This Sherpa Carrier Has Carted All Three of My Dogs Through International Airports

Back in 2019 or 2020, I started planning a move to Mexico. And while there were plenty of logistics involved in moving countries, there was one thing that was non-negotiable: Ben was coming with me.

Ben is an adorable black pug with an attitude problem, and getting him to Mexico meant finding a pet carrier I could actually trust to get us onto an airplane.

There are approximately eight million pet carriers claiming to be designed for air travel, so I spent a ridiculous amount of time looking at them before eventually walking into a pet store, putting Ben inside a Sherpa Original Deluxe Pet Carrier and deciding this was the one.

I’ve had that original carrier ever since.

It’s traveled internationally, gone through more airports than I can count and carried all three of my dogs at various points. In fact, the only reason I eventually bought a second Sherpa Original Deluxe was because I acquired more dogs and, unfortunately, Sherpa has yet to figure out how to fit multiple pugs into a single airline-approved carrier.

My original Sherpa is currently in Mexico with Ben. My second one brought Winifred, my French Bulldog, back to Canada with me earlier this year. And in a few days, that second carrier is heading back to Mexico so I can bring Ben and his brother Ted home.

At this point, I have put these carriers through enough airports, airplanes and international moves that I have some thoughts.

So, let’s talk about them.

Why I Bought the Sherpa Original Deluxe

There are some seriously fancy pet carriers out there.

You can get expandable carriers with entire sections that pop out like tiny dog tents, backpack carriers, rolling carriers and plenty of expensive options specifically marketed toward airline travel.

I didn’t want any of that.

I wanted something simple, functional and lightweight that could do a few very specific things well.

Most importantly, I wanted a soft-sided carrier that could compress slightly to fit underneath an airline seat. I also wanted both top and front entry so I could get my dog in and out easily, a shoulder strap so I could carry it through an airport, and enough ventilation that I wasn’t trapping a pug inside a tiny fabric box for several hours.

And I wanted a pocket.

That sounds like a minor thing until you’re actually traveling alone with a dog. The pet carrier becomes my personal item, while I usually have a carry-on with me as well. I don’t want to dig through it every time I need my passport, wallet, boarding pass or the dog’s veterinary paperwork.

So the Sherpa effectively becomes my dog carrier and purse in one.

The Original Deluxe checked all of those boxes without adding a bunch of features I didn’t need. It’s a fairly simple rectangular soft-sided carrier with mesh ventilation, a shoulder strap, top and front openings, and storage for the things I need immediate access to.

It also wasn’t outrageously expensive. Depending on where you buy it, the large Original Deluxe generally sits around the $100 CAD mark, give or take. I’ve seen the exact carrier I own for around $110–$120 CAD, so it’s worth shopping around rather than assuming the first price you see is the best one.

But ultimately, price wasn’t what sold me.

I bought mine in person because I could actually put Ben inside it, see how he fit and get a feel for how the carrier was constructed before trusting it with my dog on an international flight.

Several years, three dogs and a second identical carrier later, I’d say that worked out pretty well.

What Is It Actually Like Flying With the Large Sherpa Carrier?

Honestly, pretty easy.

I’ve been flying with my original large Sherpa carrier for more than six years now, and I’ve never personally had a problem getting it onto a plane. It’s traveled between Canada, the United States and Mexico more times than I can count, carrying two different pugs and a French Bulldog along the way.

There is one thing I want to clarify about Sherpa’s Guaranteed On Board program, though, because I think the name makes it really easy to assume that buying one of these carriers means you’re automatically guaranteed to get your dog onto any flight.

That’s not quite how it works.

There are requirements attached to the program, and you still need to follow your individual airline’s rules. Your dog needs to fit appropriately inside the carrier, and ultimately the carrier needs to work with the under-seat space on the aircraft you’re flying. The program also has its own process and requirements if you’re denied boarding, so I definitely recommend reading the actual terms rather than arriving at the airport armed exclusively with the words GUARANTEED ON BOARD.

In my own experience, though, the large has worked incredibly well.

The back of the carrier is designed to compress down, which lets me slide it underneath an airline seat without dramatically reducing the usable space where my dog is actually lying.

And these aren’t teeny-tiny dogs, either. I’ve used my carriers with two pugs and a French Bulldog. They’re small dogs, obviously, but we’re not talking about three-pound Chihuahuas.

Once we’re on the plane, my dogs lie comfortably inside. Depending on the aircraft, I sometimes have a tiny portion of the carrier sticking out from underneath the seat, but the vast majority of it fits underneath, and I’ve personally never had an issue with airline staff over it.

That doesn’t guarantee someone else will have the same experience. Aircraft and airline policies vary, and I’ve only used mine for travel within Canada, the United States and Mexico. But after years of flying with these carriers, I’ve never personally been denied boarding because of one.

The carrier itself has held up remarkably well, too. My original is more than six years old at this point and has spent a significant amount of its life in Mexico. The hardware on the zipper has some tarnishing from the humid, salty environment, but otherwise, it’s still completely functional.

There are, however, a few things I think you should know before deciding to fly with one:

It’s awkward as hell to carry once there’s a dog inside it.

The Sherpa essentially carries like a large gym bag. It has a shoulder strap and technically there’s padding on that strap, but once you put the weight of an actual dog inside, that padding can only accomplish so much. After you’ve been walking through an airport for a while, you’re going to feel it digging into your shoulder.

This is also why I don’t recommend pairing it with a backpack if you can avoid it. I’ve tried carrying the Sherpa along with my Monos backpack, and those two things do not belong together.

Frankly, I wouldn’t want to pair it with any substantial backpack. My preferred setup is the Sherpa on my shoulder and a wheeled carry-on that I can pull with my other hand.

And I feel qualified to say that after recently spending approximately eight hours in the Houston airport with one of these carriers.

Your dog NEEDS to be carrier comfortable first

If your dog has never used a flight carrier, don’t expect to pop them in and move along with your day swimmingly!

All three of mine are used to them, so getting them inside isn’t particularly difficult. But if you have a dog who has decided they absolutely will not be entering the tiny fabric prison you’ve presented them with, the Sherpa isn’t magically going to make that easier.

There is a top opening, and I love having it, but I don’t generally use it to put my dogs into the carrier. Mine are tall enough that trying to lower them through the top would be unnecessarily awkward. I find it considerably easier to unzip the front and coax them inside that way.

My dogs can stand up inside the large, although it’s obviously not how they’re going to spend an entire flight. One of them is tall enough that when he stretches, he’ll push the soft top up slightly with his back. For actually traveling, though, they settle down and lie inside it comfortably.

The top opening is much more useful to me when we’re hanging out in the airport.

Ben, my oldest pug, has airport travel down to an art form. I’ll unzip the top while we’re waiting, and he’ll happily sit inside the carrier with his head sticking out. He has also perfected a particularly creative interpretation of stay in your carrier, where his butt remains planted inside on the compressed back while his front legs somehow migrate outside.

Technically, according to Ben, he is still in the carrier. The other two haven’t quite mastered his system yet.

So no, carrying a dog through an airport in the large Sherpa isn’t completely effortless. It’s heavy once there’s a dog inside, the shoulder strap isn’t particularly comfortable over long periods, and I’d definitely get your dog accustomed to the carrier before the day you’re standing in an airport trying to convince them to climb into it.

But as an actual airline pet carrier?

After more than six years of flights, three dogs and several truly unnecessary eight-hour layovers in Houston, mine has done exactly what I bought it to do.

How Comfortable Is It for the Dogs?

This is where airline pet carrier rules can get a little complicated.

Generally, your dog needs to be able to fit comfortably inside the carrier, including being able to stand up and turn around. And this is one of those situations where I think the measurements on a product page only tell you so much. You really need to consider the size and shape of your actual dog.

All three of my dogs are brachycephalic — two pugs and a French Bulldog — which means when they fly, they’re coming into the cabin with me. And all three of them fit comfortably in my large Sherpa carriers, despite being three very differently shaped little creatures.

Ben is probably the best test of the carrier’s height. He’s a 10-year-old black pug, weighs around 16 or 17 pounds and is approximately 11 to 11.5 inches tall at the shoulders. The Large Sherpa is about 11.5 inches tall, so he’s pretty much right at the upper end of what I’d personally be comfortable putting in it.

In fact, that’s why I didn’t originally order the carrier online.

I took Ben to PetSmart, had the staff help me pull one out, put him inside and made sure he actually fit before I bought it. He can stand up and turn around comfortably. Does he spend flights standing up? Absolutely not.

Ben is a seasoned international traveler and has determined that his role in this arrangement is to lie down and sleep while I transport him around like the little prince he is.

Winifred is a French Bulldog and shaped completely differently. She’s shorter than Ben but considerably more solid, usually weighing around 19 or 20 pounds. She’s basically a tiny brick of muscle with Frenchie ears.

She also fits comfortably in the large.

She can stand, sit, lie down and turn herself around inside it, although obviously she can’t stand sideways across the width of the carrier because she’s longer than it is wide. Turning around means actually turning herself around, which she has no problem doing.

That said, I would be particularly careful buying the large for a French Bulldog.

Winnie is a relatively small female Frenchie. A larger French Bulldog — particularly a bigger male — could very easily be too large for this carrier. If I were buying one for a Frenchie, I’d either take the dog to a store and physically try the carrier like I did with Ben, or buy it somewhere with a good return policy.

Then there’s Ted.

Ted is my fawn pug, weighs pretty consistently around 20 pounds and is also blind. He fits perfectly well in the carrier and can stand, turn around and lie down without a problem.

Does Ted like being in the carrier? No.

This has considerably less to do with the Sherpa and considerably more to do with Ted’s deeply held belief that Ted should be allowed to go wherever Ted wants under his own power.

He’s carrier trained. He’s traveled. And when it actually matters, he’s quiet and behaves perfectly well inside it. He’s just also extremely dramatic about the injustice of the entire arrangement.

His blindness hasn’t presented any particular problem with using the Sherpa, either. He’s a very well-adjusted blind dog, so I certainly wouldn’t assume that would be true for every visually impaired dog, but for Ted specifically, he’s perfectly comfortable navigating and settling into it.

So, after using the large with three different dogs, I’d say yes, it can be very comfortable — for the right dog.

But I wouldn’t buy one based solely on your dog’s weight.

If your dog is anywhere near the upper limits, I’d strongly recommend doing exactly what I did: put your actual dog in the actual carrier before committing to it.

A carrier being technically rated for your dog’s weight doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to be a comfortable fit for your dog.

The Problem With My Second Sherpa Carrier

I do have one weird quality-control issue with my second Sherpa carrier.

I bought the second Sherpa carrier when I was moving back to Canada from Mexico because I needed to bring Winifred with me. It turned out to be a good purchase anyway, because I’m now heading back to Mexico with my mom to pick up both pug boys, which means we’ll need two carriers for the trip home.

But somewhere around hour four million of an eight-hour layover in Houston, I noticed something wasn’t quite right with Winnie’s shoulder strap.

The clip that attaches the shoulder strap to the carrier had an opening in it, which meant the strap could slip out. Obviously, that’s not something you want to discover while carrying a 20-pound French Bulldog through an international airport.

Initially, I thought part of the clip had broken off. But looking at it more closely — and comparing it to the clip on the other side — I’m actually not convinced it broke at all. It looks like that particular piece may simply have been manufactured incorrectly. One side is shaped differently from the other, and I suspect it may have arrived that way without me noticing.

Either way, inspect those clips before you put your dog in the carrier.

I haven’t contacted Sherpa about it, so I can’t speak to how the company would handle the issue or whether they would replace the strap. Instead, I solved the problem in the most sophisticated way possible: I attached a carabiner to it.

And honestly? I kind of prefer the carabiner.

It’s incredibly secure, I’m more comfortable knowing there’s no way the strap can accidentally slip out, and I’ve actually considered replacing the attachment on the other side with one as well.

So yes, technically I’ve had a problem with one of my two Sherpa carriers. And because a shoulder strap failing while there’s a dog inside the carrier could be a serious issue, I don’t want to gloss over it.

At the same time, it hasn’t changed my overall opinion of the carrier. My original Sherpa has survived more than six years of international travel without the same problem, and the issue with the second was easily solved.

If anything, it gave me one additional piece of advice for anyone buying one:

Before your first trip, inspect every strap, clip and attachment point while you’re still at home — preferably before there’s a French Bulldog hanging from it in the middle of the Houston airport.

How Has My Original Sherpa Held Up?

My original Sherpa carrier is more than six years old at this point, and overall, it’s still in great condition.

Does it look as pristine as my five-year-old Monos backpack? Absolutely not. This thing has spent years traveling between Canada, the United States and Mexico with actual dogs inside it. It looks used. But there’s nothing about its condition that would make me uncomfortable putting one of my dogs in it and getting on another flight.

There are really two areas where its age shows.

The first is the hardware. The zippers have oxidized somewhat after spending so much time in the salty, humid Mexican air. They don’t look as nice as they did when the carrier was new, but I’ve never had an issue with them actually rusting out or failing. All of the zippers still open and close properly, and when I was getting the carrier ready for another international trip, I cleaned and inspected everything and was perfectly comfortable continuing to use it.

Interestingly, I’ve also never had the shoulder-strap clip problem with my original carrier that I experienced with the second one. Both original clips are still attached and functioning normally after more than six years. I may eventually replace them with carabiners simply because I’ve discovered I actually prefer how secure the carabiner feels, but I’ve never needed to.

The other place its age shows is in the structure of the carrier itself.

Part of what makes the Sherpa work so well for airline travel is the bendable wire frame at the back. You can compress it to get the carrier underneath an airline seat, and then the frame springs back into shape afterward.

After six-plus years of repeatedly shoving mine underneath airline seats, it doesn’t spring back quite as enthusiastically as it once did.

The wire itself is still solid and holds its shape, but the back of my original carrier tends to sit a little more compressed now instead of standing perfectly upright. If I put it next to my newer Sherpa, which is less than a year old and has only been underneath a handful of airline seats, you can definitely see the difference.

For me, that’s not really a problem.

These carriers have a very specific job in my travel ecosystem: they get my dogs through airports and onto airplanes. I occasionally use one in a car or for something like transporting a sick dog to the vet, but they’re not my everyday dog carriers.

If you plan to use yours constantly both at home and for air travel, however, it’s worth knowing that repeatedly compressing that frame will probably affect how well it stands upright over time.

Personally, I consider that normal wear rather than a durability problem. After six years, countless flights and a significant amount of time in the Mexican climate, every zipper still works, the mesh and fabric are intact, the straps are secure and the carrier is still doing the exact job I bought it to do.

She’s just a little more squished than she used to be.

Who Should Buy the Sherpa Original Deluxe?

If you have a small dog, travel with that small dog and want a simple carrier you can comfortably shove underneath an airplane seat, I highly recommend the Sherpa Original Deluxe.

And I do mean small dog. Despite owning the Large, this is still a carrier designed for small pets. Pugs and French Bulldogs are small dogs, even if mine happen to occupy the chubbier, taller end of the small-dog spectrum.

The most important thing is that your particular dog fits comfortably inside it. As I’ve already said, I’d recommend physically trying the carrier with your dog if they’re anywhere near the size limits.

But assuming they fit? I don’t think you need to spend hundreds of dollars on a fancy airline carrier.

There are some gorgeous pet carriers out there now. You can get expandable carriers with pop-out tents, carriers that look like designer handbags and all sorts of elaborate travel systems. If that’s what you’re looking for, the Sherpa probably isn’t going to excite you.

It’s incredibly basic.

And that’s exactly why I like it.

For around $100–$120 CAD, I get a lightweight, soft-sided carrier that fits underneath an airplane seat, has enough ventilation for my dogs, gives me multiple ways to get them in and out, and has enough storage for my passport, wallet and veterinary paperwork.

My original has been doing that job for more than six years.

I take my travel gear pretty seriously because I’m on the road so often, and that includes the stuff I buy for my dogs. I’m constantly evaluating whether something needs to be replaced, upgraded or retired because it no longer works for the way we travel.

I’ve looked at plenty of newer, fancier pet carriers over the years. So far, I haven’t found a compelling reason to replace my Sherpas.

They’re not particularly exciting. They’re not luxurious. And your dog is certainly not going to emerge from one looking like they just flew first class.

But they’re affordable, functional and, in my experience, incredibly reliable.

And when I’m putting one of my little princes or princesses underneath an airplane seat for several hours, reliable is considerably more important to me than fancy.

Is the Sherpa Original Deluxe Worth It?

For me, 100%.

I don’t know if I can give the Sherpa Original Deluxe a better endorsement than the fact that when I needed a second pet carrier, I didn’t use it as an opportunity to try something newer, fancier or more expensive.

I bought the exact same carrier again.

I didn’t even deviate from the size or model. The only difference is that my second one is black with a lattice pattern because, at the time, that particular design was about $20 cheaper on Amazon. Otherwise, they’re virtually identical.

And after more than six years with my original, that’s exactly what I wanted.

I’ve flown internationally with these carriers, used them with three different dogs and trusted them through more airports than I can count. My original has held up remarkably well, and even the manufacturing issue I encountered with my second carrier hasn’t been enough to change my opinion of it.

Winnie travels in the newer lattice one, mostly because I’ve arbitrarily decided it looks girlier and apparently my French Bulldog has assigned luggage now.

So, yes. If you have a small dog that fits comfortably inside it and you’re looking for a simple, reliable carrier for air travel, I absolutely recommend the Sherpa Original Deluxe.

Six years later, I’d buy it again.

Actually, I already did.

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