Breed
Every dog breed against the plane: size, weight, snub nose
What a breed changes when a dog flies comes down to three things, and only three: its size band, its reference weight and the shape of its muzzle. This page gathers the 172 breeds documented here, lightest to heaviest, with what each of those three criteria actually triggers at airlines and at borders.
What you will not find here is a verdict by breed. No airline publishes a breed-by-breed admission list, and inventing one would mean republishing precisely the claims we removed from this site for want of a source. The table says what the database knows; the search engine is what crosses your airline, your route and your destination country.
No match.
Every breed by size and weight
Reference weight and size for each of the 172 breeds documented here, and which of them are snub-nosed — 22 are. Weight decides where a dog travels on board more than any other single factor, so each group is ordered by it.
Toy · 14
| Breed | Weight | Snub-nosed |
|---|---|---|
| Prague Ratter | 2 kg | — |
| Chihuahua | 3 kg | — |
| Maltese | 3 kg | — |
| Pomeranian | 3 kg | — |
| Pomeranian (Toy Spitz) | 3 kg | — |
| Toy Poodle | 3 kg | — |
| Yorkshire Terrier | 3 kg | — |
| Affenpinscher | 4 kg | 🐽 Yes |
| Bolognese | 4 kg | — |
| Brussels Griffon | 4 kg | 🐽 Yes |
| Italian Greyhound | 4 kg | — |
| Japanese Chin | 4 kg | 🐽 Yes |
| Papillon (Continental Toy Spaniel) | 4 kg | — |
| Pug | 8 kg | 🐽 Yes |
Small · 37
| Breed | Weight | Snub-nosed |
|---|---|---|
| Continental Toy Spaniel | 5 kg | — |
| Coton de Tulear | 5 kg | — |
| Havanese | 5 kg | — |
| Miniature Dachshund | 5 kg | — |
| Miniature Pinscher | 5 kg | — |
| Norfolk Terrier | 5 kg | — |
| Norwich Terrier | 5 kg | — |
| Pekingese | 5 kg | 🐽 Yes |
| Bichon Frisé | 6 kg | — |
| Border Terrier | 6 kg | — |
| King Charles Spaniel | 6 kg | 🐽 Yes |
| Kokoni | 6 kg | — |
| Löwchen | 6 kg | — |
| Miniature Poodle | 6 kg | — |
| Schipperke | 6 kg | — |
| Shih Tzu | 6 kg | 🐽 Yes |
| Cairn Terrier | 7 kg | — |
| German Pinscher | 7 kg | — |
| Jack Russell Terrier | 7 kg | — |
| Lhasa Apso | 7 kg | 🐽 Yes |
| Miniature Schnauzer | 7 kg | — |
| Parson Russell Terrier | 7 kg | — |
| Alpine Dachsbracke | 8 kg | — |
| Boston Terrier | 8 kg | 🐽 Yes |
| Cavalier King Charles Spaniel | 8 kg | 🐽 Yes |
| Cavalier Spaniel | 8 kg | 🐽 Yes |
| Fox Terrier | 8 kg | — |
| Miniature Bull Terrier | 8 kg | — |
| Mixed breed (small) | 8 kg | — |
| West Highland White Terrier | 8 kg | — |
| Dachshund | 9 kg | — |
| Scottish Terrier | 9 kg | — |
| Sealyham Terrier | 9 kg | — |
| Shetland Sheepdog | 9 kg | — |
| Shetland Sheepdog (Sheltie) | 9 kg | — |
| Beagle | 11 kg | — |
| French Bulldog | 11 kg | 🐽 Yes |
Medium · 41
Large · 54
Giant · 26
| Breed | Weight | Snub-nosed |
|---|---|---|
| American Akita | 45 kg | — |
| Bernese Mountain Dog | 45 kg | — |
| Kuvasz | 45 kg | — |
| Anatolian Shepherd | 50 kg | — |
| Dogue de Bordeaux | 50 kg | 🐽 Yes |
| Fila Brasileiro | 50 kg | — |
| Great Pyrenees | 50 kg | — |
| Great Pyrenees (Patou) | 50 kg | — |
| Komondor | 50 kg | — |
| Presa Canario (Dogo Canario) | 50 kg | 🐽 Yes |
| Bullmastiff | 55 kg | 🐽 Yes |
| Central Asian Shepherd | 55 kg | — |
| Greater Swiss Mountain Dog | 55 kg | — |
| Irish Wolfhound | 55 kg | — |
| Kangal (Anatolian Shepherd) | 55 kg | — |
| Caucasian Shepherd | 60 kg | — |
| Great Dane | 60 kg | — |
| Landseer | 60 kg | — |
| Leonberger | 60 kg | — |
| Newfoundland | 60 kg | — |
| Tosa Inu | 60 kg | — |
| Neapolitan Mastiff | 65 kg | 🐽 Yes |
| Spanish Mastiff | 65 kg | 🐽 Yes |
| Boerboel | 70 kg | — |
| Saint Bernard | 75 kg | — |
| Mastiff (English Mastiff) | 80 kg | — |
Weight decides where a dog travels, not the breed
The 172 documented breeds run from 2 kg to 80 kg, with a median at 22 kg, and that spread explains almost everything: an airline does not reason by breed for the cabin, it sets a weight cap. The most common is 8 kg, applied as such by 43 airlines, and 44 breeds have a reference weight that falls under it.
The limit may cover both the dog and its container, since 57 of the 58 published limits include the bag or crate. A seven-kilo dog in a bag weighing a kilo and a half exceeds an eight-kilo limit that includes the carrier, even though the dog alone weighs less. Weighing them together helps avoid this misunderstanding before booking.
The weight shown in the table is a breed reference weight, not your dog's. It is there to place a size band, to explain why a poodle and a mastiff do not raise the same question, and nothing beyond that. Before booking a flight, weigh your dog in its carrier, on a scale, and compare that number to the airline's cap.
Snub noses and banned breeds: two subjects often confused
22 of the 172 breeds documented here are brachycephalic — snub-nosed — and that morphology makes breathing harder as soon as stress or heat come into play. 18 airlines publish their own list of affected breeds, 3 rules in our corpus target the trait explicitly, and IATA advises against hot-season flights for these dogs. The restrictions bear mostly on the hold and on cargo, less on the cabin.
National bans follow an entirely different logic: 41 breeds are named in the entry rules of 6 countries, not for any breathing risk but under dangerous-dog legislation. A ban of that kind cannot be worked around by changing airline, since it does not come from the airline: it comes from the destination country, and it applies whatever the flight.
That is why the table above does not sort breeds into "accepted" and "refused". The same breed travels without difficulty on one route and meets a refusal on another, depending on the airline, the season and the border crossed. The question only has an answer once those three are known, and that is exactly what the site's search engine goes and finds.
Dog breeds and air travel: common questions
Which dog breeds can travel in the cabin?
The question does not work in those terms: no airline publishes a list of breeds admitted in the cabin, it sets a weight cap. The most common is 8 kg, applied by 43 airlines, and 57 of the 58 published caps include the bag in that total. Of the 172 breeds documented here, 44 have a reference weight below that cap — which places a size band without settling anything about your dog.
My dog is snub-nosed. Can it fly?
It depends on the airline, the placement and the season. 22 breeds are marked snub-nosed in our database, 18 airlines publish their own list and 3 rules in our corpus target the trait, most often for the hold and for cargo. IATA advises against hot-season flights for them. A bulldog may therefore fly without trouble in the cabin where the hold would be refused it.
Which dog breeds are banned in certain countries?
41 breeds are named in the entry rules of 6 countries, under dangerous-dog legislation. It is an import ban, not a commercial policy: no airline can override it, and no change of route gets around it. It is therefore the first thing to check, before even comparing flights.
Is the weight shown for each breed my dog's weight?
No, and the distinction matters. It is a breed reference weight, running from 2 to 80 kg across the breeds with a median at 22 kg, and its only job is to place a size band. Your dog may sit well away from it. Only a weighing, done in the travel bag, lets you compare yourself to an airline's cap.
Does the breed determine the size of the travel crate?
Only indirectly. The crate is chosen on the dog's measurements standing up — length, height at the withers, height of the ears — and not on its pedigree entry. Two dogs of the same breed can call for two different sizes, and it is the measurement that settles it, never the breed name.
Why does this page not say whether a breed is accepted on a plane?
Because no official source says it by breed, and we publish only what we can quote. Acceptance is decided where three things meet: the airline, the route and the destination country. An answer by breed would be a convenient invention, and it would turn against the traveller the day it proved wrong.
Answers drawn from the 172 documented breeds and from the travel rules published on this site with their source, last verified on October 31, 2026. Before booking a flight, confirm with your airline: policies change, and they change without warning.