Moving to Sweden with a 25-lb dog
We moved to Sweden! Of course, not without its hiccups and significant stress-sweat and tears.
On February 15th, we took off from Newark International Airport on the airline La Compagnie and embarked on the biggest adventure of our lives— moving to Sweden (with an anxious dog). Here’s how it went.
Why La Compagnie?
La Compagnie is a business-class only airline that flies from Newark direct to Paris, Nice, or Milan in a smaller commercial plane. They tout their 3-course French cuisine and lay-flat seats, but the real reason we chose them is because they allow dogs up to 33lbs. Hurrah, our dog fit!
Asa being a good boy.
Things to consider:
Carrier size
Your dog is required to fit into a 21 ⅔ /13 ¾/ 9 ⅚ inch carrier (ideally soft-sided) and is supposed to remain there for the entirety of the flight. This is not strictly enforced though— more on that later.
Extra 10% ticket cost
Not a deal breaker for us, but it did add another $180 to our already expensive fare.
Certificate of Health/Pet Passport
Your dog needs to be vaccinated against rabies and microchipped, which Asa had been from the start.
Then, you both have to find a vet who is USDA-Accredited, and have them submit the documents to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) to be endorsed within 10 days of landing in Europe. The documents have to be sent to you in the mail— no digital documents are allowed. Opt for overnight shipping to be extra safe.
Travel requirements can differ by country but thankfully APHIS’s website service makes it easier. We still stressed a lot about the timings, whether the APHIS endorsement was going to arrive before we departed, etc.
Your dog is your carry-on luggage
However, La Compagnie’s check-in luggage policy is so generous it likely won’t matter. Both my partner and I had 2 suitcases and 1 ski bag each.
A rare moment of peace.
Things we wish we had done differently and known before:
Carrier size matters to some airline employees more than others
We had done extensive research on carriers that were both proven to have worked on La Compagnie based on other traveler’s experiences and would fit our leggy dog. We knew we were taking a risk with bringing a bigger, soft-sided carrier. Even so, it was a bit nerve-wracking to have the check-in desk say that our carrier was “way too big” and then her manager come over and say “ah, it’s fine; you just won’t be able to lie flat.” Obviously it worked out, but we wish we’d brought a smaller backup carrier in case so the guilt didn’t hit so hard.
Your dog may refuse to use the indoor dog relief area
Stupidly, in our rush to get to the airport at an extremely early hour, we forgot to have Asa relieve himself before going through security. He then vehemently refused to even step foot in the pet relief room, covered in turf grass and reeking of cleaning chemicals. To be fair, it smelled rank. This meant that he held his bladder for fourteen hours until we were out of customs in Paris.
There is no pet relief area in Paris ORLY, despite what the internet said.
The only advice we received from a very grumpy airport employee was to “try the smoking room.” No, thank you, I’m not sure anyone would appreciate that.
The customs people in ORLY did not care what we did once we landed.
I was convinced for the first week we were here that we had committed a serious crime, but apparently the important checks had taken place when we checked in at Newark. I took every effort to “declare” our live pet to customs in ORLY but they simply did not care.
Despite all the crate training we did, nothing prepares your dog for taking off on an airplane for the first and possibly only time in their lives.
Asa was a nervous wreck during take-off and landing in his crate. Thankfully, the flight attendants were chill with him hanging out in our lap for most of the flight. This is a common thing I heard in online forums and posts from other La Compagnie fliers— pets are welcome to sit in your lap and no one bats an eyelash. It saved our sanity.
Would we do it again? Probably not. But was it worth the struggle? Yes, life in Sweden couldn’t be sweeter so far.
Photo credit: Daniel Coppens