2 Inches, 2 Degrees, 2 Hours

by Ashley

Summer break is upon us, and I wish I could say that it's been relaxing. We wrapped the school year with the handful of students who showed up for the last day, by enjoying a small picnic of hot dogs and s'mores around a fire, in the school yard. Then, it was the usual completion of the EOY checkout list, and submitting grades for the semester. Our teacher workday the following day was mostly nice. The staff cooked together in the kitchen, making a brunch of biscuits and gravy, pancakes, eggs, bacon, and homemade jam. We enjoyed laughing and talking with each other, and celebrating the fact that we survived the year. We also took one last stroll together around the village, since for one of our teachers, it was her last day in Kaltag. The other teacher and the principal flew out the following Tuesday, which means our family are the only ones living in the teacher housing neighborhood right now. It feels rather strange, like we're living in the Victor's Village from The Hunger Games. All the vacant houses, the empty school, and then our little family. It was definitely bittersweet, saying goodbye to our fellow teaching colleagues. We had formed quite a bond, working together in such close proximity, and at times, under such intense stress (mostly due to admin issues, not kids.) But we're happy for what lies ahead for both of them, and we'll continue to send them stories from the village.

Since then, we've been busy cleaning up inside and outside around the house, as well as doing deep inventory of the school to see what work lies ahead. However, none of that is related to the title of this post. Here's the rundown of why I'm currently not fond of the number two. When we left Texas back in October, we were already overwhelmed with the quick turnaround of the move, and my father-in-law's heart attack. The notion of also trying to relocate our dogs was just too much at the time. Our family graciously took our lab mix, and my friend graciously took our big beast, Forrest. She has diligently taken care of him, with the plan that we would fly him out here as soon as school was out. He's Josh's dog, and he was heartbroken at the idea of leaving him behind. I told Josh I would do whatever it took to get Forrest here. However, I had no idea just how COMPLICATED that process would be. If you've never flown a dog for relocation purposes, here is what I have learned.

1. Don't fly really big dogs. Just don't. Airlines have a whole special section on their websites for them, with extra rules and regulations, compared to their smaller canine compadres. In fact, if our dog was 2 inches shorter, he could have flown as checked baggage with my parents-in-law on their flight, instead of me having to fly him separately as cargo.

2. Which would have been nice, because to add a dog to a passenger ticket, the cost is only $150. To fly him as cargo...it's over a $1000. That's right, it's a grand price tag.

3. At this point, if you are still determined to fly your really big dog, also expect to pay no less than $800 for a crate that is airline-approved, meeting all size and structure requirements. Again, 2 inches shorter, and I would have spent half that.

4. Make sure the crate is properly labeled, with all the right stickers, in the right places, oriented the right way, and the paperwork, food, and bowls are fastened properly to it. Also make sure that the weight of your dog and said crate doesn't exceed the weight limit of 150 lbs.

5. Be sure to time your flight perfectly with the required vet appointment, that has to be completed no more than 10 days before flight time.

6. Also be sure to check the weather for the day they are supposed to fly, and turn on your weather-controlling device, to make sure it stays that way on the day of the flight. Because if the temperature is outside the range of 45 - 85 degrees Fahrenheit, your dog will not be allowed to fly. (Texas, in late May, is not advisable. But neither is anything after September in Alaska.)

   1. Fun fact about that policy: It turns out, that as long as the dog is checked in when the temperature is good, even if it gets above that threshold for the time of takeoff, they will still take your dog. Unfortunately, no one explained that, and my parents-in-law found out the hard way, when they drove to Austin to drop him off and he was rejected because of 2 degrees. Had he been checked in 2 hours earlier, he would have been fine.

7. If you have to rebook your pet's flight because he was rejected for temperature, and the new date falls outside that 10-day window from the vet check, you will have to take him back to the vet to get a new health certificate. No exceptions.

8. If you live in Bush Alaska, be sure that your new flight booking lands on a day where you, or someone you know, is flying out to your village from Fairbanks. Because if your dog is attached to a person's ticket, he gets priority and will be shipped out with them. If no one is flying with him, he is treated as freight, and will only be flown if there's room. Since people and other types of freight get priority, he could be stuck in Fairbanks for an indefinite amount of time. So, in that case, you'll need to rely on recently made friends who live in Fairbanks, to watch your dog until that magical moment when there is room for him on the plane.

9. You'll then pay another $150 to ship him out to the village.

10. Then, after every box has been checked to get him home, and you've spent over $2,000, several hours and repeat phone calls with flight agents, and the blood, sweat, hours and tears of all those who helped take care of and transport him......you really hope that he doesn't get off the plane and get eaten by a bear.

Other photos this week: