Some might remember that I lost my dear, sweet Kati (German Shepherd) at 14 years old. After several weeks of intense grieving, my DH said "When we are supposed to get a new dog, it will appear."

The next day at work, a friend told me about some 2 week old pups that her sister-in-law's dog bred. I looked into them - EXACTLY WHAT I WANT. Both parents Czech imports with German obedience titles and previous pups that went to law enforcement and therapy dog organizations (read: stable temperment.) Expensive, but worth it. They are three weeks old & I can get my sweetie in five more weeks (counting...counting...counting...) My second love (after riding) is showing in obedience and agility.

Here is the issue. I'm in Tucson & the pup is in North Carolina. He/She (I get pick of the litter, but they're too young to temperment test, so we don't know yet) will be too big to fly inside of the airplane. So - they go as cargo or, if I fly to NC & back, they go as baggage. The difference is:

Cargo gets processed differently and the time-in-cage could extend out to one hour longer, potentially 8-9 hours in the cage, with a 1 hour layover.

If I fly back, I would try to get an airline with a straight through flight (United - but I would not ship cargo on United for several reasons) and take Baby back as luggage. Flight: 4.5 hours, probably 5.5 in the cage, no layover. Cost: $400 each (DH would go), plus rental car & hotel.

Am I over the top? I'm thinking that airline people might treat the pup a little better if they know that they're being shipped as "baggage" which means that the owner is on the plane. It might be less traumatic for the pup to have a 4.5 hour straight through flight (think: dark room, humming engines = sleep) rather than a 8-9 hour flight, with a layover.

MY DH thinks I'm a tad nuts - but he supports whatever I do (one in a million!). What do you ladies think? Am I being ridiculous?