Travelling to UK with dog

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Caroline
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Travelling to UK with dog

Post by Caroline »

Would love to take my dog on holiday to the UK (just got her 'passport') but am baffled by the options. Has anyone any experience of this? - Whether to drive and take the ferry, or try public transport (which airlines take pets - she'd be ok in the hold for a couple of hours rather than spend 10+ hours in the car) or even the train and the ferry but am not sure I can do this as a foot passenger?

Any advice would be welcome - even if it is "Don't do it"! :lol:
Caroline
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Post by tia »

hi, I took my daughters dogs to the uk last year, went on the eurotunnel. was pretty easy, stopped on the way up to give them a walk. Prefer the tunnel because you can stay with your animals.
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Sue
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Post by Sue »

When we moved here 8 years ago we flew with our dog. Yhe only airline we could find was BA flying Gatwick to Toulouse. He was treated like a celebrity at Gatwick. Toulouse he came out on the conveyor belt with the luggage!!
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Post by interiors66 »

I travelled many times back to the uk with my dog and every time I drove back . I would stop every 2-3 hours and give him a stretch of his legs .
Always I would use euro tunnel as Tia said you can stay with the dog in the car where as on a ferry they have to be left whilst you go on deck.
You have to check the dog in at Calais which is very simple and only takes a few minutes before you check your car in
If you don't want to do the trip back in one day the hotels along the auto routes all accept pets for a small fee
Caroline
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Post by Caroline »

Michelin says it takes 10 hours feom here to Calais - is that about right, in which case I would stop overnight as suggested. Hate long journeys....
Caroline
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Travelling with pets

Post by hamyat »

We have done the journey many many times and we have never done it in less than 12 hours with stops for food, drink and fuel. We've never travelled with our dog but have travelled with our 3 sons which is probably far worse.
pennycsf66
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Eurotunnel

Post by pennycsf66 »

Sorry for being a bit late with this reply, just spotted post.

We have always taken our dog back to UK with us, at least once a year, if not more, as soon as the paasport system came in in 2002 (I think). When you had to cross between 24 and 48 hours after the dog had seen the vet, we always stopped overnight around the Chartres area.

We have also done the journey "in one go" on the way back and to be comfortable we reckon on at least 12 and a half hours, and that is without long breaks, just quick dog pee and sandwiches.

Now that you have five days from the dog's check up to crossing into UK, we will be stopping on our way back for New year for three nights to see a bit of France we don't know. We have always used the eurotunnel, as we don't fancy leaving the dog (now dogs) in the car in the hold of the ferry. We have found it quite reasonably priced, fairly efficient and the dog check in procedure is very straightforward. You do need to allow a little extra to do that, but these days eurotunnel are flexible on the crossings if you are delayed.

Hope that helps. :)
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MountainGal
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Sick bags

Post by MountainGal »

Caroline wrote:Michelin says it takes 10 hours feom here to Calais - is that about right, in which case I would stop overnight as suggested. Hate long journeys....
In light of her last trip in my car, make sure you have plenty of sick bags for Loulou! I know in the UK you can get some kind of travel sickness prevention for dogs, might be worth getting some next time you're ovér there x x
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Caroline
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Post by Caroline »

Loulou is very embarrassed about throwing up in your car, but as it has never happened before, we are going to blame your driving!
Thanks to everyone who replied. Think I will start off with a smaller trip to Spain as a trial run first - and hope I can still rely on 'MountainGal' for dog holidays!
Caroline
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Loulou

Post by MountainGal »

Caroline wrote:Loulou is very embarrassed about throwing up in your car, but as it has never happened before, we are going to blame your driving!
Thanks to everyone who replied. Think I will start off with a smaller trip to Spain as a trial run first - and hope I can still rely on 'MountainGal' for dog holidays!
Of course, Loulou is a pleasure to have, you know she's always welcome anytime :-)

Don't forget to let me know when you've bought your plants and I'll pop over.
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