Flying With a Dog on Lufthansa: The 8 kg Cabin Rule, the Hold and Where You Can Connect

Lufthansa still offers a dog both choices: under the seat in front of you, or the air conditioned hold. Its rules are clear once they sit together, but they are spread across half a dozen pages, and much of what is written about them elsewhere quotes fees the airline does not publish. This guide is taken from Lufthansa's own pages on travelling with animals, read in October 2026.

The Cabin: 8 kg, Dog and Bag Together

A dog may fly in the cabin if dog and carrier together weigh no more than 8 kg, about 17.6 lb. The carrier must be soft sided, close securely and measure no more than 55 by 40 by 23 cm. It must be escape, leak and bite proof, with no sturdy frame, wheels or telescopic handle, and the dog must be able to stand, lie down and turn round inside. Line it with a blanket or old clothing, since newspaper, cardboard and straw are not allowed. If it will not fit under the seat, the crew fasten it to your seat belt with a Lufthansa Animal Belt, and the dog stays inside throughout.

Lufthansa also expects manners: a dog that barks, growls or ignores your commands may be moved to the hold at extra cost or refused, and you are liable for any damage. You confirm all this on a form, and you need two printed and signed copies of it at the check-in counter.

Two Dogs, and How Old They Must Be

Each passenger may take two animals: both in the cabin, one in the cabin and one in the hold, or both in the hold. Only one carrier per passenger is allowed in the cabin, so two dogs there must share a bag, which Lufthansa permits only for animals of comparable size that are used to each other, with the whole bag still within 8 kg. Puppies must be at least 12 weeks old, or 15 weeks on any flight from, to or via Germany, so if your journey touches Germany at all, plan on 15 weeks. For the United States the minimum is six months.

The Hold for Larger Dogs

A dog over 8 kg can fly as excess baggage in the hold in a crate that meets the IATA Live Animals Regulations, and Lufthansa refuses crates that do not. Since 4 May 2026 a dog crate's ventilation openings may be no larger than 25 by 25 mm, or must be meshed so no paw or nose can poke through. The halves must be joined with metal screws, wire crates and wheels are banned, there must be ventilation on all four sides, and food and water dishes must be fixed inside the door and fillable from outside. Two adult dogs of comparable size that are used to each other may share a crate if each weighs no more than 14 kg. Lufthansa carries no pregnant animals and may refuse the hold at short notice in extreme weather. Our guide to flying a dog in the hold covers the preparation.

Snub-Nosed and Restricted Breeds

Lufthansa has refused snub-nosed dogs in the hold since 1 January 2020, because their restricted airways make the stress and heat of a journey dangerous. The list includes pugs, boxers, Boston terriers, Shih Tzus, King Charles spaniels, chow chows and every bulldog except the American, and covers crosses too. Such a dog may still fly in the cabin within the 8 kg rule, which helps a pug and does nothing for a boxer.

Breeds Lufthansa classes as fighting dogs, among them the Rottweiler, the American bulldog and the Dogo Argentino, fly only in the hold in a heavy wooden or steel framed crate, unless they are puppies of three to six months. The American pit bull terrier, the American Staffordshire terrier, the Staffordshire bull terrier, the bull terrier and the American Bully are counted as snub-nosed and are not carried in the hold at all. Our guide to banned and restricted breeds by country covers the laws behind such lists.

What It Costs

Lufthansa charges for a dog in the cabin and in the hold, by route, and for the hold also by crate size, but it prints no amounts on its pet pages. It points you to its baggage calculator instead. What it does state is how the fee works. You pay once per direction, even across a Lufthansa connection, so Hamburg via Frankfurt to Madrid is charged once, then again for the return and after any stopover of more than 24 hours. You pay at check-in or the service counter. A dog in the hold changing planes in Brussels, Geneva, Frankfurt, Vienna or Zurich costs a further EUR 150, CHF 170, USD 170 or CAD 220, and a night in Zurich adds CHF 200 per crate.

Where You Can and Cannot Connect

The key rule is Munich: Lufthansa accepts no animals in the hold on connections via Munich, though direct flights to and from Munich are fine and hold connections through Frankfurt still work. Lufthansa also reserves the right to refuse some routes and names the United Kingdom and Ireland. For Britain that follows the law, since the UK government says a pet arriving by plane must travel as cargo unless it is an assistance dog or on a chartered private plane; our guide to taking a dog from the US to the UK explains the alternatives.

For the United States, Lufthansa books dogs only to Atlanta, Los Angeles, Miami, New York JFK, Newark, Philadelphia and Washington DC, and Newark only for a dog that has not been in a high risk rabies country in the previous six months. Every dog also needs the CDC Dog Import Form, shown at departure and on arrival. The rules apply only to flights Lufthansa operates. On a codeshare the operating airline decides, and Lufthansa offers no hold space on its codeshares flown by United, which, as our guide to flying with a dog on United explains, takes no pets in the hold for ordinary passengers anyway.

Booking and the Day of Travel

Book your own seat first, then register the dog on the online form for the cabin or the hold no later than 72 hours before departure, and register each cabin dog separately. Outside the US the Service Center can still book up to 24 hours before, but places are limited, so Lufthansa advises booking the dog with your ticket; for the US the 72 hours are firm. Online check-in opens 30 hours ahead, but with a dog in the cabin you collect your boarding pass at the counter, and the cabin checklist asks you to arrive there about two hours before departure with the dog's papers, both signed forms, a lead and preferably a harness. With a dog in the hold you cannot use the self-service bag drop. Dogs are welcome in Lufthansa lounges if they wait in their carrier.

Getting Your Dog Ready

Lufthansa advises closing your dog in its carrier at home for about two hours at a time, with a reward afterwards and a familiar blanket or toy inside, and it warns that sedatives make a dog's reaction hard to predict and can cause circulatory problems in flight. Our guides to training your dog to travel, to pet passports and health certificates and to flying with a dog cover the rest of the preparation.

A Closing Thought

For a small dog Lufthansa is generous, with a sensible limit, one fee per direction and a welcome in the lounge. For a larger dog it still offers the hold, provided the crate meets the new ventilation rule and the route avoids a change in Munich. Weigh the dog in its bag, book it the day you book yourself, and print the form twice.