backpacks, 2 mountain bikes, and 2 dogs into a pick-up truck and spend 3 days driving to LAX so you can get every body and every thing on a non-stop Alaska Air flight to Liberia. (See extended dance mix version below for details on that)
We drove west to fly east so our dogs could live out our dream in Central America. They were less than thrilled. Two days after we arrived in Costa Rica Vera, my dog, is finally talking to me again but every few hours she turns her back on me and sighs heavily, so I know she’s still upset about the whole thing.
“We were planning to move to France!” I say, “That would have been much harder.”
She gives me side eye and sighs again.
I’m going to take her for a walk on the beach later today, I think that will help.
EXTENDED DANCE MIX:
A behind the scenes look at flying dogs to Costa Rica.
I have never flown dogs in cargo. I’ve driven across the entirety of the US, West to East, East to West, West to middle, East to middle, and even north to south to move my animals by car instead of by plane.
To drive to Costa Rica, we’d have to go the long way through Mexico. Um, yeah, no.
A ton of research later we figured our best option was to fly out of LAX, thanks to June gloom the average temperature is only 73 degrees, and Alaska offers one of the best pet policies and a non-stop flight from LA. The price was $150 per pet.
An absolute steal after looking at what most pet transport services are charging. I got one quote from a company that wanted $2500 per dog to handle everything; paperwork, clearances, someone to drop off and meet the dogs and escort them through customs. Those services were still putting them in cargo on the planes though. At that price I was hoping for a seat on a private plane full of dogs.
For Costa Rica the process was straightforward and easy.
Here's what I learned:
Tip #1 - USDA Health Certificate
Each dog had to get a quick health certificate from a USDA approved vet. My regular vet is USDA approved so that was super easy. You MUST go to a USDA approved vet they are the only ones who can give you the certificate you need! So double check with your vet that they are USDA approved and if they aren't ask for a recommendation.
Tip #2 - Parasite Treatment
Dogs must get internal and external parasite treatment no more than 14 days before departure administered by the vet. That sounds kind of complicated but what it means is your vet will give them an oral treatment medication for fleas, ticks, and worms. At my vet it was one pill, Simparica Trio, that protects from heartworms, fleas, ticks, roundworms and hookworms. It's important that your vet administers it, verifies that the dog ingested it, and records it on your paperwork. Even if you have meds at home for that you can't just give them to your dog on your own, you need to have the vet witness it.
Tip #3 - Get a Printed Record of your Rabies Vacinations
My vet printed up two very official looking copies, one for each dog that stated when they got it, when it expires, who the manufacturer was, and what type it was, ours was a killed virus.
Tip #4 - Print out the Vaccine Record
Dogs entering Costa Rica must have distemper, hepatitis, parvovirus, and leptospirosis. Theses are typical vaccines for the US so that shouldn't be a problem.
Time to Fly
I was so nervous about putting my dogs on a plane that the night before the flight I had a couple of cocktails and then reordered the books in the hotel lobby by color. (In my defense they were chaos and based on the top shelves that no one could reach I could tell that the original plan was for them to be grouped by color)
We arrived at the airport three hours before our flight with our ridiculous pile of bags. Since we rented the truck Don dropped me off at Alaska Air Departures and went and returned it while I sat next to the immovable mound crying, “Help, please, help”.
A kind Alaska Airline employee got all my stuff checked in, which took so long that by the time we walked over to where the dogs crates would head out it was time to load them up. I put on my brave face, gave each of them a dose of Licks Zen Calming Gel (great natural supplement that even helps with dogs who are afraid of thunderstorms) and loaded them up.
The check in officer had me fill out information on stickers that she attached to the crates and we sent them on their way.
“OK,” she said to me, “here’s the important part. When the crates are loaded onto the plane the person who loaded them will pull one of these identification stickers off each crate and stick it to a piece of paper. They will then give it to the flight attendants on your plane, who will hand it to you. This ensures that your dogs are on your plane.”
“Sounds good,” I said.
“Do not let the cabin door close without getting these stickers,” she added.
“Got it,” I said.
Me walking onto the flight.
“Hi, I’m Kiki, I’m sitting in seat 27D. I have two dogs who are supposed to be in cargo on this flight.”
“Great,” said a flight attendant, “we’ll be sure we get your proof of loading to you.”
Me staring at flight attendants as people are done loading, overhead bins are closed, and the main door is preparing to shut I can barely breath. I can't imagine how terrified and helpless I would feel knowing we left LAX without our dogs. No, worse, I can imagine it. I'm having palpitations.
“Don, Don!” I say, shoving him out of his isle seat, “Go, go tell them I don’t have the ticket thingy for the dogs! Go!”
Don jumped up and calmly jog/walked to the closest flight attendant, which happened to be behind us, who called the flight attendants up front. I watched all of this like a slow, high-stakes tennis match, my knuckles white from gripping my armrest, my heart in my throat.
Only when I received the proof of boarding did I feel a bit better.
Landing, disembarking and going through Customs at Liberia Airport was quick and painless. By the time we reached the luggage claim area both dogs were waiting for us, along with all the other stuff we packed. A kind airport employee was waiting with them, speaking to them softly and petting them through the bars.
Only after we broke the zip ties off the crates and I could hug them did I feel better. I think it was the same for them.
The airport staff at Liberia were amazing! Two porters loaded up all of our stuff, unloaded it to run it through the x-ray machine, and loaded it back up. The customs officer looked over the dogs, looked over their paperwork, stamped everything a few times, took his copies and handed me mine.
While looking over the papers he pointed to one of the names and asked, “Who is this?”
I pointed at the smaller of our two dogs, a beagle-dachshund mix.
“This is his name?” He asked pointing at the name on the certificate.
“Yes,” I answered, “His name is Abraham Lincoln.”
The man chuckled, tapped his friend’s shoulder, said some stuff in Spanish which included, perro, nombre, and Abraham Lincoln and they both had a good laugh.
The dogs were thrilled to get outside until they found out it was raining. It was a deluge. A good ole Costa Rican downpour.
Lincoln: I don’t need to go potty.
Vera: I kinda do, but not that bad.
Lincoln: Nope, not gonna do it.
Me: Yep, gonna do it.
I dragged both dogs into the pouring rain to find a tiny patch of grass for them to do their business on. We were soaked to the bone in seconds, at least it’s a warm rain.
Welcome to Costa Rica.
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