Problems I Have Encountered as an Inflight Pet Nanny

As much as we’d all like to believe that flying with a puppy is sunshine and rainbows, the reality is often very different.

From flight attendants with terrible customer service skills, to airport employees who don’t actually know their own airline’s pet policies, to the sheer number of things that can go wrong when you combine puppies and airplanes—I’ve seen it all.

At this point, very little surprises me when I’m traveling with a puppy. Airports and airplanes have a way of testing your patience, especially when there’s a small, furry passenger involved.

Almost Being Denied Boarding

One morning, my sister and I were flying out of Grand Forks, each with a puppy. She was newer to flying with puppies and wasn’t quite as familiar with airline rules yet.

I don’t remember the exact wording the gate agent used, but the message was clear: our puppies were supposedly “too young” and we would not be boarding the plane.

That was a hard no from me.

A supervisor was called over and repeated the same thing. At that point, I was genuinely stunned. Did they not know their own policies, or did they simply not want to deal with puppies that morning?

I pulled up the airline’s pet policy on their website, showed them exactly where they were wrong, and—miraculously—we were allowed to board. From there, the flight itself was completely uneventful.

The Plane Caught Fire

Yes. Really.

This trip was a two-for-one: I was visiting friends in Michigan and helping rehome an older puppy in the Detroit area. We didn’t even make it out of the city limits before warm air started blowing from the vents instead of cold.

Shortly after, the pilot announced we would be turning around due to mechanical issues.

Once we deplaned, other passengers were talking about smelling smoke in the cabin. I hadn’t noticed it myself, but later that day it was confirmed on the news that the plane had, in fact, caught fire.

I took a different flight. On a different day.

Being Told I Needed to Buy a New Kennel

On one of my earliest flights with a puppy, a flight attendant informed me that my kennel was unacceptable and that I’d need to purchase a new one.

There was nothing wrong with the kennel.

The puppy, however, was extremely smart. He figured out how to unzip it from the inside and kept popping his head out like a jack-in-the-box.

Unfortunately, I also happened to have a flight attendant who very clearly disliked dogs. If she could’ve ejected me mid-air—with the puppy clutched to my chest—she probably would have.

The United Nightmare Weekend From Hell

After one particular weekend, I swore I’d never fly with a puppy on United again. Honestly, I may never fly United at all.

The customer service—from multiple employees—was absolutely atrocious. My puppy was crying, which is not unusual for a baby dog suddenly separated from its mother in a loud, unfamiliar environment.

Both a flight attendant and the pilot came over to ask whether my puppy would “quiet down,” because there were other paying passengers on the flight.

As if I hadn’t paid for my seat.
As if I hadn’t paid extra for my puppy to travel under the seat in front of me.

Right. Try saying that to a parent traveling with an infant and see how well it goes over.

“Welcome to the unfriendly skies” would’ve been a much more accurate slogan that day.

Puppy Poop

Puppies pooping on flights isn’t common—but it does happen. You hope it won’t. You pray it won’t. And sometimes… it does.

One incident is burned into my memory—and even more so into my sister’s.

We were flying from North Dakota to Minneapolis, each on the first leg of a trip with a puppy. At some point during the flight, her puppy had an accident.

The moment we landed, we rushed to the bathroom to clean it up—only to discover it had been mashed deep into the netting of the soft-sided carrier. We cleaned it as best we could, but at one point I had to leave my sister behind in the bathroom while she continued damage control.

Later that day, when she finally made it back to North Dakota, she told us her next flight had been delayed. The airline had to rearrange seating to keep her very stinky puppy away from the other passengers.

Not glamorous—but definitely memorable.

Flying With a Puppy Isn’t for the Faint of Heart

Flying with a puppy is not for the faint of heart. It requires preparation, patience, and a thick skin—especially when you’re dealing with airline employees who may or may not understand their own policies.

Things will go wrong. Puppies will cry. Accidents will happen. Employees will say things that make you question their training—and sometimes their humanity. But for all the chaos, stress, and stories you’ll swear you’ll never relive again, you do survive it.

Every trip teaches you something new. You learn which airlines to trust, which rules to screenshot ahead of time, and how to stay calm when someone in a uniform confidently tells you something that’s completely wrong.

Most importantly, you learn how resilient these little puppies are—and how much you’re willing to advocate for them when it counts.

I don’t share these stories to scare anyone away from flying with a puppy. I share them so you know what’s possible, what to prepare for, and so you don’t feel alone when things don’t go perfectly. Because when it comes to traveling with puppies, “perfect” is rarely part of the journey—and that’s okay.

You’ll land. You’ll get through it. And eventually, these trips become nothing more than stories you laugh about later… preferably from the safety of solid ground.