Travelling Abroad

Not yet but getting his passport soon so he can come sailing. My understanding is the vet sorts passport after the rabies jabs. They have to see a vet before returning for the all clear and some kind of treatment, tapeworm I think.

I will watch this thread with interest as next year we will be driving to Malta so will be passing through lots of EU
countries but presumably its only the UK border which will be the check point...?
 
Hi amymay....I live in Italy and have imported from uk and Sweden....
Your biggie is the rabies vacc to be done 3 weeks before you travel....a certificate of good health issued by your vet ten days before you fly.
your tiny dog will be good in a Sherpa bag as a carry on and can be classified as luggage ,not cargo which costs more.
if you fly,get the dog used to travel in a pet bag or if he travels in a crate,same rules apply.

The return will require dog has been treated for tapeworm to re enter the uk...the maff site has good guidelines...I believe this is 24 hrs before you re enter the uk...you need to have the address for the vet in France who will do this prior to your flight/ ferry.

Over here we treat the dogs for leishmania infection...use a scalibor collar,keep indoors at night...the fly that transmits leishmania bites at dawn and dusk.


Ticks and fleas ...as in uk..I use frontline plus.

Heartworm...I use cardotek plus....

Where do you intend to travel....different countries have different rules...

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet_passport
 
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It's coming back into the UK that's usually more restrictive and it depends where you travel from. Here's the link you need http://www.defra.gov.uk/ahvla-en/imports-exports/pets/. Only certain carriers and routes are allowed and the links are on there. The passport restrictions were relaxed a couple of years ago and it's more straightforward now. Basically microchip (MUST be the first thing), rabies jab, get a passport from vet, wait 21 days, job done. The ferry companies are usually excellent and it's minimal hassle. Flying can be very expensive (although we have done this when importing from Alaska and it was all fine). The issue is many airlines will only take pets if you go through an agent. If your dog is under 12 months they need 2 rabies jabs. Our vets didn't know this (despite virbac recommending it) and we had to tell them. This was back when titre tests were required and we knew as we had a friend who vaccinated a few who were all under 12 months and they all failed as the vets only did 1 jab. Dogs need tapeworm treatment before re-entering the UK with a couple of exceptions (Finland, Ireland, Malta and Norway). We imported a dog from Norway but he still needed tapeworm treatment as we drove through Denmark, Germany and Holland on the way to the ferry.
If you are doing the Harwich - Hook of Holland ferry the dogs have a reasonably sized kennel (or you can leave in the car) and there is a TV channel that you can monitor them on in your cabin. There is also an area of the deck you can walk them on for the loo. All very good and we had no problems at all. There was quite a few dogs on it. I think it's pretty common these days for people to take pets with them on holiday to Europe. If you stick to ferries / Eurotunnel the cost seems to be £15 each way extra as standard. If you fly it's considerably more.
 
So, can anyone advise... we will be driving to and from Malta, I was expecting dog to see a vet before departure in Malta but the drive back will take several days and take us through Italy, Switzerland and France. So would the Maltese vet's "stamp" for tapeworm be enough? I would hate to arrive at Calais and have the dog refused entry because his treatment was out of date! Do we therefore need to see a French vet as well???
 
I've taken Freya over the UK a couple of times now on the quick ferry (Dunkirk to Dover) which was really easy, just left her in the car for an hour or so and she just slept.

The tapeworm pill has to be given by a vet 24-72 hours before travel (and its not the cheap... I offered to give it to her myself if it gave a discount!) and stamped on the passport as well as a signature of good health.

The other thing to be aware of is that you should get a collar disk when you get your rabies jab and they legally have to have this on their collar at all times (probably just for the journey if a British dog) when in the UK.

I don't think I'd particularly want to do the longer ferries over to the UK (to Harwich/Hull/Newcastle) as I don't think Freya would settle at all in a strange kennel, but it would depend on the individual dog.
 
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