leigh, isnt it just the europian countries that can do it that way, i think the usa etc still have to send them into quarantine ???

Dizzy,
A couple of days ago in our newpaper ---- it appears that the US & UK are in active negotiations to extend the Pet Passport plan to also apply to the US. Barring that, there will be a push for the UK to allow US military families to be able to bring their pets into the country with the pet passport.
I learned this in the article... Apparently, the UK already accepts pets from Hawaii without requiring quarantine, because that State has no rabies in it. There is a required quarantine there too, but it's only a month.

it was in the dog press a week or so ago that theyre trying to do away with quarantine from the usa too but at the minute its still a must- i just didnt want anyone to go contacting the usa thinking they could bring them in on the pet passport, :D

Well something must be going on... This was on DEFRA's site -----
We have been advised that the new laboratory in the USA (see 23 April) accepts blood samples taken from pets belonging only to US Military Personnel and their dependants - not from pets owned by general public. New laboratory: VETCOM Food Analysis and Diagnostic Laboratory, Ft Sam Houston, USA- accepts samples taken from US Military Personnel pets only.
Can't seem to find anything else on their website about it. (shrug shoulders)
who knows what they're up to ;)
good luck with your friend.

As I am just off to visit my Jointly owned USA imported puppy in Prison, you are quite correct, just over two months of solitary left, poor love!

Also the pup must be Microchipped BEFORE THE RABIES jab! A lady I kniow wanted to bring her dog to Cruftsas had qualified, and had time to get him blood tested, and wait six months, unfortunately as he had not been chipped before the Rabies shot, he would have had to have another one, and this didn't allow the time she needed before she could bringm him over!

Barbara, I had forgotten about that one....You are so correct on that 'minor' fact. Mine have been chipped [$ registered since I first got them, so it easily slips my mind because it wouldn't matter in my case :D :D Sorry to be so narcisistic ])

There is another way of importing puppies but it is somewhat contraversial. This is buying or leasing a pregnant bitch, she comes into quarantine, has her pups and then they can come out after a few weeks and the dam is either returned abroad to her owner or spends the rest of the 6 months in solitary.

Christine

Or.... the in-whelp bitch can come in on PP, have her litter and then return to her homeland. As for *controversy* ... depends on which way you look at it :-)

I think the part about ---taking the pups out of Quarantine after a couple of days & either the bitch remains or returns home... is the controversial aspect. Who wants to remove puppies that young from their mother????? It just can't be good for the pups or the mother...
Now the PP that was planned six months prior.. & bringing her over pregnant does sound reasonable...but is it safe to travel while heavily pregnant?

>>taking the pups out of Quarantine after a couple of days

The bitch remains with her puppies until they are completely weaned, she is NOT taken away after a *couple of days* at all! The pups have to stay in quarantine for 2-3 weeks AFTER they have been weaned. So the pups can come out of quarantine at 7-8 weeks. The bitch can then be *escorted* back out of the country.

In my experience,
the bitch comes in well before she gets to the *heavily pregnant* stage :-)

OK, I see now... Someone pointed out in another posting several days back that puppies could be released from quarantine within 2 or 4 days. I thought that meant she stayed & they left. Glad to know I'm very mistaken about that :)

Eog, LOL! the pups come out of Q. at 8 weeks. You have to pay the kennels so much for rearing per pup, as well as Q. costs for the bitch, and of course the shipment and carrying costs to send her home.

My friends and I considered this Option, but as we wanted a male pup to have as a mate for our bitches it wasn't taken up.

The negative aspects are the responsibility for someone elses bitch (what if she died). How would it be decided who got which pup, and in a breed with so few fanciers, most of these hard got and very expensive pups might have to be sold purely as pets! So we opted to share the cost of one male pup, which in the fullnes of time we hope to incorporate in our breeding programs.

He is six months old today, and still has just over two months to go :D

Where is your dog 'staying' Barbara? :-)

At Meg Purnell-Carpenter's Overhill Quarantine Kennel on the outskirts of Bristol.

It is about 12 miles from my house, but entails two bus journeys, and a half hour walk, each way! I have to leave my house at 1:30 to get there for just after 3pm, and leave at 4:15 to get home by 6pm!

When he first came in I was going 3 or 4 times a week, but now go twice a week, and the lady who he will,live with goes once a week, from Hereford!

Our main problem is that since Crufts they have gotten him fat! We have spoken to them about this, and they are cutting him down, but say he is hardly getting anything to eat! elkhounds are renowned for doing well on very little food, and the forced inactivity doesn't help.

They aren't the sort of breed to run around for nothing. They are very energetic, but need something to stimulate them, the actual excersise doesn't do it.

A friend has a bitch from me who lies in the garden watching her collies run up and down, up and down, as if they have lost their marbles! She will check the garden first thing, and then laze about, toitally different when you take her out, then she runs and darts around like a little bomb!

Barbara, I'm impressed with your dedication. That's a lot of work to just go 12 miles. Too bad you don't bike. It wouldn't take as long then ;)
How far away is Hereford, then from the quarantine kennels?
toodles

According to the UK map it is 55miles from Hereford to Bristol! Iexpect that is as the Crow flies. You would have to add the miles from her country home to Hereford, and the miles that it is out of Bristol, so say she does 70 - 75 miles to see him each week!

One of the other owners lives in Northampton (115 miles) and has been down to see him. Only the lass in Derbyshire (aprox 180 miles) hasn't been able to visit him yet!

So I own a 1/4 of a dog, wonder which bit! LOL :D

Apart from my weight, due to my poor sight I couldn't possibly take the risk of cycling in city traffic. when I was a teenager I did cycle from London to Brighton, but that was with a group in convoy!

Ah, so you're not in the country with flat pastoral roads [$ little traffic to deal with. Too bad. It would make for a nice outing ]) I used to be a distance biker when I was a teen, so a flat 12 miles would make a nice jaunt (on a comfortable bike, of course)

That is serious dedication to be driving up & back on 140 mile round trip. I did that going to school 2 & 3 times a week for three years, but it was pretty much a straight shot on a 4 lane highway & the first traffic light was exactly 68 miles away. Traffic was fairly light at the times of day I was driving. Most difficult part was staying awake over miles & miles of flat brown desert.. Ocasionally Oryx would appear to make me think I was hallucinating & in Africa. & then there was the 1300 ft high pass to get over, but very boring other than that. Long long drive...so my compliments to her dedication to doing it over worse conditions, including rain :D

4 people owning a dog [$ living miles apart??? Who gets him when he gets out of 'jail'? If I were you, I'd definitely relinquish claim on his tail end....then you don't have to deal with the poop. Being an Elkhound (I assume), his toothy end isn't any problems..so take the smiles & the kisses & leave the poop behind ])

I agree, he is a very kissy pup, and has a beautiful face, so I claim the head!!! He will be living in hereford when he comes out of Jail. I couldn't possibly keep a male with my girls in a suburban house!

Sorry, completely off the subject but i was bought up in hereford, and it's quite a trek to bristol really, especially if you live on the other side of town. Going down there for our monthly weekend "spa" break (go and lounge at the parents house whilst their away!). Completely useless peice of information i know... ;) :D