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Travel

Traveling with your pets

We have recently received a request from Anna Jane Grossman who is starting a new column called "City Dog" for the New York Times' City Room blog for stories and tips tips about traveling on the NYC subway with their dogs from Celltei Users. To our nice surprise, many users have responded. It prompts us to update you with feedbacks from many frequent travelers.

"I take My pet on the scooter. He loves it." W. Hatta


Dennis, a teacup Yorkie from England, adapts to life in NYC (January 2011)
"Dennis (pic attached) and I travel the subway often. Since moving to NY from Oxford England, Dennis has become a regular on the subway and loves it! He usually prefers to travel incognito in his Celltei handbag. Once we were standing on a crowded train and he suddenly did a big doggy shake in the bag... everyone jumped back in startle because they didn't realise that he was in there, then his waggy tail poked out of the bag and they all started laughing. Also attached is Dennis' letter home after moving here ;)" Kathy
Dennis, a teacup Yorkie's first letter home after moving to NYC
"I just saw this is my inbox and can't pass up the opportunity to tell you how amazing my celltei bag is for my four year old min pin Reggie. It's like his little home away from home-- he rides in it in on the subway, air train, and on planes. We take the C,E at least one day a week when I take him to doggie day care and he's deeply dependent upon his subway routine! He knows when we get to the stop that I'm going to put his bag on the ground so he ca jump in, so he sits and waits for me to unzip his bag and he hops in and makes himself comfortable. I try to avoid the subway cars that are too crowded (hello over-stimulation for a hyper dog!) and tuck into a corner where there isn't a chance of him barking at anything. He rides in the pet-on-the-go camo bag and for some reason people often don't realize there's a dog in it so we've been known to startle the other riders. As long as we don't encounter anyone singing, shouting, or playing and instrument though we get by unnoticed. I wish I had a photo on my computer of him at work-- but I laugh just thinking about him sitting in his little bag with his head popping out. We often find him hanging out in there in the apartment as if he's waiting to go somewhere.

Good luck with the article- Celltei is such a great company and the bags make our city dog life so much easier! " Bree C.
"I have a Celltei bag and it's great - take my boston terrier to work on the subway all the time" Shane K.
"I would love to contribute to the article and have nothing but praise for celltei bags, but do not have much experience with NY subways.I have traveled with my dog in her celltei as we moved to Turkey, then Germany and now am back in the US. In between there were many trips and I still have the same bag. My dog loses her mind with excitement when she sees me take it off the shelf! Thanks so much for a great product!! " Paula
Frankie gets a tone of papparazzi following him on the SI Ferry ride (January 2011)
"I have two Celltei bags for my two Maltese males, Frankie & Bailey. I met with Angie 5 years ago and purchased a black bag which I used to transport Frankie around in. This was before I got my second dog.

I live in Staten Island, NY and I transported Frankie in the bag while on the SI Ferry. We were on our way to a doggy photo shoot for a friend of mine that was the designer for a new line of doggie clothing. At first people thought I was talking to my gym duffle bag. I felt comfortable keeping him in the bag because of all the air vents and little sunroof at the top. While we were on the Ferry I opened the sunroof and he just sat in the bag and popped his head out. It was the cutest thing!!! Everyone around me was commenting on his little head popping out of the bag. Quite a few people took his picture with their cell phones. It was like he had a ton of papparazzi following him on the SI Ferry.

After the ferry we took the N or R train uptown. While on the subway I closed the sunroof and kept the flap down because I thought the darkness inside the bag would sooth him since there were so many distracting noises in the subway. This idea seemed to work. I kept the bag on my lap and there wasn't a peep out of him. I don't think anyone knew I had my little boy in there. He was traveling incognito. LOL!

After the photo shoot Frankie & I walked over to Bryant Park. I sat on a bench and put him back in the bag so we could begin our journey home. The landscapers came over to me and were asking if I made the bag myself. He was very popular inside his bag because a few other people also came up to me while I was sitting on the bench. Again, Frankie had his photo taken on two more people's cell phones.

Our journey home was pretty easy because I took the express bus straight into Staten Island. Frankie slept in his bag the entire ride and again nobody even knew I had a dog with me.

Frankie loved his bag as a puppy and he still loves his bag today! Whenever I take it out Frankie gets extremely excited because he knows it's time to go "bye bye" or "outside". Another great feature of the bag are the seatbelt loops. Whenever we travel to the groomers I feel secure knowing that both Frankie & Bailey are both safely strapped into their Celltei bags.

I have since encouraged 2 more people to purchase Celltei bags over the years...my good friend and the VP at my job. We all have multiple bags. This past summer I took a great photo of Frankie in his bag. It is attached. As you can see he still loves to sit in the bag while sticking his head out of the bag's sunroof."     Mike, Frankie and Bailey
"I ride the buses with my dog in his bag, and actually I use the shoulder strap to get on and off. I find it very useful having the backpack while I'm walking from 36th/Park where I live up through Central Park to 102nd Street/Fifth where I get the bus home in the morning--I was pulling one shoulder out of shape with my previous bag which was shoulder only. But I hasten to add that the dog is walking, I'm not carrying him. My dog weighs about 18 lbs, he's a cairn, and I can carry him in the backpack for about 20 blocks, but generally we both walk, and then, as I say, I take the bus home.

I've been doing this dog-in-bag stuff since the late eighties. Then people were always stopping me to ask if the "dog could breathe." They seemed hopeful of uncovering something beastly! I once told a woman who asked me the breathing question that he was a Tibetan terrier (actually a westie) who'd been trained by Tibetan monks not to breathe for three days at a time. Fortunately, the bus came before she found out I was kidding--in a really irritated kind of way...

The only negative I have about the bag--and it is really well designed and well made--is that I'm pretty sure it's going to be too hot for the dog in a typical NY summer, even early in the morning. I take the bus back home around 8 am, having left home on hot days around 4.45 am. But we shall see. I wish it was possible to open up the mesh some more. " Patricia C.

Follow-up: "Doors front and back that can peel down to all mesh would probably work. Although a mess roof would also be helpful. I think this is another bag altogether. If you have anything in the works that's airy for hotter weather let me know. OK, I'll forward that email. Thanks"
"We take our Beagle everywhere thanks to our celltei carrier. It's truly a godsend1." Mai-Anh T.
"We have loved our Celltei carrier, but have actually been using it to carry our cat around the city - he loves going to Washington Square and to Hudson River Park in style! He is a city cat that acts like dogs ..." Cathy M.
"I am a huge Celltei bag fan and used one religiously to transport my bichon, bb, to and from our Brooklyn apt to my Manhattan office, often carrying a violin on my other shoulder.

The Celltei bag was - and is - a lifesaver. Adorable and mercifully portable compared to the gazillion others I tried*

Happy to talk about this - and bb is too - but we live in Colorado now, where the Celltei sits in my car - the ultimate "bag." Sharon G.
"I'm actually going to be using my carrier this afternoon to take my dog to the vet via the subway and bus! I would be happy to answer any questions you may have about riding the subway with pets. My little dog Chloe loves riding in her carrier in the subway. She gets a lot of attention. Someone who wouldn't ordinarily even glance your way is all of the sudden smiling and striking up a conversation with you! .. Chloe is a rescue dog and is very special to me. " Katie R.
"Your carry bag/backpack model is great. We don't use in New York subways, but when we take our chiba inua to Japan and we use it to travel around on the Shinkansen (bullet train)! After really figthening going in the bag on her own -- when we returned from Japan last summer she went it all on her own the day we were leaving -- I guess she was worried about being left behind!"
The Orangae Bag and the Bulldogue (January 2011)
"Well it all started with the search for the perfect bag for the perfect dog. Louis XV had just arrived from Texas, a 4 month old black-and-white French Bulldog ready to take on NYC.

Trips to the West Village, UES, UWS combined with online searches yielded only one bag that looked great AND was strong enough for what would soon be a 28lb brick of a dog. Imagine the pleasure of finding a bright orange dog carrier for a black and white dog!

My office allows dogs, so that started the daily travel ritual from the UES to Flatiron. Louis and I would walk to Central Park near the Alice & Wonderland statue to play with the other dogs off leash before 9am. A mad dash after the ducks in the boat pond followed by a bus ride or subway down to 23rd street. When Louis’ head would pop out of the top flap of the bag, fellow riders would respond in one of 3 ways: smile, gasp or “Awwwwwwww!” Another amusing start to another NYC workday.

One great features of the bag is a clip to keep the dog from jumping out. Of course, I NEVER used this thinking it was just one of the millions of features of the bag. Riding on the 6 train with his stylish bag on the floor, Louis pops his head out the top to catch some cool air. At precicely that instant, there is a sound from the other end of the subway car, a bark from a Teacup Yorkie sitting on a passengers lap. Before you could blink, Louis shot out the top of the carrier, accompanied by screams and gasps and runs full tilt down the car to greet the other canine. Even jaded NYC riders don’t expect to see an animal appear out of nowhere and run down the subway car. Mumbling apologies, I opened the bag by the front flap and Louis scooted back in.

After about a year and a half of use I had some trouble with one of the zippers and Angie at Celltei offered to replace the bag with a sample of a newly designed even lighter bag. Louis is now 6 lbs over the weight limit recommended for the bag and the rivets on the handles have held. This is after many types of abuse: going up and down subway stairs, dragging, pulling and chewing. Angie thinks of every feature that a pet and owner might need and thoroughly integrates it into her products. Her products are top notch!" Hans & Louis XV