charlieg

On my last vacation, I placed my 5 pound chihuahua in a highly-recommended, $55.00 per day kennel. Long story short, he came out of the kennel so ill that he almost died. I have decided to travel only where I can take him with me. I know that France is dog friendly, but I am wondering about other countries. Does anyone have personal experience traveling with a dog?

I am confused about traveling within the EU countries - for example, if I fly into Paris and travel to Italy or Belgium by train, will it be an issue? Also, if I fly into France and out of Italy would I have more problems than I would if I flew in and out of France?

Does anyone have experience with having a small dog in Venice?

I realize that leaving him would be much easier, but at this point it is not an option.

Thanks.

Charlotte

SloJan

You will need a dog passport. In it, your vet will place confirmation that the dog has had various vaccinations, including rabies. The timing must be right but that shouldn't be an issue b/c you will have to have an international vet's certificate to get into Europe in the first place. The dog must also be microchipped and the number noted in the book. It has to be of a specific standard but they probably won't check it.

We live in Europe and travel with our dogs all the time and have never been checked. We do carry the information though, just in case.

There were many dogs in Venice so I don't think you would have a problem.
Cheers,
Jan

charlieg

Jan,
Thanks so much for your response. Do you know where I can obtain the pet passport and the international vet certificate?

Do I undersdtand you to say that when you travel from country to country that you don't have to go through any type of inspection? Are you talking planes, trains or cars? Also, can you recommend a hotel in Venice that accepts dogs? Do you have any other tips?

Thank you very much.
Charlotte

SloJan

We travel by car. In most EU countries, there is no border control but that is not always the case.

Your Vet should be able to help you out with the appropriate documents. Talk to them first. When we first brought our dogs over, our Vets handled everything for us.

Many hotels take animals, esp. small ones. Just check the websites.

Cheers,
Jan

SloJan

Here is a website with all of the information.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quar.../eu_reg_qa.htm

I think the diciest part will be getting your dog into the EU in the first place. Don't even think about traveling to the UK, Ireland or Sweden. They require a lot more work ie bloodtests etc.

Cheers,
Jan

amelia

I really am interested in all the details of this. Here's my biggest quesetion: How do you handle the bathroom break for a chihuahua when he flies in one of those Sherpa bags? The flight from the East coast to Europe is five, six, sometimes seven, so...

amelia

forgot to add the word "hours" to my post!

charlieg

Jan: Thanks again for the information.

Amelia: I will take a night flight and I will feed him well before we go to the airport. However, if he should need to go, he is trained to use pee-pee pads and I would take him to the bathroom and use one of these. I don't think there would be any problem. We flew to California and all went smoothly.

artlover

Oh, I'm so jealous...I wish we could travel with our dog as well, but she's a 75 lb. German shepherd and we live in Seattle so the flight is at leasat 11 hours and she can't fit into a carrier (obviously) and there's no way I would put her in cargo...I miss her SO MUCH when we're away...

When we were on the beach in Spain last year I met a man with a German shepherd who was from England...he told me that you don't need papers for your dog in Spain. Just wanted to share this information in case you were planning on going there (which I highly recommend).

One of the many things I love about Europe is how dog friendly they are.

Have a great trip.

P_M

Charlieg, the worst thing about going on vacation is having to leave my beloved dog. I do not like the idea of kennels either. Do you have a trusted friend or relative that could watch your pup? That's what we always do, and of course, we bring them back a very nice gift from our trip.

charlieg

PM: Unfortunately, I don't. He is so small and he likes to burrow under covers and people sitting on chihuahuas is a leading cause of death. He is extremely timid and other dogs sense this and try to attack him. He is the ultimate "lap dog" and wants nothing more that to be close to me.

strass

What about a housesitter? Can't someone come stay in your home, so your pup is in his familiar surroundings? I'm sure that person would be careful not to sit on him or expose him to other dogs. That's what we do when we vacation--I could never put our greyhound in a kennel; I'd feel so bad!

earl30

the title of your post says it all. if you're taking your dog to europe you do need help.

mgmargate

Stat home and play with your dog.

gracieb

I am looking forward to retirement..or enough vacation time to spend several weeks in Europe...and my pooch will be going with me.

Have a great trip, charlieg! I'm envious!

paula1470

strass beat me to the suggestion of a housesitter. When I was gone just a few days, I would put my 2 dogs in a kennel (65 lbs and 45 lbs). Even though I have a big backyard, I was always worried that they would dig out or something since they get anxious alone. I also have three cats, I'd shut them in and a neighbor would feed them.

However, while I was in Europe for 10 days this summer, I decided to hire a housesitter (a friend of my daughter's who I trusted). It was great. The dogs were very happy to be at home-he even walked them more than I do. He kept a good eye on the cats and rounded them up at night (we have coyotes). On top of that, he watered my plants and lawn, picked up my mail and newspaper and generally gave the house a lived in look. I felt so much better knowing that my house wasn't vacant for 10 days and my animals were getting great care in their own environment. If taking your Chihuahua to Europe turns out to be a huge undertaking, a housesitter would be the next best thing.

Leona

Charlieg,
We have a pet bird, and had a similar experience when we boarded him at a highly recommended facility. Our vet suggested a pet-sitter as a future alternative.

If you prefer to travel with your pet, Westin hotels are pet-friendly, and have a "heavenly dog" program. A friend of mine always travels with his dog and never has a problem. Try to book early - doggie will need a ticket & airlines limit the number of dogs they allow on each flight.

amelia

Charlotte: This entire family is envious your dog gets to "go" while ours will stay home. Half of my vacation pictures are of dogs in unusual places in Europe. We would love to have ours have dinner with us in Paris.

Next questions: OK, you take the dog to the rest room and use the pee pads. Are you allowed to bring him out of the crate in your seat on the flight? If not, what happens when he starts barking or whining?

BTilke

We also travel with our dog (English cocker) everywhere in Europe. You should definitely get the pet passport as they are now mandatory. You may not be asked to show it at the border of a country but you might be asked when you check into a hotel or if you're traveling by train (lucky you, since your dog is under 9 kg, he can travel free of charge on French and German trains--our spaniel has to be get her own ticket [half price]. Most dogs except the really huge ones can travel free on all form of mass transit in Belgium).
Re hotels, all hotels in the Accor brand (Etap, Ibis, Novotel, Mercure, Sofitel, Dorint and a few others) are very pet friendly. We most recently took our cocker to Paris for a week-end; this summer we did a two week trip through the Loire Valley and Berry and received a warm welcome at all the Accor hotels we stayed at.

Riffic

Ignore the unhelpful people who think you're crazy or need help for taking your dog with you. Why is it their business if you choose to bring your dog with you?

we take our Yorkie with us whenever we can during European travel. Granted, we live in Munich, but we've taken her back and forth to the US a couple of times. Here are a few helpful hints.

Please try to take a direct trans-atlantic flight, because it will decrease the amount of time your dog will be in transit. Ask your vet for specific pet sedative medication and when to give it to him. Call the airline as early in advance as possible to register your dog for the flight, as only two in-cabin pets are allowed per flight. US Airways is the only commercial carrier I've found that prohibits carrying pets in the cabin, so for this and countless other reasons, avoid US Airways (we've used United and Lufthansa without incident). The fee to ship is based on weight, and our similarly sized yorkie costs about 105 USD each way.

You will find just about everything in Europe--including airports, restaurants and hotels--to be dog friendly, compared to the US. In every airport I've traveled in Europe, dogs are permitted to walk on a leash. This is great, because it minimizes the time the dog has to be in the purse.

I have never traveled by train (we go by car or plane) with our dog, but I think it's permitted generally, and sometimes you have to pay a fee (for example, we've done this on some trains in Spain).

Crossing the border or even flying into another EU airport is no problem, so long as you have updated health papers--and I've only been checked once, coming back to Munich from the Canary Islands.

Many hotels allow pets in Europe. If you use venere.com for Italy hotels, when clicking on the hotel link, there is often a picture of a dog to indicate pets are allowed. If you're not sure, a simple call to the hotel will always provide an answer. Expect to pay 8-15 Euro extra, even for a little dog (but they often forget to charge us).

Without question, Germany is the most dog friendly of the countries we visit, but you should be fine in any country. So long he can stay in the hotel alone for a while, you can plan to visit museums, cathedrals and other places where dogs aren't allowed.