How Much Is That Doggie on the Airplane?

From the second we said we were leaving, we had offers from people who wanted to take Scout off our hands. Aside from the fact that it would devastate our kids to leave her behind, I'm not about to go through all the work of a puppy and then hand her over to someone else to enjoy her for the rest of her life. No way - we've earned this dog.

Thankfully, it's a fairly simple procedure to take her back to the States - get a health check and certificate here in China, put her on the plane in an approved crate, then pick her up on the other hand and take her home scott free (albeit it severely traumatized from 16 hours stuck in a box without food or people).

But while it is simple, it is expensive. I just got off the phone with a woman at United who didn't seem too enthusiastic about helping me. Maybe because it was midnight for her. Let's give her credit for that. That might have also contributed to the fact that initially she tried to tell me the fee for shipping Scout in yen. (it's 24,000 in case you're interested). I guess Beijing is now in Japan.

After that confusion, I was informed that she will cost $783 to ship. In addition to that, we need to buy a regulation crate which has to be a size bigger than normal. Since she's a long dog, we have to get the 32" crate. In the States this would probably cost about $80, but we have to buy it here, where it is $120 on Tao Bao. And then there are some incidentals - $10 for a metal water bowl that attaches to the inside of the crate, and I suspect some fee for the health check and certificate.

It's a good thing she only cost $9 in the first place.