Traveling With Dogs

iguana

My husband and I will be most likely leave London to move back to Dublin next year or the year after and we are thinking that we might take 2/3 months in between to do a little traveling. However we only want to do so if we can bring our dogs with us, as we wouldn't enjoy ourselves without them. And as much as they'd enjoy my parents house I suspect they'd be happier with us. We're just thinking about continental Europe so nothing too outrageous.

Our dogs are pleasant natured and are confident on buses, trains and tubes in London. I was thinking that maybe getting a campervan might be an option. My parents are keen campervaners and while they haven't taken their dog away with them (he's an extremely nervous rescue) a lot of their friends travel with their dogs. And I know parts of continental Europe have very good campsites.

Has anyone ever done it? Maybe Peasant? I know people do travel with dogs and it is possible, but I'm trying to figure out if it's more trouble than the trip would be worth.

peasant

Yepp ...travel with dogs all the time, but we always stay in Ireland (it takes too long and costs too much to get off this *** island)

I take it your dogs do have the necessary pet passport and all their shots are up to date? You can't take them to the continent without it.

I understand that France and Germany in particular have very good faciliites for motorhomes/campervans, not just campsites but designated overnight parking with or without facilites. On most of them dogs are welcome.

Actual travelling with dogs is no problem, one issue with ours is that they're used to a big outside area at home, so they have a tendency to see half the campsite as their "territory" and the first 15 minutes after arrival are spent convincing them otherwise and to get them to stop barking at all the "intruders". (We spend most nights in quiet places in the back of beyond, so the "intruder alarm" is welcome there :rolleyes: )

Bring enough small plastic bags for dog poo, as after a long night in the van, the first bit of open space near the camper might just be too inviting

Keep a stock of kitchen roll at all times (water bowls in vans tip far more often than at home ) and a brush and pan (or a little 12v hoover) for all the sand and muck the dogs drag inside ...and doggy towels.

Other than that it's no problem and we wouldn't think about going anywhere without our dogs. They are well used to the van by now and happily settle in it if we ever want to go away for a while to a restaurant or something.

Alfasudcrazy

I often thought about this too. My dogs get impatient after about an hour in the car and want to get out so I suppose it would mean frequent stops. The camper idea seems the best option as I could imagine the difficulties you would have with public transport getting through turn styles at train stations etc especially with more than one dog.

The danger I see is that dogs in vehicles think they can get out at every stop and want to. The other day one of my dogs vomited in the back of the jeep and not wishing the other dogs to eat it i stopped to clean it up during the course of which my male dobie decided he liked Adrfert (Co Kerry) so much he wanted a stroll around so jumped out of the jeep.

I had a job trying to catch him and he has absolutely no traffic sense so I was lucky no lorries etc were passing at the time. Gave me a bit of a fright though. :eek:

iguana

Alfasudcrazy wrote:

The danger I see is that dogs in vehicles think they can get out at every stop and want to. The other day one of my dogs vomited in the back of the jeep and not wishing the other dogs to eat it i stopped to clean it up during the course of which my male dobie decided he liked Adrfert (Co Kerry) so much he wanted a stroll around so jumped out of the jeep.

I had a job trying to catch him and he has absolutely no traffic sense so I was lucky no lorries etc were passing at the time. Gave me a bit of a fright though. :eek:

When the dogs were younger they used to sleep in a crate, and we still use it if we stay with friends. So we thought we could bring that along and settle them in it while we were driving, at least until they get used to the van. I might take them for a drive in my parents camper over Christmas and see how they get on.

My biggest worry would be leaving them alone in the van. In London dog theft if fairly common, so I am a bit paranoid about it. I also wouldn't leave my dogs alone in a car for any length of time, and I know a campervan is not a car but would they be safe for an hour or so in the day?

I think the dogs would enjoy the experience. Their favourite thing in the whole world is for the 4 of us to be all together. And as long as they get an hour or so each day to charge around they are fine with being indoors. So as long as we arranged the trip in such away that we always visited a park they could have a run in they'd be happy.

peasant

The good thing about a camper is that normally it has rooflights.
So you can batten up the hatches (doors and windows) and still let the dogs have plenty of fresh air. Also the insulation in a camper is pretty good, so it doesn't get that hot inside (well not in Ireland, anyway)

georgina

I never tjought of brining my dog in a camper. I bring her in the car all the time- Mostly from cork to longford. and she's fine. she knows when were going on a long journey and sleeps most of the way!

One thing I dont like about the drive is that there are very few places to stop and take her for a run round. Side of the road is about as good as it gets! She's still very young so I suppose stopping wont be too much of an issue in future!

Like the camper van idea!

G

fits

OP; myself and my other half are doing this next summer as well... We travel around Ireland quite a bit with our dogs in the camper, and are going to buy a bigger one so we can spend a few months in Europe next year.
The main thing is that you need to start organising the pet passport at least 7 months before you intend to travel. You should also ask your vet about diseases your dogs may be susceptible on the continent, there are a few tick borne diseases which are quite nasty. When you intend returning to Ireland, the dogs will have to be treated for ticks and tapeworm 24-48 (I think) hours before you board the ferry, and you need to get a particular form stamped by the vet as proof.

We're not 100% sure if we'll take our dogs with us yet, as one of them in particular doesnt like the heat... We're going to get the passports anyway and see what happens.

Heres some good information
http://www.petplanet.co.uk/travel_intro.asp

alexdenby6

my gsd has done nearly 3,000 miles in the car this summer in space of three weeks. dublin-holyhead-dover-dunkirk-alps and back with lots in between.