importing a dog to the uk?

[sumair24]

i was just wondering purely out of curiosity how would one go about brining a dog into the uk from another country say germany, france..somehwre in europe?

and what procedures would have to be done

thanks

[Shell195]

Defra, UK - Animal health and welfare - Bringing pets to Britain

[feorag]

My friend has just come back from Spain yesterday bringing a dog with her that she rescued out there.

She didn't want to do the quarantine over here, so he had all his vaccinations, chips etc done out there and she's lived out in Spain with him for the time needed, so he's effectively done his quarantine in Spain and can now come straight home with her in England.

Lots of people now are having their pets do the quarantine in the EU at their breeder's home to avoid the isolation of 6 months quarantine over here.

[thalie_knights]

as above, have a look on the DEFRA website, we imported our Dobie from greece. To avoid the 6month quarantine over here, and to be able to travel with the dog in the future you go the pet-passport way.

1- dog is microchipped
2- dog is given the rabies vaccine
3- 10-14days later a blood test is taken and sent off to an approved lab. 6 months from this date (and assuming the results come back clear) you are able to bring the dog into the UK via one of the 'approved' methods. i.e only some planes allow cargo, etc,.

The website is rather good. We were fortunate in that the breeder kept our dog the entire time and trained him up to when he was able to come over...also, check the dogs list, as what dogs they allow into the UK changes each year etc..

[Pimperella]

I've been going through the same. I'm having to find a breeder that will keep the dog until 9 months old when it would be legally able to enter the UK. It's finding a breeder who is not only a good quality breeder, but that will also keep them till 9 months old. You can find one, but not both.
Another method, is to buy a dog which has already had it's rabies jabs done and that has a petpassport. Tho any dog with a passport will always be older than 9 months.

[thalie_knights]

yep i know the feeling..the youngest a dog can have the rabies jab is 3 months, so your looking at 9 months..we had a delay due to strikes in Greece, which meant we had to have another blood sample taken etc..If your lucky, a breeder will keep the dog in exchange for a monthly rate re upkeep etc, which is what we did. However, we were lucky in that the breeder was very accomodating to keep the dog, train it etc, for a monthly fee - you never know until you ask..also..if you do intend on getting one which is already chipped etc, make sure the ownership papers etc are in your name by the time you bring it over!

[potter556]

We had help from the local dog rescue place when we brought our dog back from cyprus, they helped with all the paper work, what we needed to do to bring him back and they also kept him over night and took him to the airport.
Aslong as your dog has had all its jabs and has been vet checked 48hrs before flying, as they worm and deflea them as well. Then it should be fine.

It can be quite costly though as including everything we needed to get him ready for the flight, ie rabies vet checks etc the whole process cost us about £800.

[thalie_knights]

crumbs 800 was only about 3/4 of the cost of our flight.... knew we shudve picked a smaller dog

[potter556]

Lol my dog isnt small he is a lab cross.

Luckly i was working at a miltary dog section so had all the jabs done for free so that save us some money

[Pimperella]

We will be planning to drive over to collect. Thus we will be able to meet and bring home ourselves.
Beforehand, We are hoping to visit at least 1 show which will also allow us to view dogs from certain kennels, chat with breeders and judges then, once we have found a breeder we are happy with and are happy with us, we will travel over to their kennels/breeders home. Again so we all know where we stand, so I kno that 'my future pup' will get the right attention etc.
We are hoping to also visit a breeder in Essex who has invited us down to meet his dogs. He also wanted to know what my son would be like as he is only 6. However even tho he is 6, he's 2 inches taller than my almost 8 year old daughter lol and he is very confident around dogs and even with training which he spends time daily, of his own choice, training the house dogs. And he is certainly confident in handling our Keano as he is 32inches at the shoulder. He dosen't see a big dog, he just see's Keano.