Labrador Rescue

Has anyone ever taken their dog overseas? We have thought about it once or twice but I then do some research on the net and decide against it due to some of the horror stories I have read! Would love to hear people's experience of this and on getting pet passport, rabies vaccination etc.
Jackie xx

Be very careful they have deseases we dont have I had known of a family unable to bring dog back in due to some odd desease and another whose dogs chip had slipped and couldnt be found

It costs over £100 for the Rabies vaccination, blood test and passport.

And I have heard of a dog who's microchip broke. They could actually feel the chip, but it wouldn't read.

And if anything bad happens, the quarantine kennels are not nice places apparently

We've got two sets of friends who take their dogs abroad regularly. One set spends the winter in Spain with their weimauraner (?) - they drive to Dover, get the ferry and drive through France to Spain. They say that the French are very dog friendly and most hotels and restaurants will let you in with your four legged friend. The other set have three labs and they go to Spain three/four times a year and again, have no trouble. The only thing they say is that in the summer period, you're not allowed on the beach with your dogs. I know that if you read articles on the internet, it sounds pretty scary but they have said it's really simple once you have the 'passport'. Hope this helps. Julie

Personally for me I wouldnt chance it as Glenys says they have diseases abroad that we dont (as yet) have in this country, take sandfly for instance which can be found on beaches,at present we dont have this in our country but with people taking their pets abroad it is only a question of time before some of these diseases reach this county,and that can be very worrying.

It is of course a personal choice but I would now either not go abroad whilst I have dogs,and have happy holidays and memories of holidays in the UK with my 2.... :)

Hi - Fudge has his passport and we took him through France Belgium Holland and Germany then up into Denmark. We have had no trouble and will do it again. Several of my friends have taken dogs abroad without any problems. Having said that if you are going where it is hot there seem to be more problems with illness such as sandfly. The best place for advice is the DEFRA website. I think our passport including the jabs and blood test was £170 in 2006. The vet required to complete the return paperwork was 30 euros including vet and tick treatment. You need to plan in advance as a dog that has been vaccinated for rabies then needs a blood test to show that it has taken - after that you need to allow 6 MONTHS before the dog is allowed back into the country.( You can take it out straight away but not bring it back until the six months has passed.) All is explained on the DEFRA site. For example if you plan a June holiday I would suggest you talk to your vet no later than September the previous year. It is really too late for this year.
I will answer questions about our experiences if anyone wants to PM me

Marie

Hi

I often take my dogs abroad (been twice this year and plan to go again, May,June and November) as we show them in Belgium and Holland. Before we go I get the dogs scanned just to make sure the chip is working or hasn't moved. Take the flea treatment and worming with us, I use Milebemax wormer as that covers heart and lung worm. Dogs attending shows in Europe have to be vaccinated and are vet checked before going into the shows, but I dont let my dogs come into close contact with foreign dogs. Vet checking is needed at least 24 hours but no more than 48hrs before coming back to UK sohave that arranged before I leave UK. Europe is very dog friendly and there are lots of places you can take the dogs that you wouldnt be able to in UK.

Tracy

If you want to go and are not happy with all the regulations- why not try Ireland- we have been there twice, fantastic people and no problem with dogs- we have holiday cottaged there

I don't think I'd go to all that trouble and expense just for holidays unless it was going to be a regular thing. Though if you want to go abroad and haven't got good, reliable kennels it might be different. Taking dogs abroad for shows, as you do, Tracy, is quite different. Thinking back to some of the holidays we had abroad when the children were little - traffic jams in the middle of a heat wave & so on, getting lost & about to run out of petrol (no comments, thank you :D) - I'm not sure I'd want to put the dogs through that.

Joan