Sun Country service animal policy: the DOT form, the 6-month rule and ESAs

Service dogs on Sun Country: what Sun Country requires

Sun Country's contract of carriage (Rule 55, "Service Animals & Working Dogs", footer "Updated January 1, 2026") sets the rules. The main points:

• Definition: a service animal is "a dog, regardless of breed or type", individually trained to do work or perform tasks for a person with a disability, and "that is at least 6 months old".
• Forms: "a current completed U.S. Department of Transportation Service Animal Air Transportation Form", plus the DOT Relief Attestation Form "for a flight segment schedule to take eight (8) hours or more".
• Control: "Service Animals must be harnessed, leashed or otherwise tethered at all times by the passenger or Service Animal handler while at the gate and on the aircraft."
• Behavior: Sun Country's refusal grounds follow the DOT rule (14 CFR 382.79): a direct threat to others, significant disruption, behavior that shows the dog has not been trained to behave properly in public, health or safety rules, or missing forms.
• Breed: none banned. "Regardless of breed or type" is the contract's own wording.

The age rule matters. Most US airlines we checked use 4 months. The DOT rule itself sets no minimum age, but Sun Country writes 6 months into its definition, so a younger dog should not be booked as a service dog on Sun Country.

How many dogs? Sun Country's contract does not say, and we could not read its service animal help page. The DOT rule lets any US airline limit a passenger to two service dogs (14 CFR 382.74), so ask before you book a second dog.

No registry, ID card or vest replaces the DOT form on Sun Country or any US airline, ours included.

How to add a service dog to a Sun Country booking

1. Book your ticket.
2. Fill out the DOT form after you buy the ticket (the DOT counts a form as current only if it is completed on or after the purchase date), plus the relief form if any segment is scheduled for 8 hours or more.
3. Submit it online through the Service Animal Forms Portal run by Open Doors Organization, which Sun Country uses for these forms. If you booked more than 48 hours out, the contract says you "must provide Sun Country Airlines forty-eight (48) hours advance notice by submitting the applicable form(s)".
4. Carry a copy on the day.

Booked late, or missed the online step? The contract covers that: "If the completed form is not submitted prior to travel, passengers must submit the completed form in person to a Customer Service Agent upon arrival at the airport." Build in time for that stop. Sun Country does not say how long an approval lasts, so plan on sending the form for each trip.

Submitting the DOT form to Sun Country

Sun Country asks for the federal forms and nothing of its own. The form asks for your dog's name, description, rabies vaccination date, the name of whoever trained the dog to perform its task and to behave in public (you, if you trained the dog), and a signed statement under a federal false-statement warning. It has no breed field and asks for no certificate. For each field, see how to fill out the DOT service animal form.

Airlines may not demand other paperwork on a US flight beyond the two DOT forms and any animal health documents a government requires. If an agent asks for a "certificate" or an ID card, the DOT's service animal guide is the page to show them.

Psychiatric service dogs on Sun Country

Sun Country says it directly: "Psychiatric support animals are recognized as trained Service Animals." That matches the DOT rule, which treats psychiatric service dogs like any other service dog and bars airlines from requiring a letter from a mental health professional. So a psychiatric service dog uses the same DOT form, the same 48-hour timing and the same 6-month age rule.

The dog does need to be task-trained (for example, to interrupt a panic attack or apply deep pressure). A dog whose presence alone helps is an emotional support animal. More in our psychiatric service dog guide.

Emotional support animals on Sun Country: flying as a pet

Sun Country's contract never uses the word "emotional", but its line on comfort and companionship animals covers them: any animal that is not task-trained is not a service animal. That leaves the pet rules on Sun Country's help page:

• Fee: "If the reservation was made in advance, the fee is $75 per direction. If making a walk-up request, the fee is $100 per direction".
• Which pets: small dogs and cats only, one pet per ticketed traveler, and "a maximum of six pets can travel on a flight". Book through Sun Country Reservations.
• Carrier: "no larger than 17 inches x 12 inches x 9 inches". No bulkhead or exit row.
• Routes: pets fly only "within the 48 contiguous United States". The contract (Rule 200) rules out international flights and flights to or from Anchorage, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, and pets on connecting itineraries with other airlines.
• Hold: none. Sun Country takes pets only in the cabin as carry-on, so a dog too big for the carrier cannot fly as a pet.

Flying with a service dog and a pet? Sun Country says you "may need to purchase an extra seat." For how other airlines treat ESAs, see can emotional support animals fly?

Service dogs in training on Sun Country

Not accepted. The contract's definition ends: "Animals in training will not be accepted." A dog in training can only fly as a pet, and only if it fits the pet carrier and route rules above. Sun Country does carry working dogs on active duty (explosives, contraband, search and rescue) with "credible documentation", but that is a separate category. Access for dogs in training on the ground depends on state law; see service dogs in training.

International flights on Sun Country

Sun Country's contract leaves destination rules to the passenger and does not list them. Two things apply to every dog on any airline: the destination country's own animal health rules, and the CDC's rules for dogs entering the US on the way home (at least six months old, a microchip and a CDC Dog Import Form). The CDC says service dogs must meet the same requirements as all other dogs. Our international flights guide has the checklist.

Seating, size and large dogs on Sun Country

"The Service Animal will not be permitted to occupy a seat and must accompany the passenger in the passenger's lap or in the passenger's foot space (unless this location and placement would be inconsistent with the safety requirements set by the FAA or encroach into another passenger's space)." Sun Country says it seats handlers under 14 CFR Part 382. For a dog that does not fit, that rule (382.77) asks the airline to look for another seat in the same class where the dog fits; if there is none, the options are the cargo hold at no charge or a later flight. If your dog is large, raise it when you send the form rather than at the gate.

Contacting Sun Country, and when we last checked

Sun Country's help center lists its contact options; the link is in our sources. suncountry.com sits behind a bot wall that blocked our server on 2026-09-25, so we read the contract of carriage PDF live that day and the pets help page once before the block. We could not read Sun Country's separate service animal help page, which may add details such as a dog limit. Allegiant's pet page mentions an "Allegiant + Sun Country integration", so the rules may change; compare Allegiant's policy before you fly.

Common questions

Sources

1. Sun Country, Contract of Carriage, Rules 55 and 200 (updated 2026-01-01)
2. Sun Country, traveling with kids or pets
3. DOT Service Animal Air Transportation Form (PDF)
4. DOT, service animals guidance
5. 14 CFR 382.74, number of service animals
6. 14 CFR 382.75, documentation airlines may require
7. 14 CFR 382.77, seating and large animals
8. CDC, dog importation FAQ

General information, not legal advice. Policies and laws change; follow the sources. Last checked September 29, 2026.