several months ago I shipped a bitch from CA. to New Jersey...this is a small to medium bitch...Continental wanted me to fly her in a 700 crate!....I went ballistic ( surprised they didn't call security on me) and refused...well , Ann Marie in New Jersey called Continental in San Francisco and paid for the 700 crate over the phone! flying dogs is a pain in the ass!...years ago I thought the National should be in the middle of the country at the same place every year...I have since changed my opinion....but don't bitch about small Nationals...if folks can't get their dogs to these different locations we'll just have to live with small Nationals....things could be worse..FB ----- Original Message ----- From: EJDegen@xxxxxxx To: showgsd-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Sent: Tuesday, May 4, 2010 9:13:45 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: [ SHOWGSD-L ] crate sizes I fly my dogs a lot.  NOT by choice, but because of where we  live.  When we lived in Europe, I had a bitch who was less than 24 inches  and about 65 lbs.  She always flew in a 400 crate until the crate arrived  in Frankfurt once EMPTY (talk about panic!) and she arrived a few minutes later  in a 500.  They had taken her OUT of her crate and put her in a larger  crate.  She was accepted in the U.S. (Minneapolis/St. Paul) in her 400  crate, but somewhere along the way, someone thought she needed a bigger crate  and put her in a larger "loaner" crate!  We now live in Korea.  I have a 23 1/2 inch bitch who travels in my  van in a 400 crate perfectly comfortable.  HOWEVER, I've had airline agents  want her in a 500 crate.  Since it costs the same and the flights that I  take all accept the 500 crate, I done arguing with them about it.  She  flies in a 500.  My male GSD is just under 26 inches.  He is very  comfortable in a 500 crate, but I've actually gotten height extensions for his  crate because of too many arguments with check-in agents about his ears touching  the top of the crate.  They also want him to be in a larger crate than  the female since he's bigger, but they don't want HER in a 400 and HIM in a  500.  They'd prefer I use a 500 and a 700....which I won't do!  (can't  fit it in my van when we get to Korea :-) )    Julie  Degen _www.caissonkennels.com_ (http://www.caissonkennels.com/)  "A well-balanced German Shepherd has a title on both  ends!" ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2009.  All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://showgsd.org NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ ============================================================================ ============================================================================ POST is Copyrighted 2009. All material remains the property of the original author and of GSD Communication, Inc. NO REPRODUCTIONS or FORWARDS of any kind are permitted without prior permission of the original author AND of the Showgsd-l Management. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. ALL PERSONS ARE ON NOTICE THAT THE FORWARDING, REPRODUCTION OR USE IN ANY MANNER OF ANY MATERIAL WHICH APPEARS ON SHOWGSD-L WITHOUT THE EXPRESS PERMISSION OF ALL PARTIES TO THE POST AND THE LIST MANAGEMENT IS EXPRESSLY FORBIDDEN, AND IS A VIOLATION OF LAW. VIOLATORS OF THIS PROHIBITION WILL BE PROSECUTED. For assistance, please contact the List Management at admin@xxxxxxxxxxxx VISIT OUR WEBSITE - http://showgsd.org NATIONAL BLOG - http://gsdnational.blogspot.com/ ============================================================================