Gone to the Dogs

Current Day

So now that everyone is up to speed on most of the happenings of our 2 week trip, here's what's happening now : I'm having to figure out the best and least stressful way to ship Jethro to Ecuador. I cannot stress the 'least stressful' part enough. 

Some of you may be asking, "Who's Jethro?" Allow me to introduce you to the most spoiled bit of obnoxiousness you will ever meet:

Hi guys...

Jethro came into our lives on New Years Day in 2012. He was 6 or 7 months old when he found us, and, after a tense couple of months in the beginning (a whole OTHER post all in itself), he's settled in and become part of the family...mostly.

As you may have noticed, Jethro is a bluetick coonhound. Smart dog, really, but very stubborn and, did I mention, loud? Oh yes, he's very loud. He loves to yell when he gets excited but he'll also let us know if he's unhappy or anxious. And Jethro has been known to be very, very anxious. You see where I'm going with this?!

Anyway. Shipping him is probably going to turn into more of a nightmare for me than for anyone else. I'm going to be terrified the entire time that he's going to make such a nuisance of himself that they won't put him on the plane. Or worse, he'll make it through one leg of the flight (if we don't get a direct flight) and they'll kick him off at the halfway point because he's being too disruptive!

Speaking of halfway points and legs. I'd love to get a direct flight. However, my darn dog is also dictating this minor detail. As you can imagine, airlines can be veeeeeery picky about shipping animals and they have LOTS of rules that vary slightly by airline. The main rule involves crate size. Some airlines aren't super specific about the size, they just have to visually confirm that the animal has plenty of room to stand, sit and turn around (ie, not squeezed into a too small crate). Other airlines literally have measurement guides that dictate the crate size your dog must have. 

Jethro, darn his coonie self, is considered a medium/large size dog per his weight. He's somewhere between 55-60 pounds, which isn't very big. However, he's lanky and long. According to his measurements via the airline requirements, he'll need a crate big enough for a Great Dane. 

Why the furor about his crate size? Again, it will determine HOW he gets flown down to Ecuador. If we can get him in the smaller (but still big enough) crate, we can ship him as checked baggage (so no dealing with Customs) AND we can get a direct flight. If he's only able to fit in the larger crate size, he'll have to go as cargo, and I'm unaware of any airline we would use to ship him as cargo that has a direct flight from Atlanta to Quito. Most seem to be routed through Houston or Miami. 

And this is all  just the beginning. Thankfully, Ecuador doesn't have a quarantine requirement, and there really aren't a lot of requirements for bringing in pet dogs other than a vet checkup and booster shots. The only seriously obnoxious requirement they have is that he has to go to a certified vet for a physical exam, then the certification form has to go to Columbia to be signed off by the state veterinarian, THEN it has to go down to the Ecuadorian consulate in Atlanta to be endorsed. The kicker? It has to all be done - from exam to every signature and apostille - WITHIN 10 DAYS OF DEPARTURE. 

Let's be honest...who can resist that FACE?!

Sigh. I complain now, and it's definitely a lot to get done in a short period of time, but I don't mind all that much. I mean, leaving him isn't really an option, so we'll just do whatever we've got to to make sure he gets to Ecuador in (mostly) one piece. The biggest question though, is this - will airlines have a maximum noise limit by the time they get through with him?!

In other news, we've commenced clearing out our house. We started with our guest bedroom, which was actually pretty easy. Most of the stuff went into the trash and the rest is going into boxes. I meant to take before and after pictures but, A - I totally forgot and, B - that room wasn't too bad to begin with.

We're tackling the guest bathroom and the music room this weekend. That WILL warrant pictures because that room is absolutely stuffed to the gills with...stuff. As you might guess, we have a lot of musical accoutrements in the music room in addition to several larger pieces of furniture. It's also become the catch-all for gifts-in-waiting, papers to be filed, over-sized baby boxes  and random bits and pieces that don't really go anywhere else in the house.

All this to say, if you have packing boxes, I would love to get them from you. I'd love to pack as we go in addition to throwing away as we go. This way, all that's left in the rooms are necessities, furniture to be sold/stored and boxes to be stored. Huzzah for organization!