Dogs on Ferries .

Goldenstar

Goldenstar

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In September we are off to Ireland to take my FIL home for his 90th birthday .
We have rented a house and all the family members are getting together for the big day .
We are taking the girls with us ( two labs ) it's a two hour ferry crossing, the plan is to walk them in the morning early on then give them plenty of time to cool off in the inlaws garden before we head to the ferry which is very close to their house .the car has a sun roof that we can leave open to keep them cool and I plan to put some of the luggage on the back seat for the crossing so they have more room in the back . I also have got one of those non slopping travelling water bowls .
They both like the car and are happy travellers
Has anyone done ferry trips with their dogs , have you any tips or advice .
Thanks in advance .
 
We brought a puppy over on the two hour crossing, no problems. We decided to leave her in the car, as opposed to the kennels on board.

We left water for her and left the windows open a little, though it was winter so quite cold.

The staff who patrol the cargo area are excellent and will keep an eye on them.

We were loaded and unloaded first, can't remember if that was because we had a puppy or a gun in the car!
 
Make the ferry company aware you are travelling with dogs - they usually put your car in a cooler area. Don't travel any dog that cant pant properly over summer, unfortunately there have been several pugs etc dying before arriving at our local port at the moment due to the heat and idiot owners.
 
I used to go every year to an agility show in Jersey, along with around 30 other competitors from the UK. It was an 8 hour ferry crossing and the dogs were always fine, not even desperate for a wee the other end, first thing they wanted to do was play in the sea. Because we were a large group the ferry company used to let one person go down and check the dogs every couple of hours, but invariably they were all asleep.
 
I'm taking mine to Belfast on Thursday night so can let you know! - that said, mine is overnight in a kennel.... If only two hours I'm sure it will be fine, but as someone else has said, the heat has been a problem on French ferry crossings this summer.
 
we frequently go from holyhead to dublin and we did travel from scotland to belfast a lot with our dog - she travels very well and as long as you have enough air in the car and a source of water i think your dogs will be fine - we tend to travel ours in the boot with plenty of room - as long as they get a pee before and after i'm sure they'll be grand ;) have a great trip
 
We took our dogs to Ireland Fishguard to Rosslaire (3 and half hours) this June.
We took our caravan towed by 110 Landrover.
Dogs were in the back of the Landrover with a travel bowl of water (they had plenty of room)
We had a secure grill up so could half open the driver and passenger windows to get air flow .They parked us on the lower deck with the lorries were it was very shady.
The men said they do check the dogs for you and will tanoy reg number if they need you to go down to them.
Our dogs (2 setters ) were absolutely fine and were fast asleep and the vehicle was nice and cool when we went down to the Landrover at the end of the journey .
No problem at all .
Enjoy your trip.
 
You may already know this but..you now need a full pet passport to bring dogs into Ireland.So microchipped and rabies injection 3 weeks prior to travel.Its not always checked but dogs travelling without a valid passport are seized and quarantined at the owners expense..

Apart from that people who take the ferry to england tell me that ulysees(irish ferries) has nicer kennels than stena line as stena lines are besides the engine room so quite loud whereas the others are in a dog room and have good roomy crates and a tap to refill water etc,though staying in the car seems to be the preferred choice in most cases.
Most ferries do not allow passengers to return to the cars once they leave harbour though so keep that in mind.If its a very hot day(highly unlikely) I would bring them up to the kennels.

If they are good travellers would try and arrive early enough to park towards the front of the ship as well as there should be less fumes in that area.

If your coming into rosslare theres a lovely beach right beside the port to let them off on post trip :)
 
We were on Stena line and the kennels were not that nice as they were near the engine room .We told them when we arrived we had dogs and they put our Landover and caravan on the lorry deck right at the front we were the first vehicle off.
I told one of the deck personnel we had dogs and he said they would check on them as they went about their duties and we would be tanoyed if there was a problem and we would be escorted to the deck.
We had our dogs rabies vaccinated and had a full pet passport (they were already micro chipped )
No one check the dogs paper work on either journey to and from Ireland although one of the passport officers said they tend to have
random checks when an animal officer is on the port.
Agree there is a fabulous beach few minutes dry from the Rosslaire port .We stopped our last night at the caravan park there with our caravan on the way home.
 
Aru said:
You may already know this but..you now need a full pet passport to bring dogs into Ireland.So microchipped and rabies injection 3 weeks prior to travel.Its not always checked but dogs travelling without a valid passport are seized and quarantined at the owners expense..

Apart from that people who take the ferry to england tell me that ulysees(irish ferries) has nicer kennels than stena line as stena lines are besides the engine room so quite loud whereas the others are in a dog room and have good roomy crates and a tap to refill water etc,though staying in the car seems to be the preferred choice in most cases.
Most ferries do not allow passengers to return to the cars once they leave harbour though so keep that in mind.If its a very hot day(highly unlikely) I would bring them up to the kennels.

If they are good travellers would try and arrive early enough to park towards the front of the ship as well as there should be less fumes in that area.

If your coming into rosslare theres a lovely beach right beside the port to let them off on post trip :)
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We are going to Northern Ireland .
 
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