If travelling the world with your pet at your feet is your ideal, Aliza Bodzin can walk you through the red tape.

It’s a calling she stumbled upon because of all the loopholes she had to navigate to get her Yorkshire terrier Chewie and her wire-haired dachshund Leia with her on planes.

Veterinarians in the United States had made travel fairly easy for her dogs while they were living there, but when they moved to Canada, Ms Bodzin discovered she would have to work it out on her own.

She reached out to animal transporters for help but, even though she offered to pay a consultation fee, once they learnt she didn’t want to put her pets in cargo, they were not excited to share their knowledge.

“It ended up where I was able to bring one of the dogs with me but not the other; I was totally unprepared,” she said of her first trip.

It’s what led to the launch of Bodzin Pet Travel Solutions and her role as “a pet travel and relocation adviser”.

What that means in a nutshell is that she takes away all the headaches of travelling with a pet.

“I had to start researching everything. People were asking me questions all the time, ‘How are you flying with him? How are you travelling with him? What do I need to do it?’ I realised other people were in the same boat.”

As she worked her way through all the kinks, her Instagram posts caught the eye of Lauren Anders Brown, a digital nomad who lives in Bermuda and is building an app that will make it easier for people to travel with their pets.

Ms Bodzin was in Bermuda for Bermy Barkus, a Mardi Gras-inspired dog parade Ms Brown held in Dockyard last week.

“We just hit it off right away. We did the research together for both of our businesses to understand the pain points that different users are having, whether that's travellers, transportation providers, animal rescue people, airline officials, airline, airline staff, hospitality staff …. all the different challenges that they face,” Ms Bodzin said. “I’m fully supportive of PadsPass and at the end of the day I knew I would want something like that to use as a tool in my business to advise people because a lot of the things that I do now, they’re time consuming, tedious. It would be quicker and easier if we had a tool to use.”

Ms Bodzin’s clients so far have primarily been residents of Canada and the United States but there is a cat in Bermuda that she helped travel from Japan.

“Essentially, I get all the information that people need in order to successfully relocate or travel somewhere with their pet.

“So that can be anything from researching flight routes, car routes if you're doing a road trip, finding accommodations, looking at the government policies, finding the questions to ask your vets – essentially being able to successfully get from point A to B with the pet.”

What she does not do is get involved in any aspect of transporting the animals themselves.

The cat she organised travel for made the long journey via Toronto’s Lester B Pearson Airport with its owner who was moving to the island for work.

Ms Bodzin laid out the import requirements for Bermuda and Canada as well as the “very strict” export requirements demanded by Japan.

“She knew the Bermuda requirements, generally. She understood that she had to get the import permit and meet those requirements, but you [also] have to meet Canadian requirements, even if the animal is just passing through for a layover or else they could deny the animal entry,” she said.

A “pre-departure summary” gave the pet owner a list of everything that had to be done before landing in Canada and what to expect when meeting with customs and immigration representatives there.

Ms Bodzin also included a link to government websites so the person could search for information themselves if they wished.

On learning that the woman’s vet in Japan didn't speak English and didn't have an English health certificate, Ms Bodzin took on the job of creating a template.

“[I took them] basically step by step with everything to expect so there were no surprises and everything worked out,” she said.

“It was just being there as a support throughout the process. I was tracking her flights, I let her know she could message me if anything happened.”

She is familiar with the European Union requirements and “very knowledgeable” about travelling with pets in the US, Bermuda and Canada.

She can also advise which airlines are strict and which are more relaxed about carrier sizes and pair people with airlines that will accommodate any specific needs.

“I love helping people. That's ultimately what it is at the end of the day. I help the people because I love animals and I love the love that people have for their animals.

“I wish I didn't have to become the expert that I am in all of this. I wish there was someone who could have helped me years ago, but there wasn't.

“And so I've kind of become what I wish I had access to years ago. I was navigating everything alone and I know how frustrating it is when you're in that customs line or you're in that airport check-in and they tell you there's something wrong.

“So to just have someone to check in with, someone who can tell you it’s all going to work out or I have a Plan B for you if it doesn’t, is great.”

•Follow @alizabodzin on Instagram where she shares tips, tricks and product/tech recommendations to make travel with pets easier. For more information send an e-mail: aliza@bodzinpettravelsolutions.com