At Pet Transport NZ, we will often work with our clients, whether they be cats, dogs or humans over a period of months to get you and your pets ready for international travel.  The cage fitting, the crate-training, the vaccinations is just part of the preparation work for moving overseas with pets.  During this prep time we get to know you and your travelling pets personalities, likes, dislikes and behavioural issues if there are any.  We love helping your international pet transport experience be a positive one!

When you invite us to help you and your pets to travel overseas from New Zealand the job doesn't end for us when your pet gets on the plane.  We know your journey in a foreign land only really starts when you collect your pet at your end destination.  For all the pet travel consultants, logistics coordinators and admin staff, we want to hear about your new life together.  Our payoff is knowing we helped keep a fur-loving family together and played a small part in showing you a new corner of the world.

The best part is when you write to us after you land to tell us about your reunion.  We love hearing how your cats, dogs, kittens or puppies flying experience was and how you found them at the other end as that is the only part of the journey we are never present for.  This is exactly how we want it to be for you and your pets: exciting, happy, loving cuddle times.  Thank you so much to Marley the lovely Fox Terrier and her wonderful humans for letting us be part of your relocation to Stockholm, Sweden.  We are grateful to all our clients and their pets for choosing us to help with your move abroad!

When we hit 10,000 followers on instagram and 11,000 fans on facebook (both @pettransportnz) we wanted to say thank you to all of you.  Thanks for following our pet travels, joining our international pet courier journeys and sharing your experiences with us.  We love the little online community that has formed around the pets who travel overseas with us.  We hope you understand why we so passionate about our job and doing it right because for us, it's all about the pets!

WINNERS - PLEASE COMMENT YOUR CONTACT DETAILS BELOW AND WE WILL BE IN TOUCH TO ARRANGE DELIVERY AFTER THE LONG WEEKEND!!! WELL DONE TO ALL WHO ENTERED!!!!

Special mention to Ayla Crawford and Anika Horn, you were both equal points runner up and we have a selection of all natural NZ doggy farm treats for all your pawfect pooches!

So many cute cats!  So many darling dogs!  So many wonderful humans trying to win things for their precious pets!  In truth, you are all winning at life so we just had to find some extra prizes for you all...

CATS SPOT PRIZES
Blue Cat Collar, 3 x Pack of Cat Toy Bliss Balls, Glamour Puss Slicker Brush + Organic Cat Treats
 
Ashleigh Moat 
Jess Tamara 
Rachel Crimins and Liam Fagan ​

DOGS SPOT PRIZES
Blue Lead, Blue doggy poop bags, 1 x toy duck, Farm Treats 
  
Sam Richardson-Taite 
Catherine Hannagan
Nikki Ramage ​

TRAVEL CRATE WINNERS: we literally couldn't choose!  There were just too many adorable cats and dogs and puppies and kittens and the back stories and community involvement was too much to go unrewarded!  So these gorgeous creatures have all won a travel crate each!
​
Winner of a PP20 – Ann Harris
Winner of a SG821 – Cassie Gibbons
Winner of a PP40 – Jen Keir 
Winner of a PP40 – Lisa Buttunz Taylor

Pet Transport NZ was pretty chuffed to hear our little bloggy woggy won an award!  Ok, full disclosure we thought it was spam so we ignored it for ages but they were really persistent and eventually we checked our email to read the pet transport blog had been placed in the top 100 Feedreader Blogs.

We would like to thank everyone who has read, liked and shared our blog.  We hope you find our tips useful and our journeys interesting.  Biggest round of applause goes to the beautiful pets themselves who brighten our blog with their antics.  We look forward to more international adventures with you!

The importance of planning international pet travel in advance, can not be stressed enough.  The one who suffers most from lack of adequate travel planning is your pet.  And your pocket!  Future planning any overseas adventures with pets allows you time to crate train, vaccinate your pets and budget your pets' transport into the other costs of moving overseas.  Your pet courier will break it down for you.

Whilst pet transport is often more affordable than most people think, it is an unknown quantity until you request a quote.  Unlike flying humans, where booking fees are standard regardless of how tall or heavy you are, booking flights for pets is not the same.  The volumetric weight charge is unique to each animal; how much space they occupy in the cargo hold and how much they weigh.  Once you know how much the your pet's travel tickets will cost, you can plan when and how to pay accordingly..

Planning in advance allows you time to prepare your pets and budget your travel with a nice time cushion, just in case vaccination goes curly or crate training takes a little longer than anticipated.  Most importantly, it ensures both humans and pets have a pawsitively awsome travel experience together! Contact one of our knowledgable pet transport consultants to get your pet travel plan underway!

P.S. If you think your friends would like this too, we'd love you to share it.  Thank so much, you rock!

Most airlines and international pet couriers reject brachycephalic dogs and cats as a flight risk.  For 50years we have been known as the only international pet transporters in NZ that can safely get your brachycephalic pets into the UK, Europe, Asia, USA, UAE, Africa, India, and Australia! We love your brachycephalic cats and dogs as much you do!  

Airlines avoid flying snubnosed dogs and cats due to their reduced ability to regulate body temperatures and propensity for respiratory distress.  In our 50years of international pet travel experience, we know snubnosed pets require greater ventilation in their travel crates to compensate for their broadhead / shortnose skull structure. We assist you with crate training to reduce anxiety induced respiratory distress. 

There are other safety measures to ensure successful delivery of your brachycephalic pet to your end destination, without qarantine. We plan the most direct routes possible that offer minimal temperature and humidity changes for your snubnosed pet on brachycephalic breed friendly airline carriers.  To date, the most brachycephalic friendly direct route to UK or Europe was with United Airlines who will cease operations here mid April until October 30

Whilst every airline has their own list of brachycephalic dogs and cats, which they change and update regularly. Here is a comprehensive list of brachycephalic dogs and dog breeds with brachycephalic tendencies from Air New Zealand:

As the most brachycephalic friendly airline, United Airline will shortly cease operations in New Zealand, extra planning and attention to detail will be need to fly snubnosed breeds overseas from NZ.  Different flight routes will need to be planned and prices may vary depending on your destination.  It will still be possible to move your snubnosed pets internationally but it will require more time. Ask us how we can help fly your brachycephalic pets overseas today to start planning your future move now.

Because Asia is one of our most popular pet transport destinations, we have a dedicated multi-lingual Asian Travel Consultant whom we affectionately call Mr. Asia.  Mr. Asia's real name is Michael Yong and he fluently speaks, Mandarin, Cantonese, Taiwanese, Malay, and can converse confidently in most other Asian languages within the ASEAN region.  This means he easily communicate with Asian airlines, Asian customs, Asian vets and Asian government officials throughout Asia on your behalf.  Nothing gets lost in translation!  Which makes booking your pet's travel to Asia a breeze.

One of our most senior consultants, another advantage of working with Mr Asia to get your precious pets from New Zealand to Asia, is his long standing relationships with most of the Asian airlines.  He helped establish many of the viable routes available to pets travelling the NZ to Asia routes which helped open up the region to pet transporters from down under. In a nut shell, you get mates rates and discounts that other international pet couriers can not provide.

The biggest and best advantage in using Mr. Asia is Michael's long-standing friendships with Asian customs brokers, airport officials, landing agents and government vets.  His ability to ensure your pets wellbeing and safety in transit is built on years and years of experience and trust building on the ground.  You can't replicate his in-depth understanding of local processes or first name knowledge of all the head honchos throughout the Asian Pacific and UAE region.  Both in NZ and Asia, Michael is regarded as the go-to-guy for all things pet transport related.

Whether you move your dog to Japan, cat to Taipei, kittens to Vietnam, puppies to Vietnam, litter to Thailand, farm dogs to Malaysia or show cats to China, there really is only one man for the job. Michael is supported by our team of logistics, admin, customs brokers and landing agents both here in New Zealand and on the ground in Asia to make sure your pet has happy and safe transport experience.  If you are from Asia and returning home with your pet, you can discuss your need in your native tongue - just remember to ask for Mr. Yong! He is waiting for your call on 09 256 0999

We had heard of such things as the SPCA scam and pet movers or pet transport colleagues in Australia being targeted by phishing emails and other fraudulent tactics to receive credit card details. Sadly now too, scammers are attempting to leverage our good name for bad.  Luckily our clients are pretty switched on and have notified us immediately! Here's an example of one such scam sent to us:

Some things to bear in mind for online safety when receiving any requests for payment online:

1. Company Letterhead / Logo: all our quotes have our address for service and NZ contact numbers.
2. Official Supporting Documentation: invoices, receipts, banknotes, links to official social sites etc.
3. Company Consultant: Pet Transport NZ consultants provide full name, email and contact number.
4. Prior Notification: any payment requests should come directly by phone call or email first.
5. Post Confirmation: any payments requests sent should be followed up by confirmation email or call.
6. Specific Amounts: each quote is unique as is your booking deposit and final balance - check the amount requested against the quote provided to you by your consultant
7. If In Doubt - Ask!: our consultants are just phone call or email away.  If you receive an unsolicited payment request for any amount of money that does not come direct from your designated consultant, not from a pettransport.co.nz email address, for a booking you haven't made or for pets you don't actually own - please notify us immediately!

Luckily, this is the first instance of being targeted that we are aware of - we know this is a frequent occurance for many other pet couriers.  We wanted you to be aware so we can focus on doing what we do best - safely transporting your beloved pets to wherever they need to go in the world.  Look our for more furry cuties travelling your way this weekend!

When you fly your pet overseas from New Zealand with us, we professionally fit your pet with the correct sized IATA compliant cage or custom-build your travel crate to spec.  If you are unable to come to our stock rooms at Auckland Airport with your cats or dogs, we can explain travel cage sizing over the phone and will send IATA measuring diagrams guide you with instructions by email.  This week on Facebook and Instagram we started sharing our top 5 tips for travel crate training success with a little help from Rosie the Border Collie.

Step 1: Park your professionally sized & fitted #IATA approved #travelcrates in your living room. You want your pets to be really comfortable with their new #crate in your home before you start introducing play inside. No drama, no stress. Just let the crate become part of the living room furniture. A little curiosity, sniffing around or pawing at the door indicates they are ready to proceed to the next step

Step 2: Start introducing play in and around the crate to get your pet comfortable with the crate. Don't be shy with the treats or praise! Use them to reward exploring behind the door and staying inside with the door open.  No need to push your pets to go in and stay in but reluctant pets maybe encouraged by placing a favourite toy or blanket inside, or some dirty clothes from your laundry basket.  Familiar comforts and rewards are key here!

Step 3: Closing the door is almost the final stage. By now, your pet's travel #crate is fun and cozy place they sit or sleep in by choice. Your #pet needs to be #calm and comfortable inside the cage when the door closes. This will be their "home away from home" whilst #travelling. If they seem distressed, open the door immediately and let them out - you do not want their #travelcrate to ever be a scary place.  If things start to come unstuck at this stage, don't hesitate to give us a call on 09 256 0999

Step 4: This final stage is really only necessary for pets flying long haul, however it never hurts to see your pet's crate training all the way through to completion.  If your pet is quite happy inside their travel cage with the door closed, start making it part of your evening routine with bedtime inside the crate with the door closed.  You can even start this early in the piece with the door open and don't hesitate to move the crate to your bedroom if that is where they usually sleep.  You want your pet to make their crate their home, their safe space and a personal retreat in the same way they will identity their pet bed or favourite chair in the house as theirs.

Smelly socks, used nighties, freshly worn gym gear and underwear are among pets favourite smells and do let them use these items to mark their crate with your smells.  You can always remove them later when they are chill with the crate.  Heaps of our clients hold onto the crate even after travel and use it as an indoor kennel or pet bed - yep, eventually cats and dogs really grow to love their lovely travel crates!  Continued use of the crate well after your international journey will only smooth the way for further adventures together in future. 

If you would like an IATA measurement guide, further information about our drug-free crate-training program or need help at any stage of the game, don't hesitate to contact us.  We want every pet to fly safe, calm and happy.  There are no stupid questions and we love helping travellers with pets - do get in touch with one of our consultants! Did we miss something?  Let us know in the comments below!

Pet Transport has had a sudden rush of cats flying long haul from New Zealand! These travelling cats all moved to Europe, with the exception of Betty the ragdoll who flew to Vancouver in Canada.  All stunning breeds and mixes, bengal, ragdoll and persian cats made an appearance in the last week!

This photo tells a thousand words about international pet transport.  No MPI vet wants to fail a travelling pet on their final pre-flight certification!  Poor Luna was feeling a bit nervous in the MPI office the lovely Dr. Phillipa picked her up and gave her cuddles during her whole appointment!  Luna's travel cat companion Hugo (below) was totally cool and calm about moving to London from Auckland.

Harley is a silver traveller!  This senior ragdoll was 15 years young on the day of his departure for Manchester.  He took it all in his stride.  As did Hugo and Luna who were perfect travellers on the day. These two kiwi cats look picture perfect below settling into their new English home

Do you have a cat's tale to tell about moving overseas?  We'd love to hear about your plans to explore the world together!  Get in touch with one of our pet transport consultants today to discuss your relocation dreams.  They can help you budget, crate train your pets and what you need to do to prepare for the big move.  If you never heard of flying cats before, talk to us - we see them every day!

We love sharing pics of the pets we move overseas from New Zealand on social media.  We have a lovely tight-knit community of past and present pets and humans we have relocated on Facebook. On our Facebook page we stay current with daily posts or updates on NZ pets we have moved that day.

When we started sharing photos of our NZ cats and dogs on Instagram, we were surprised at how popular our posts were!  Within a few short months, we started connecting with a whole new community of pet lovers and international pets looking for transporters or families moving overseas. 

From instagram we have discovered some of our Pet Transport NZ clients are actually pet celebrities!  We have also reconnected with well-travelled pets we helped relocate years ago.  It is now part of our sales funnel, helping new families find us for sending their fur-babies overseas from New Zealand.

You can imagine our surprise and delight when a reporter from the Huffington Post contacted us for an interview!  They were writing a human interest article on instagram pets and stumbled across our feed!  They loved our "pets first" policy and the happiness radiating from pics of pets we fly from NZ.

International pet transport is full of surprises. Our consistent focus on pet welfare and safety has given our family business longevity - 50years in the making!  But we never expected notoriety.  We would like to thank all of our clients for supporting us and our pets for being such wonderful flyers.  

It is an amazing feeling to love what you do for a job.  It feels even better to help others through your work!  If we can help you or a family member move your pets overseas, or if you have some upcoming travel in 2017 and you want to take your pets with you, please contact us today - we'd love to help!