Golden dreams of Moscow

Getting our 4 year old Golden Retriever Siena-girl from California to Russia (another flashback post from February 22 and 23, 2013)

So, our two big flights were pretty smooth. Checking in took a lot longer than I expected and Siena was in the crate the whole time, not understanding what was going on. They couldn't/wouldn't find someone with a cart to put her on for when she needed to be moved (she was moved 3 times), so they kept sliding the crate along the floor, which I wasn't happy about. At one point after the long checking in process, they slid her down the hall to an inspection area for oversized baggage and they made me take her OUT in the middle of the airport while they checked the interior of the crate. So of course she was totally confused and really didn't want to go back IN when the inspection was done. That was tough. I felt terrible forcing her back in there.

Here's our Siena-girl waiting in her 

crate while we checked in.

Then they slid her away again into where the oversized baggage wait to be loaded onto the plane and I just went to my gate etc. When I boarded, I asked the flight attendant to ask the captain if a dog had been loaded. It took a while but she did come to my seat to let me know, that "the dogs have been loaded." Wait, did she say dogs? I responded, "Is there more than one dog on this flight?" And of course she had no idea, so I was a little worried that even though some dogs were loaded, MY dog wasn't, but at that point I had to just trust them. The flight didn't have a lot of turbulence which was great. I will say though, that everytime I went to the bathroom, I just kept thinking of little Siena in the bottom of the plane, NOT being able to go to the bathroom or even just see outside to understand what was happening....again I felt terrible. But I'm hoping she eventually settled and just napped, despite the movement and noise.

Then in Amsterdam we only had 1 hour 25 minutes to connect, so I literally just went to the bathroom and went to my next terminal without seeing her. Of course at the new gate, I kept looking outside to see if I could get a glimpse of her crate being loaded but no luck. Got on that plane and did the same thing with the flight attendant, who also took a while to find out, but when she did, it was from a printout that I saw and could read over her shoulder; I read where it actually said "1 dog, Golden Retriever" so I knew my girl was there! The Amst - Mosc flight was 3 hours, and was fine.

When we arrived, I went through immigration and then immediately went to a desk in the baggage claim area to try and get someone to help me with a big cart. They had no big carts - of course - but I did get a guy who spoke English from Lost & Found to kind of tell me where to find Siena eventually and he was also able to call and find someone to help me with my bags and the dog. They brought out the crate from the same place where they deliver skis and hockey sticks (oversized baggage -- Siena was, according to the airlines, to be handled like a set of golf clubs!) and we ended up loading Siena in her crate onto one luggage cart and then my 3 suitcases onto a 2nd cart. Then we literally rolled right through customs....no questions, no inspection of paperwork, no nothing! SO strangely smooth! 

Out on the other side of customs, I saw Scott, the driver, and the wife of the vet with whom I'd been emailing. She said, "No problems? I told you it's easy - sometimes they don't even check!" So then we quickly went outside to let Siena out for a stretch etc. Scott was SO happy to see her - he went off to walk her in the snow and she did both 1 & 2. Oh, and when we checked inside the crate, it seemed DRY and not stinky, so we think she "held it" for both flights!! Amazing little dog. The wife of the vet (Valeria) then introduced us to her husband (of course his name is Yuri) and they asked if she seemed ok, which she totally did, and then suggested not giving her too much water and only feeding her half her food for her first few meals, just to make sure her stomach wasn't upset. Then we paid them $200 (the easiest $$ I'm sure they've ever earned!), squeezed everything into the car, and we were on our way! So it really was remarkably uneventful, thank goodness!!!

Hanging out in the apartment after the long journey. So happy to be together again!