A PUPPY’S JOURNEY HOME FOR CHRISTMAS

Condor Airlines is definitely not a dog’s best friend, all pet owners beware!

It has been years since the patter of four oversized feet scampered around the house for Christmas.

Christmas just isn’t Christmas without a wet noise and a happy wagging tail; from my earliest memories there has always been a dog in the family, being raised an Air force brat and forever on the move from base to base, sometimes my only friend was my dog. Over the years I had the pleasure of having many different breeds. The breed that I fell in love with over all others is the Mastiff, particularly the Mastiff known in America as the Great Dane. Two types are the German & Danish Mastiffs which are collectively known as the American Great Dane. Of this breed, the brindle colored is my favorite, and unfortunately the shorter lived of the breed. I have had two Brindle (Danish Mastiffs) Great Danes and they both passed a little after their 7th birthdays. Every owner of these special dogs wishes for more time with them, an extra year or two or longer is a dream come true. I have spent the better part of the past two years searching Europe for the right puppy from a proven long-living brindle gene pool. My search led me back to the original stock of what we in America call the Great Dane, the Deutsche Dogge (the German Mastiff). I found a breeder that was a member of the Original club for the breed, the famous 1888 Deutsche Dogge Club. I’m hoping with the help of my dog to add a little more longevity to the lives of the brindle American Great Dane.

Besides the high cost for such a dog; more important is the screening that breeders from the 1888 Deutsche Dogge Club put you through to make sure that the dog is going to the right home and circumstance. The breeder and I hit it off like ole friends; and I was allowed to buy one of her puppies. He was given the name “Mylo.” My breeder boarded my puppy for me until I was coming to Germany on business. Now if you know anything about puppies, no matter how big or small they are they are a handful. These puppies grow fast, for example; one week before, Mylo could run under something, the next week because of his growth he gets stuck. Which leads to a trip to the vet. Prognosis, a bruise that will go away in time. Then about two weeks before I’m coming to pick him up he eats a bunch of fraying off the end of a toy and back he goes for another vet visit. This time he had to have surgery to remove the fraying which was blocking his system. He has lost a lot of weight, but he is on the mend and passes his health certificate examination and is ready to fly to his new home in America in time for Christmas.

Knowing all that poor Mylo has gone through in his short life (he is just 5 months old), it was my and the breeder’s primary mission to make Mylo’s travel to America as stress-free as possible. So my breeder contacted the airlines to make sure we had the right size cage for Mylo’s trip. I ordered an XL transport box from Amazon and had it delivered to my breeder. She started Mylo getting used to being in the transport box. And I brought a “Thunder Jacket” for him to wear while flying in order to reduce his stress during the more than 11 hours he would be traveling by plane. I even scheduled myself extra time at the Frankfurt Airport just in case he had to undergo extra scrutiny because of his recent vet visits. Between Mylo’s veterinarians, his breeder and me we had crossed all “T” and dotted all “I”. What could go wrong?

I had arrived safely to the Airport with my dog and bags in tow to the business class check-in counter. I was greeted with rudeness and an unprofessional attitude; when the counter agent informed me that I could not check in at her counter with my dog. She then with a few more words pointed in the direction of premium and economy check-in. When arriving at the premium check-in with my dog, I was told that the transport box was too small by the counter agent. When I tried to explain to the counter agent that my breeder had called Condor to make sure we had the right size for my pet (a XL travel box, that I ordered through Amazon; and had delivered to my breeder for this trip). The agent would not listen and with another counter agent started a scene in front of the people currently in line, about how they were trying to protect my dog from me, an uncaring American owner. I was told if I wanted to travel I had to have a box that would give my pet roughly 20 centimeter of head space. I was then given the information that somewhere in the Airport I could buy another transport box. I finally found the FSK shop where I could buy the transport, 40 minutes later with the help of an Airport worker who I told the story of having to buy a new transport box at the orders of the Condor counter agent. I could only purchase the box in cash I was told by a male sales clerk and then he told me that I would have to haul my old transport box and the dog across the airport to get the cash I needed. If I had been the typical American I would have taken his advice, but I knew if you had to buy something in cash in Germany there would be an ATM somewhere close. I was right, no more than 30 feet away from the store was an ATM (he says he had never noticed that an ATM was that close.) I then purchased the new XXL box at a price of 350 Euro. This box had to be assembled and I was helped by a woman working at the shop. While this was happening another airport worker overheard what was going on, and gave up his lunch hour to help Mylo and me navigate the Airport with his new XXL transport box and his old XL transport box in tow.

I was then forced to throw away "the right size XL travel box" or I had to pay an extra 75 Euros to ship it on Condor. When I returned with the new XXL transport box that I was forced to buy and finally able to check in my pet I was boiling mad as I watched other counter agents checking in dogs my pet’s size and larger using the very same XL transport box that I had just thrown away.

I brought this to the attention of the counter agent; and her response: "I was just following the rules", “a rule” which proved to be subjective to the individual agents as I witnessed many times with my own eyes.

I then had to wait an additional 30 minutes before she finally handed me the paperwork to start the process of getting my dog on the plane. At no time during this ordeal did this counter agent, who says she was just looking out for my dog’s welfare ask for, as is required by law, the international travel passport or travel health certificate for my pet.

When the security checks on the transport box were finally run and the transport should be ready to bring to the plane, it was noticed that the counter agent had failed to put the required tag on the transport box. So the counter agent had to be found and then once again, she asked me for my ticket and passport to finish the task. It took me from around 7:30 AM to 10:00 AM to complete check-in.

Mylo is making his first trip to his new home in the US for Christmas. This puppy that has had a surgery earlier and just gotten healthy enough for me to bring him home was wearing a "Thunder jacket” to help reduce the stress of the long flight. I was forced by Condor Airlines to take the Thunder jacket off of him. When I asked why? The explanation given once again was "those are the rules and we have to follow them.”

I was forced to drag this poor, frightened 5-month old puppy all over Frankfurt Airport, then to buy a XXL transport box for a dog weighing all of 56 pounds. I was forced to use this box that I did not have enough padding to completely cover the bottom to protect the dog’s body. He was traveling over 11 hours mostly on bare exposed plastic which caused swelling. And the trip in that transport box caused him to develop a cough, which my veterinarian is now treating with antibiotics.

When I get to the plane, I watch in horror, while my poor terrified puppy was sent up and down the baggage belt loader at least 3 times as the single ramp agent was trying to figure out how he was going to load the XXL transport box on the aircraft. Meanwhile, the whole time the plane’s engines were warming up. The noise from the jet engines is detrimental to dog’s ears. I brought this to a flight attendant’s attention as soon as I boarded the plane.

When I finally started an hour or so later to calm down enough to notice that the secure safety green light that indicated that my business class seat is secure and locked in place didn't function. For my own safety I ran my chair through all its positions and the hydraulics seemed to all be functioning. It was missed on pre-flight maintenance check/ pre-flight safety check by the crew. It was not until shortly before landing that one of the flight crew finally noticed this safety issue. Throughout this whole ordeal that my 5-month old puppy and I suffered at the hands of Condor Airlines and its staff and each step of the way, I heard the motto, "Sorry we have to follow the rules.”

So yes, by all means, I agree, let's do follow the rules. "Following the rules," I have filed a FAA complaint on the Counter agent's lack of following the rules as it relates to international travel for pets; the unsafe loading by their ramp agent of my pet on the plane; and the safety violation of the faulty secure seat indicator light on Seat 3K. I followed up by supplying Condor Airlines, through their complaint system; the series of complaints I had about their service; and safety issues.

Further "sticking to the rules;” since the agreed upon price on my upgrade to business class by phone agent was $450.00 (not a penny more or less) I have had my bank dispute an unauthorized withdrawal of $423.00 from my business account. After this dispute process is completed, I'll be happy to pay the agreed upon price of $450.00; minus any fees or charges that may have occurred during the dispute process.

When I landed, I went through Customs as quickly as possible to get to my dog. The Airport worker that brought Mylo out to baggage claims to me filled me in on Condor’s horrible reputation for handling pets. He said the one airline he would never have his pet shipped on was Condor, no matter how cheaply they priced the ticket. So pet owners please let my experience be a warning to you about Condor Airlines and how they handle our pets. Now instead of getting my repeat business, I have already booked business class seats for my next business trip to Germany with another airline.

And yes, Mylo is recovering from his travel ordeal on Condor Airlines; and he will be celebrating on December 27th his first Christmas, of which I hope there are many more Christmases to come.