Transporting Pets for a Move

Parent Q&A

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  • My family and I are moving from Albany to Massachusetts (leaving the first week of August) and are looking for someone to drive our Volvo and two dogs our East. We would love any recommendations, either personal or from services you may have used and loved. We have two medium-sized, older female dogs who would love to hit the road, with their heads out the window taking in all the sights and sometimes not so many. They are sweet and goofy and they both made the trip out to the Bay eight years ago. 

    Hi there, I just did this over Memorial Day weekend-our dogwalker drove our three dogs in our own car from Oakland to Northern Indiana. I did a lot of research and private companies want to charge upwards of $4k to do this (especially because there is an air embargo on pets flying now). I took a chance and asked him and he said yes. You might try and connect with other professional dog walkers who might be interested in a road trip. We paid for all of the gas, $100 a day for food, hotels, flight back to CA and then a fee for his time on top of that, so that could be very attractive to another dog walker. Good luck!

    Try   autumn [at] sfpupscouts.com.  Her dog-care reviews are on 

    Rover.com profile.https://r.rover.com/nBEj3c

  • We are relocating to the bay area in a few weeks.  We are a family with three kids and we have two furry dog kids.  We are under the gun with trying to get out there fast enough for my high schooler to make marching band camp so driving across the country (CT to CA) is not really an option.  One of my dogs has epilepsy so I really do not want to fly him as cargo.  Has anyone here used a pet ground transport service with success and could you share their name with me?  

    Hello,

    We moved from CT to CA two months ago. We used United's cargo service from Hartford and we were ok with the service. Just they were very particular about the size of the kennel. We had to buy another kennel before his flight. My dog arrived in the same day of his flight. He seems quite happy and didn't get scary too much. 

    There are not many options for our dogs unfortunately for cross country moves. 

    Good luck.

    I have not used this service but found it on google - preciouspetstransport.com   It seems to be an air-conditioned van that will drive your dog to it’s destination. Pet Airways was doing pet only flights for awhile but has stopped. You can rent a very expensive charter flight from them. I personally would avoid regular air line cargo at all costs. Do you know a reliable college kid who could drive your dogs across country in your car? Then your car and your dogs would arrive safely and you could book dog friendly hotel rooms along the route. Good luck in your move!

Archived Q&A and Reviews


Sabbatical with Pets?

June 2002

We are exploring the possibility of going to Pisa, Italy or Zurich, Switzerland on sabbatical in about 2 years. We would live in Europe for one year. We have two pets -- a dog (Golden Retriever/Lab mix, about 5 yrs old) and a cat (about 12 yrs old). Both are rescue animals and our home is there ''forever home''. I don't want to leave them behind. But, I'm wondering is it feasible to take to take a cat and a dog with us to Europe? Does having pets make it more difficult to find housing over there? What have other people done? Thank you. Anon


If your animals are fairly calm by nature you can take them with you. We moved two cats to France (via Switzerland) following the instructions of the airline (TWA or United) in 1991. Since we were renting a house there was no real problem having the cats. They need to be certified in good health before leaving the US, and the airline has someone check them before releasing them to you. Heather