Guess what arrived today? My travel crate!
The lovely Dogtainers Pet Travel Consultants people brought it to our house in a big car machine…
Ooh! Look who's here!
I helped by supervising the unloading…
You take the left, I've got the right...
Are you tensing your core muscles before you lift?
Usually, travel crates are put in the house – like in the living room, where most of the family spend their time – so us doggies can get used to staying in it there…but in my case, it’s so big and our house is so small that it would have taken up half the house! 
So my humans decided to leave it in the garage and I could just go and practise staying in it there for a short time each day.
Hmm...the latest in luxury canine travel, huh?
Anyway, my human, Hsin-Yi, will probably be spending a lot of her time in the garage in these last couple of weeks packing up all our stuff…so it’ll give me a handy place to laze around while supervising her! 
Hsin-Yi let me sniff all around the crate and explore it in my own time – she didn’t try to force me to get in or anything like that, which made me think it wasn’t so scary after all.
Good thing they took my measurements to make sure it's tall enough!
You see, I have never been crate-trained and so I have not been used to being confined in anything small in my life. But the key to introducing new things to us doggies is to not rush us but be very patient and let us take “baby steps” at our own pace and have lots of positive experiences with it, so we associate it with nice things and learn to like it.
Hsin-Yi had put an old yoga mat and blanket down in the floor of the crate to make it nice and comfy for me to lie on…and then she put 2 yummy cookies in it and just waited to see what I would do…
Well, silly human – what does she think?
Wow - this travel crate comes with inflight snacks!
It was a bit of a tight squeeze turning around to get back out but I managed! 
Breathe in! Breathe in!
(To be honest, I’ve had lots of practice squeezing into tight spaces this year having to ride in our tiny car machine!)
Since Hsin-Yi was busy doing her ‘crazy Camera Machine dance’ around me, I decided to humour her and stay in the crate a bit to pose for her pictures…
Did you get it from this angle?
After that, she let me get out and we went back into the house. She said that since this was the first day, it was good enough just getting me going into it happily & voluntarily - after a few more days of this, she will try getting me to do a Down Stay in there (with the door open) so I learn that I have to stay in there for a while…
…and then after a few more days of that, she will shut the door but stay around me, doing stuff in the garage…
…and then after a few more days of that, she will shut me in it and go back in the house for a few minutes…
…gradually working up to leaving me shut in it alone for longer and longer times. Baby steps, remember?
This is quite similar to the normal method of introducing a puppy to a crate. If you would like more information about that, here are some useful links:
- http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/tips/crate_training.html
- http://www.siriusweb.com/AAD/crate.html
- http://www.canismajor.com/dog/crate1.html
- http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/cratetraining.htm
I will also be getting super yummies when I go in the crate, like special chews and stuffed Kongs, etc – and maybe also having some of my meals fed in there, so I will really associate it with good things!
* By the way, in my original post about doing our “Moving Overseas” thing, some of you asked in your comments about whether us doggies should be sedated when we are going in the Big Flying Machine. Actually, this is a very old idea which is wrong because the medicines used to sedate us can make us doggies very sick when we are in the air.
Hsin-Yi recently wrote an article on Emigrating with Your Pet for one of her dog magazines and here is an excerpt from that article, which will explain to your humans better why pets shouldn’t be sedated for air travel:
You might think that a good solution for nervous, timid dogs would be sedation. But in fact, sedating an animal is probably the worst thing you can do and airlines now refuse to carry any animal which looks like it has been sedated.
Sedation reduces an animal’s ability to cope with stress, such as moving around, panting, drinking and so on, and some sedatives, such as ACP, may actually directly affect thermoregulation. Furthermore, aircrafts are pressurised at between two-thirds and three-quarters of normal atmospheric pressure, which lowers the blood pressure of both humans and animals. Since sedatives also work by lowering blood pressure, the combined effect would be seriously dangerous to the health of the dog.
However, help is at hand for anxious dogs, through the use of natural anxiety-relievers which do not lower blood pressure and are safe to give when administered according to veterinary advice.
“Dogs with major behavioural/ anxiety problems such as severe separation anxiety are not good candidates for travel,” admits homeopathic veterinarian Richard Allport. “The dog is away from the carer, in a strange, noisy place for a long period. However, natural anxiety relievers such as herbal Skullcap and Valerian, or homoeopathic Passiflora are usually helpful.”
“Most dogs will cope, which is not to say there isn’t some degree of stress involved. Just like people, every dog is different. Most dogs subjected to sitting in a kennel in the cargo hold for several hours would find the experience pretty unpleasant but would soon – perhaps not forget – but put the experience behind them. Because dogs live much more in the here and now than we do, the experience may be, if anything, more stressful at the time, but conversely they may be even more able to move on and put it behind them. A few, more sensitive, dogs might have a deeper and longer-acting reaction. It’s a question of knowing your own dog.”
Choosing a reputable, experienced pet transport company can also make a big difference in reducing the stress to an anxious animal. Not only would the company know how to select the most direct air route and keep the time spent in travel crates to a minimum but many of them also have ‘strategies’t to help anxious animals cope better.
“We spray all our crates with DAP pheromone spray which helps the dogs,” says says Bob Ghandour, Veterinary Consultant and Director of PetAir UK, which flies thousands of pets per year around the world. “Also, a nervous pet can have his crate to get used to it before the flight and they will usually travel very well.”
I hope you found that useful!
What a grrrreat post!
That is one khool khrate
Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra
wow that is one big crate!! I love my crate – so nice and cosy, will protect me from anything scary!
Licks,
Lexi
Wow your crate is big, did your humans take the measurements of it? It would be cool to compare it to the Colossal Crate that most great danes in the states have.
woof – Tucker
Hi Honey!
Khyra’s spot-on – great post! So interesting and informative (as always!)
We were crate trained as puppies – our humans were advised to by their doggie-owning pals who told them ‘you’ll be thanking yourself later if you do it whilst they’re young!’ and they say it was one of the best pieces of advice they were given! So – he he he – excuse us if we can, for a few moments, feel wonderfully smug that there is actually something that we’ve been trained in before you – tee hee hee!
We know you’re extremely busy at the moment but we have a quick question! We’ve got a small pressie for Honey from Egypt! Would you prefer us to send it to you once you’ve moved – we think you probably would as we reckon you’ve got enough packing to do!
Oh – thanks for your ‘bootie-licious’ entry by the way!! ¦D
Big schnauzer snuggles – JD and Max.
Wow, that crate is really huge!! We wonder how many beagles can stay in it comfortably.
What a crate! What an adventure! I think it is so great that your human is showing others how to make airline travel a positive experience for pets.
I love your travel crate and am glad to see that it comes with in flight snacks. It does look like a tight fit, but that will make you feel more secure, I think.
I had a crate when I was a puppy and liked it a lot, but now I think it would take some getting used to. Hey, at least yours is bigger than that dumb box that momma keeps bringing out.
Slobbers,
Mango
Your travel crate is huge! But it is so cool too! Hsin-Yi is introducing it to you in such a smart way. I am sure you will have no problem getting used to being in there and will just sleep your way through the entire trip. I’ve never flown any where in my crate, but I sure do like being in my crate when mom goes somewhere. Makes me feel all safe and secure!
What a great big crate Honey! I think that your Hsin-Yi and Paul could fit inside with you. Then you could all travel together. Kongs in crates are the best. Even goofy Ambrose will run right into his crate if he sees Barbara stuffing a Kong. I am never in a crate in the house because I am a good girl but I ride in a crate in the dog-crate-on-wheels to keep me safe.
I’m glad you enjoyed my comments on play. I would play with you if you came to live in America. You are a big girl so some dogs would be intimidated by your play style but I would not. It is all about having friends with a similar play style. I will try to get someone to video us doing pivots. It is hard to explain the foot work.
Have fun with your new crate.
Your friend,
Niamh
Cool crate!! You could stain it and match almost any decor LOL. What are the measurements on it?? It’s huge! I’m sure Honey will handle this perfectly fine. She’s such a well adjusted dog.
Wow that’s one BIG crate! You’ve got a smart owner there Honey, and I’m sure you’ll adjust well to being in the crate.
We crate trained Darwin from when she was just a tiny puppy. We don’t use a crate in the house anymore as a crate that would fit her now would be way too big in our house, so we keep her in the kitchen when we’re out. It did help though with potty training her and in other ways too. It has helped with our daycare issues a little. When she gets stressed out at daycare, like when the other dogs start leaving and she panics, they put her in a kennel and it calms her down quickly.
Your girl is really on the ball with this, Honey. Looks like you’re well on your way to a new adventure.
Hi Honey, that crate looks great. We’re sure your transport will go very well.
Murray’s Mom sprays a little Rescue Remedy on my tongue before I fly with them. It’s just a natural remedy and don’t know it it really makes any difference but I don’t mind it.
I’m off to Brussels with them in two weeks time – I’m lucky I guess that I can sit beside them on the plane – other passengers are not always so happy to see me – people get nervous flying but I just lie curled up on the floor for the whole flight.
Best of luck with the move
take care
Clive
Hello! Love this post, plan to Twitter about the second half, and would like your help with the first half. Would you let me know where you had your Great Dane’s crate constructed, and to what pattern? I have a blog reviewing pet carriers, and the biggest one commercially available (as you know) is not an airplane carrier. I’d love to be able to tell my readers who own giant breed dogs how to go about acquiring a crate like Honey’s. Thanks so much!
– Mary-Alice P. (www.pet-carrier-reviews.com)
I am glad those crate people recognize that we doggies are the very best supervisors. They cannot do anything entirely correctly without the watchful eye of a doggie. We all hope you learn to enjoy your new crate, and we hope you will have a big house and yard to rule in your new home.
Drools,
Thor
Hiya Honey! What a cool crate… I could probably live in there
especially since it comes with the build in snackbar.
xxx Teal’c
WOWOOWOOOOOOO Sweet Honey!!!!
)))))))))))
What a great great crates you have!!!!!
Your mommy is working very very well with you and we hope your travel won’t be too much hard for you!!!!
Awwwwwwwwwwww…..if only we could travel with you!!!
We’ll love stay close to you and speaking with you during the trip!!!!!
But we’re sure you’ll have a wonderful travel…na dyou’re going to AUSTRALIA!!!!!!!!!!
OMDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!!
Lucky girl!!!!
We’re soooooooooooo jealous of you!!!!!!
WAWAWWAWAAAAA!!!!!
Don’t forget us ok??????
HAve a wonderful weekend sweety!!!
We love you….your mommy and your dad!!!!
Tons of love and kisses
what a great box
she’s a funny human
Sanne says: i wanna paint that box
but el’bow thinks that the box is to small for him! lol =D
Kissslobbers
El’bow & Hauwii
What a great crate they made for you, Honey. And you have the smartest mom who knows all the right things to do to make this a good experience for her sweetie – that’s you!!!
Woos and happy weekend, the OP Pack
What a HUGE crate!!! My little chihuahuas could get lost in there. BOL
Thanks for the article on sedating animals, I have never done that with mine but I know people who do it whenever they go away on a trip.
I never noticed your tags before, Honey. They’re so pretty!
I missed the last couple of postings so I added myself as a follower so I don’t miss anymore.
hello honey its dennis the vizsla dog hay wow that is sum krate!!! it is enormus!!! and it luks verry sturdy so i dont think yoo hav ennything wo wurry abowt on yore trip!!! ok bye
Hi, Honey!
Sure is nice to have your travel crate at home now and getting used to it with some time!
Take care
Kisses and hugs
Lorenza
That’s a wonderful crate, and I’m glad you are getting used to it so gently and gradually. Do you get to keep the crate for future use?
What an UBER-crate. I could easily fit an entire family in there–a family of Chis lol I’m impressed by that thing. It’s more like a deluxe condo. Enjoy it!
That is one mighty big crate you’ve got Honey. We think you’ll be very comfortable in it (especially with the in-flight snacks.)
We flew when we were little bitty squirty babies to our mommy and papi and it wasn’t so bad.
Bobo and Meja
Great post, Honey! Your crate looks cool! Sounds like new adventures are coming!
xoxo
Thor
Wow Honey – I had no idea you were moving overseas! Brisbane sounds really nice, and for a dog as well-adjusted as you are, I bet the move will be a piece of cake.
Marge has not been crate trained, either, though I did buy a soft crate over the summer for her. I haven’t had it out in a while (in fact.. it’s been in the trunk of my car for the last month, I’m ashamed to admit!) but she likes it as long as she’s home. I set it up at agility class a couple of times and it really stressed her. So we still have a ways to go with the training.
Hi Honey
That is one big travel crate. We think you should paint it. Maybe a nice pink or purple.
Love Ruby & Penny
Wow Honey what a cool travel box! We have never had to travel before. I hope that it all goes ok and that you learn to love it. We are both crate trained and love our crates. Bella is hiding in hers more often these days to hide from our new foster dog. She is 8 months and a live wire! We promist to post on our blog soon. I just love coming to read about you here. Thanks for posting often!
Boxen
This is very exciting, Honey! You new travel accommodations look just right for you!
Luv,
Dave
we may have to take some lessons from you… travel may be in our furture (pun intended) too! we’ll keep you posted.
neat crate. i’m so glad you find it homey. and I’ve heard that about medicating too… I would not medicate and would probably choose homeopathic. Maybe a martini with bone in it…
thanks for the info!
~wags-n-wiggles~
wild dingo
Hi Honey, what a fab crate! Sounds like an excellent plan for getting used to your new “cabin.” jake has been on two new forms of transport this weekend, an intercity express train and a metro (underground) train. It all worked out fine, pix on J’s blog!
Hi Honey!
I’m Scottie…nice to meet you! I found your blog through The Four Musketeers’ blog, and I have to say your blog is REALLY cool! All your posts are so informative! May I add you to my blog list of pals? =)
Scottie
[...] to a company called Dogtainers Pet Travel Consultants to get measured for her custom crate, and the arrival of the completed crate. Take a look — the pictures alone are worth a visit, but the posts are informative and [...]
Heehehee, when I saw that first photo, I thought that maybe that CAR would be your travel crate! That would be big enough for you. Just.
Once again, thanks for a great and informative post. Mom got me used to my travel bag when I was a puppy, so I’d always associate it with going somewhere FUN! And I’ve always been a great traveller. Mom says that she whines more than I do when we travel. I know some dogs have success with Rescue Remedy for keeping them calm when they fly. I’m just lucky that I fit underneath the seat of the plane and don’t have to go in the hold so I can travel year’round. (The airlines won’t let pets in the hold if the temperatures are too high or low.)
I know you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving in New Zealand (or Australia) but I want to let you know how grateful we are to have you and Hsin-Yi for friends. (Paul, too, but we don’t hear from him as often!)
Your pal,
Petey and his Mom
P.S. Saw photos of your book! You’re a superstar!!!
Wow awesome crate. And I thought Bonzo’s (angel bernese mountain dog) crate was huge lol.
Good job on getting used to it. My girls get crated everyday whenever Im not home. It keeps them calm and they always get something yummy when they go in there, stuffed kong is a big favorite lol.
Def agree about the sedation, When we brought Bonzo from Switzerland to Houston, TX USA he wasn’t sedated. It was a long flight but he did great!
Your crate is so BIIIIIIIG!
If you love your crate like I love mine, there will be no problem!
Kisses
Rufus and Indie
That is a gigantic crate!! Meowm would love to have one that size for the outdoor kitties to call home! We are very glad you can get turned around in it….it looks kinda tight though.
what a great post! hope you end up lurving your crate!
xoxo,
Brownie
It looks like a perfect crate for a Honey dog!
Yeah, I gotta say that is the BIGGEST crate I have ever seen. I also commend you on not forcing the dog into the crate right away and letting it get used to the crate gradually. I hear way too many stories of people forcing their dogs into the crate right away and then quickly shut the door. Great post!
Great article and information!
I own a big male Irish Wolfhound and am looking to buy a crate for him to travel with me on a commercial airplane. Would you know where I could buy one? Thanks!
I’m going to be traveling with my big boys (Newfoundlands). Where did you get your crate? I would love to order 2. Thanks.
It’s good to see sites along with information and thanks for the discuss that you’ve given. Generally, I’m very amazed, but etc…