Taking pets with you when you drive to the UK

[Pedro]

Hi to one and all.

I will be driving to the UK with my wife and my pet dog. The drive will not be an A to B as fast as we can but a holiday. Our dog loves driving around in the car and has never had a problem with it.
I have read some of the conflicting stories and the worries but, there is a company who transport pets back to the UK and they do this by road and I have never heard that there has ever been a problem with the animals.
I am open to responsible non rude replies and suggestions.
I am open to any advice as far as vets / paperwork and so on. This is not aimed at anyone and is not in any way meant to be detrimental.
I look forward to some possitive response.

Pedro

[carpenter]

Hi Pedro
Welcome to this thing blah blah blah :)

I did the road trip in January with 3 dogs, but unlike you I did it as quick as possible.
There's no reason I can think of not to take your dog with you on the road trip unless it is classed as a dangerous dog in those countries that you plan to visit. But seeing as you are heading towards the UK I shouldn't think that you have a Pitbull cross Pressa travelling with you!

Your main problem is the vet check before entering the UK. This has to be done within 5 days before entry to the UK. All this means is that you will have to find a vet to stamp your dog's passport and say that the dog is fit to travel and has administered the worming treatment (the flea treatment is optional)
For this reason I would recommend that you DO NOT GIVE your dog the worming treatment before you leave Tenerife as too much of this treatment may upset him/her.

Hospivet in Las Chafiras are very helpful . You need Passport, Up to date vaccinations, Rabies Vaccination 21 days before UK entry, Micro Chip and de worming

[sundownersvince]

Shame they're are not so fussy about all the humans they let in eh, legal and illegal ones.....

[dede]

Yes I did it with my 3 dogs 8 weeks ago and never had any problems. We took it over 4 days so didn't need to find a vet as it was all done in tenerife but a couple we met were staying for a while in France so they were going to find a vet there. Good luck with your journey x

[kiwiphil]

Hi,

I take it you have the obvious things like pet passport and rabies injections all taken care of?

Also, when I did this 3 years ago with a lab and a retreiver, re-entry into the UK required the worming treatment to be administered not more than 48 hours prior to travel and not less than 24 hours. Has this rule been relaxed now, to the 5 days mentioned? I know of a Vet in Cadiz and another one in Santander that were both good.

Cheers, Phil

[Pedro]

All of the replies have been very helpful and very positive. Knowing those vets names and phone number or even their addresses would be an added help just in case something should go awry along the way.

Many thanks

Pedro

- - - - - - - - - - merged double post - - - - - - - - - -

Hi Phil.

I have most of what I think is the necessaries but, with the helpful information which is being given I should be on track by the time we set off. If you have anymore information which you think may help it would be much appreciated.

Regards

Pedro

[carpenter]

Hi,

I take it you have the obvious things like pet passport and rabies injections all taken care of?

Also, when I did this 3 years ago with a lab and a retreiver, re-entry into the UK required the worming treatment to be administered not more than 48 hours prior to travel and not less than 24 hours. Has this rule been relaxed now, to the 5 days mentioned? I know of a Vet in Cadiz and another one in Santander that were both good.

Cheers, Phil

yes now 5 days

[kiwiphil]

yes now 5 days

Thanks, that makes it alot easier.

The vet I used in Cadiz is;

Centro Veterinario "Plaza de España"
C/ República El Salvador, 4.
Cádiz -11004-
Tlfns: 956211306 - 656971314
e-mail: villa_carihno [at] hotmail.com (replace the [at] with a real @!)

They are easy walking distance from the port so if you're traveling via Transmed are probably quite a good option. They speak English too.

I think the one I used in Santander is;

Clínica Veterinaria Bahía
Calle Madrid, 7, 39009 Santander, Cantabria, Spain
+34 942 31 45 18 ‎ ·
clinicabahia.es

The only other advice I have is get your dog's micro chip double checked against their pet passport. One of ours had 2 digits transposed and it took several phone calls and a trip to the Santander vet to get it sorted. Luckily we had 5 hours before departure or we'd have been left behind.

[Pedro]

Hi.

I have just left my vets and I am not quite sure that what he told me was complete. I have just been on a web site and have landed up even more confused. Does anyone out there know exactly what the needs are as far as , how long must it be before you can take your dog to the UK. The web site says there must be at least three months after blood tests are taken. I am a confused pet owner who will go nowhere without my pet dog.

Many thanks

Pedro

[kiwiphil]

https://www.gov.uk/take-pet-abroad/overview

As the canary Islands is a "Listed" country you need to wait 21 days after the injections. It used to be 6 months, so this is a big change.

The 3 month rule applies to unlisted countries.

[carpenter]

Pedro did you get that info? Blood test not necessary only Full Vaccinations, Microchip, Passport, Rabies 21 days before arrival to UK, Worming and vet check 1-5 days before entry

[Stoney]

Hi we did this journey in March 2 years ago, we had planned to do it over 10 days but did it a lot quicker due to bad weather. Would advise you to get your dog checked over before you leave Tenerife just to be safe, an additional cost I know but gives you peace of mind that nothing is wrong. Also would suggest you get a cabin on board as its a long journey just sat in the seats and you can leave possessions in your room and not have to carry them around the vessel.
Food on the ship was rather poor so take something with you if you can. Really easy finding a vet in France prior to booking the crossing to UK, just pick a small town and ask at the police station even got directions. We used the channel tunnel to get back was very quick and easy and a lot cheaper, our dog was examined and documents varified before we checked in. A sticker was placed on the windscreen stating approved pet and we just drove onto the train same as everyone else. We booked the train via the internet the day before from our hotel turned up early and got the first available train. We would certainly do it again.