# Adult Havanese flying on Plane



## Hammer (Apr 30, 2017)

Anyone who has an adult Havanese do you know if their size is small enough to be able to fly in cabin on commercial airlines? Just wondering if they are too large to fit in a large Sherpa as an adult.


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## Melissa Brill (Feb 22, 2017)

*Flying*



Hammer said:


> Anyone who has an adult Havanese do you know if their size is small enough to be able to fly in cabin on commercial airlines? Just wondering if they are too large to fit in a large Sherpa as an adult.


It probably depends a bit on your specific Hav. Definitely yes for those on the lower end of the spectrum, probably for the upper end. My Perry is about 11-12 pounds and he fits perfectly into a Sherpa and travels fine. Our airline restricts total weight (bag and dog) to 16 pounds, but I know I've seen larger ones (a cockapoo for example) travel (so depends on whether they decide to weigh them or not). Karen was saying, the other day, that her Kodi probably wouldn't be comfortable in a Sherpa (think she said he was 17 pounds), but there are other bags that might work for a slightly larger Hav.

The size of Havanese and being able to fly in the cabin was one of the main reasons I chose this breed (we live in Uganda and travel back/ forth to the US)


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## MarinaGirl (Mar 25, 2012)

Make sure you check to see if your travel bag fits the airline's requirements. My little Havanese has a medium sized Sherpa bag. I think the large size is for dogs up to 22 lbs so would be too big to fit under the seat in front of yours.

Emmie is 5 yrs old and weighs 8 lbs so she has no problem flying commercial (in-cabin travel). We fly together 1-3 times a year.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Melissa Brill said:


> It probably depends a bit on your specific Hav. Definitely yes for those on the lower end of the spectrum, probably for the upper end. My Perry is about 11-12 pounds and he fits perfectly into a Sherpa and travels fine. Our airline restricts total weight (bag and dog) to 16 pounds, but I know I've seen larger ones (a cockapoo for example) travel (so depends on whether they decide to weigh them or not). Karen was saying, the other day, that her Kodi probably wouldn't be comfortable in a Sherpa (think she said he was 17 pounds), but there are other bags that might work for a slightly larger Hav.
> 
> The size of Havanese and being able to fly in the cabin was one of the main reasons I chose this breed (we live in Uganda and travel back/ forth to the US)


Yes, Kodi could technically fly, but I don't think he'd be comfortable. (I did fly him home from the breeder, but he was little then) But he is at the VERY top of the breed standard, 11 1/2". I don't think weight is the biggest issue. He couldn't comfortably stand up in a carry-on side bag. He's just too tall. I think a shorter dog the same weight would probably do fine.


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## Chi-Chi's Mom (Dec 10, 2015)

Chi Chi is 12 lbs. We upgraded her from the medium to the large Sherpa for our last trip and it fit fine under the American Airlines seat. She can still fit in the medium but standing and turning around was becoming difficult. She has flown about 7 round trips and has only been weighed once.


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## Hammer (Apr 30, 2017)

That's good to hear everyone, one of the reasons we picked the Havanese breed ( other than cuteness and great personality) is the small size and hopefully our new puppy Monty will not be giant Havanese as an adult. His mom is 14 and Dad 10.5.


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## Melissa Brill (Feb 22, 2017)

We're flying in about 2 1/2 weeks - Kampala-Addis Ababa-Washington DC - I'm sure Perry won't be thrilled about being in his bag for that long (with some breaks in the plane's bathroom while everyone is asleep), but he's pretty patient. We will bring some of his toys, of course. I'm trying to decide if I will bring his Kong with some stuffing - thinking I will, to give him towards the end of the flight if he gets antsy (he hasn't before, but this one is a little longer than the last - it's about 4 hours shorter coming from the US than going there) -- but have to figure out what to stuff it with since I don't want to risk peanut butter on a plane (you never know who might have an allergy). Also, not sure how airport security will view something smooshy in his Kong - so trying to decide what I might use that would last a while and pass security.

Ideas?


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## abi38 (Mar 23, 2017)

Mine flew multiple times. Last at almost 2 years old. She was probably about 13 lbs then. She did just fine. We flew from west to east coast with 1 transfer. Most of the time she curled up in the bag under the seat anyway. During transfer time I let her out of the bag in the family restroom (got an earful from a mom when I left the room) to go potty on pee pads and to stretch her legs. Since I don't think they let dogs walking in airport otherwise.


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## Genie1000 (Apr 13, 2017)

We are flying for the first time ever with Penelope in July. Right now she travels in the car in her medium Sherpa. We are taking her on little trips in the car daily to get her used to that. 
Flying from east coast to west. She will be almost 5 months old at that point. I feel a little clueless as to what to expect. 
I'm appreciating this discussion!


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## abi38 (Mar 23, 2017)

Genie1000 said:


> We are flying for the first time ever with Penelope in July. Right now she travels in the car in her medium Sherpa. We are taking her on little trips in the car daily to get her used to that.
> Flying from east coast to west. She will be almost 5 months old at that point. I feel a little clueless as to what to expect.
> I'm appreciating this discussion!


Zelda first flew at 6 months old, and Link at 3 months old. They were rather uneventful even flying from coast to coast. They were crate trained so being in a bag was not a big deal. I made sure to put towels in the bag in case they have accidents (I don't recall they did, but it has been a few years since), but no chews or toys. I packed pee pads and water bowl as carry on. As I said I took them in the family restroom right before boarding and during transfer to let them pee and drink and walk about. The rest of time when they were under seat they were just quiet and curled up napping. The less you fuss over them the more likely they'd get bored and go sleep. I think I did try to let them out in the airplane bathroom by taking their bag in there since Link was so young, but they didn't do produce anything.

My biggest trouble with flying with them is from the airline. Because we were checking in with animals we were not allow to use the self-checkin counters. The line at the conventional checkin counter was over an hour long. We ended up missing our flight because we were literally stuck in the line waiting to checkin even we arrived 2 hours early at the airport.

Beware of bag size. I had various experience of underseat space depending on the kind of plane. Most of the time there were plenty of room, but one of the leg we were in a tiny plane and the bag could only fit under after I squished it (thank god for a flexible bag and very short flight). Also depending on which seat you are in and how to seat supports are arranged, some seats (like isle) have narrower leg room. It wasn't a big deal for me since I flew with family and always have the whole row, so even if the dog doesn't fit in front of my seat (isle) it always fit in front of the middle seat leg space that tends to be the widest.


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