Travelling to Europe with a dog..

[tobiano1984]

Who's done it, and how was it? We'd love to take our lurcher with us on holiday, but don't want to if it's going to be a headache for us or unpleasant for her.
Looking at either driving round France, or if we're feeling more adventurous driving into Netherlands/Germany/Denmark and up to Norway.

The most complicated thing I can see from reading up on it, is the tapeworm treatment at the vets before coming back to the UK - how hard is this to sort out?

Any tips/experiences would be great to hear!

 

[MerrySherryRider]

I'm not sure either other than what I've read, but would be interested to hear other's experiences as we're planning to take the dog on a cycling holiday in Brittany. He won't have a bike though.

 

[SpringArising]

Who's done it, and how was it? We'd love to take our lurcher with us on holiday, but don't want to if it's going to be a headache for us or unpleasant for her.
Looking at either driving round France, or if we're feeling more adventurous driving into Netherlands/Germany/Denmark and up to Norway.

The most complicated thing I can see from reading up on it, is the tapeworm treatment at the vets before coming back to the UK - how hard is this to sort out?

Any tips/experiences would be great to hear!

I think it's a lovely idea in principle. We've done it once (although not for a holiday) and I know of a couple of people who have, too.

I'm not sure of the exact requirements, but you'll need to get her microchipped, vacc'd against rabies and get her a passport.

If you're only going for a couple of weeks I don't think it's worth the stress for the dog personally, although if she frets when you're not around it might be ideal

 

[milo'n'molly]

I think it's a lovely idea in principle. We've done it once (although not for a holiday) and I know of a couple of people who have, too.

I'm not sure of the exact requirements, but you'll need to get her microchipped, vacc'd against rabies and get her a passport.

If you're only going for a couple of weeks I don't think it's worth the stress for the dog personally, although if she frets when you're not around it might be ideal

I certainly wouldn't say it was stressful on the dog as long as your dog travels well. We have taken our dog away several times to Germany and France and are planning a trip to italy next year.
It is much simpler now than when we first took ours away as I believe there is no longer a need for blood tests after the rabies jab. Talk to your vets, they will do it all the time and as long as your dog is chipped and up to date with vacs it's just a case of getting a rabies jab. Good luck, have fun and I'm very jealous of a trip to norway

 

[twiggy2]

I certainly wouldn't say it was stressful on the dog as long as your dog travels well. We have taken our dog away several times to Germany and France and are planning a trip to italy next year.
It is much simpler now than when we first took ours away as I believe there is no longer a need for blood tests after the rabies jab. Talk to your vets, they will do it all the time and as long as your dog is chipped and up to date with vacs it's just a case of getting a rabies jab. Good luck, have fun and I'm very jealous of a trip to norway

you are right you do not need to have a titre test after the rabies vaccination but the percentage of animals that showed an inadequate immunity after just one rabies vaccines when the titre tests were a requirement has led to many vets advising clients to give 2 vaccines to be on the safe side. many of them only charge for one vaccine to encourage people to give 2 vaccines.
If you are to spend the majority of the time driving each day then I don't know that many dogs would enjoy the 'holiday' but if walking features a lot and you do not want to visit the tourist places that do not allow dogs then it could be a great trip.
I know as many people who repeatedly take their dogs on holiday abroad as I do people who did it once and will never do it again as it stopped them being able to do so many things.
also take into account the temperature difference and how you dog may or may not cope well with that

 

[suzysparkle]

Pet passport is easy. Microchip, rabies jab (2 if under 12 months), wait 21 days and also treat for tapeworm before re-entry to the UK. See here for full details https://www.gov.uk/pet-travel-information-for-pet-owners. We had all ours done back when titre tests were required. They all passed but we had to tell the vet that the younger 2 (under 12 months) needed 2 jabs! This is as per Virbac requirements.
As for travel the ferry / rail companies to Holland and France are £15 each way either in the car or the ship kennel (kennel is good, CCTV and they have fans etc). From Frederikshavn to Oslo (and back) with Stena you book an animal cabin which is 4 berth and has an area of decking you can walk the dog on. Really brilliant and the dog is in with you in the cabin. Do not do this ferry in the day time, go overnight, there is NOTHING to do on it other than drink!