travel to switzerland with 2 month old pup

Question
can you take a 2 month old puppy on airplane to Switzerland without rabies vaccination?

Answer
Hi Nancy,

For the answer to your question (since I don't know what country you and the puppy are in) you will first have to go to the Swiss Embassy in your country to get your question.  A phone call should be able to get you the answer.  Each country has different requirements based on what country you are traveling from and through.

Most countries have a quarantine for entry, but this can be worked around in most countries by following a direct release program. This program can take anywhere from 3-6 months - so this may be an issue with a 2 month old puppy.

You will also have to contact the air carrier you plan to travel on as well. Most will NOT allow transport of dogs under 3-6 months of age.

Will the mother be traveling with the puppy?  2 months is a little young to be weaned from the mother.  This is something else you may want to check into.

The other thing to make sure of is that if you can travel by air with a puppy that young, make sure the puppy in in the passenger cabin WITH you.  Regardless of your dog's age, you never want to transport your dog in the cargo hold of an aircraft.  Although all cargo holds are air pressurized, the air pressure in the cargo hold is NOT the same as the air pressure in the passenger cabin and can be lethal to anything living in there. This is why it's illegal for humans to travel in the cargo hold.  In the U.S. the government requires air carriers to report the number of dealths, illnesses, injuries and believe it or not, losses, of all animals that travel with them. These numbers used to be really high before this law was passed. Now most carriers won't fly pets in cargo, or have very specific restrictions on when they can travel (ie. the air temp has to be between certain degrees, it can only be a certain time of the year, the plane will only be flying at a certain altitude, etc). Despite these precautions there are still a number of deaths, injuries, and illnesses each month.

Another thing to be careful about is if you have a short nosed dog (pug, boxer, bull dog, chow, chin, or any of the other many brachycephalic breeds (short nosed) - these dogs are particularly prone to developing severe respiratory issues while traveling. There are a number of air carriers that now refuse to transport these guys because of the increased danger of them passing away during air travel.   Those carriers that do permit brachycephalic pets to fly will require owners to sign a waiver stating that they are aware of the dangers of flying their pet and they take full responsibility.

Again I don't know if that applies to you, but most owners don't fly often with their pets and don't know that these dogs are particularly at a much higher risk than others.

Please let me know if you have any other questions I can help with.

Chris Shoulet
DogTravel Company
http://www.dogtravelcompany.net