Barking Blondes: Travels with your dog
When the PETS Passport scheme launched in 2002, it unleashed one of the most landmark moments in dog owning history.
After years of campaigning, finally, with a pet passport you and your dog, cat or even a ferret, could travel to mainland Europe and come back home again without having to spend six months in quarantine.
Fido can therefore fly, go by ferry or travel through the tunnel to get to sunnier climes.
A couple of years ago, we took our bull breeds, Molly and Matilda, to Paris. Being fond of a car journey, they loved the Eurotunnel experience and so did we. The four of us crammed into our packed Mini for a whirlwind weekend trip to Paris. In the boot was all their food, beds, bowls and bottled water. Our luggage was meager in comparison.
There is a doggy exercise area just prior to entering the tunnel and, in Folkstone, an agility course for the more active. Our girls naturally remained in the car.
That’s the beauty of travelling on Eurotunnel – it’s the only way you and your dog can stay together for the entire journey.
Even on a ferry, the dog must remain alone in a kennel on the car deck. With 1 in 10 dogs suffering from separation anxiety that can be a recipe for disaster and a stressful start to the holidays for the family mutt.
Some companies will take the strain, as far as air flight is concerned and deliver your pet from door to door. Checking out the best times for flying (cooler flights are often preferable through the night on long haul) they crate the animal whilst offering the owner an opportunity to “track” its journey. Some breeds, however, are banned from flying due to respiratory issues. Flat nosed dogs such as the British Bulldog, Frenchie and Boston are advised not to fly.
Unfortunately, this means our beloved bulldog Matilda might never see New York City. The worry of our dogs travelling in the hold is something we could never come to terms with.
How we envy the celebrities who get to fly with their pooches by their side!
When we traveled, the Pets Passport was seen as quite a headache – there was a lot of paperwork, namely having the mandatory, all important, rabies jab six months prior to travelling, along with a micro-chip.
Proof was needed (six months later) that the rabies vaccine had ‘taken’ with a Titre Test before you could set off. So any spontaneous urge to take a holiday was not an option.
Re-entering the UK was also not straightforward. There was a very tight 48 hour window whereby you had to get your dog wormed and treated for ticks and fleas. This had to be recorded by a vet in the passport. Failure to adhere to any detail would mean no re-entry for your dog, leaving him stranded. Fortunately for us we managed to find a vet that was open in Paris on a Sunday.
These days getting your pooch over to France is much quicker as you can travel only three weeks after the rabies jab. For the return journey the animal only needs a worm pill in a five day window. This must be administered by a vet.
Since 2002 over one million pets have used Eurotunnel. Surprisingly it’s not the summer that is the peak pet travelling period. Record breaking numbers of our four legged friends returned after the Christmas holidays this year, when 1,400 pets used the tunnel in one day!
Who blames them? After all, don’t we all love a little après ski!
Barking Blondes by Jo Good & Anna Webb, published by Hamlyn, £12.99www.octopusbooks.co.uk
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