Anyone know where there is any links on how to go about importing a dog from USA and how long is quarantine ?

thanks in advance

Contact DEFRA. The USA is now included in the Pet Passport scheme, but otherwise the quarantine period would be the usual 6 months.

There are also some useful Questions and Answers here.

Yep with Quarantine you can get the dog faster (if it comes in at 9 weeks or so), but of course it spends six months in isolation.

If you went the Pets Passport route it will be at least 10 months old.

Costs are likely to be similar as you will have to pay someone to kennel the dog until it can come over, which is likely to be similar costs to quarantine.

I'd advise against quarantine - you need your puppy to be socialised at that age, and it's not going to get any socialisation sitting in a kennel for the first 6 months of its life....

With the Pet Passport scheme, if you trust the breeder to do a good job of socialising, or if you know someone else in the US who can bring the dog up for you for the first 10 months, it can work out ok.

Kust to point out that if the temperametn is solid and you visit yoru pup often and there is a fair bit of activity for it to hear and see that Quarantine does not have to result in a poorly adjusted dog.

Our boy (before Pet Passports) was able to go to a show and take everything in his stride 3 days after coming out of Quarantine.  He went in at 9 1/2 weeks.

Of course he needed housetraining etc, and had to start most of his training from scratch as there is a limit what you can teach on your visits, but he knew quite a bit.

I recently imported a dog from the USA. We imported her under the pet passport scheme so she spent the first 10 months of her life living at the breeders home as part of the family not in kennels. It was relatively straight forward and all the paper work was done very well by the vets in Florida - no problems at all. Heres a link to the defra website http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/quarantine/index.htm    

Make sure that if you do import a dog using the pet passport scheme that the vet in USA knows what they are doing as everything must be done exactly right. If you need any advice or help then pm me. You can phone DEFRA and they will answer questions over the phone. Just to warn you - It does cost ALOT to import a dog including all the breeders charges, flights, vets fees (incl. rabies vac, blood test .....) etc etc etc!!

Out of interest what breed are you going to import? as some airlines wont accept certain breeds.

And I'm curious to know what breed yours is too, bestdoggroom?

Mine is a Miniature Australian Shepherd. There arent any others in the UK to my knowledge so as we wanted one the only way to have one was to import. Shes now nearly a year old. We were in touch with the breeder practically everyday from when she was born so we got regular photos and updates on my dog as she was growing up. We also went over to Florida to visit before we got her.

I was only asking what breed rainbows232 was going to import as some airlines wont take certain breeds which are prone to breathing difficulties etc. 

Hi bestdoggroom
I have an Aussie as well as my RRs.  I've never seen a mini Aussie.  How big is your girl and what colour is she (do mini ones come in the same range of colours, I assume so)?  Mine seems pretty small to me compared to my RRs!
I'd love to import a RR from Sweden - maybe one day.

I'll PM you about mini aussies so that the post doesnt go off track and its easier to chat through PM :)

thanks for all the info .i am after a standard poodle , i have contacted a breeder who is willing to sell to me but we both dont know on what to do , i know its going to be expensive but it would sure be worth it ,

Wel if the breeder is in a position to run the dog on for you to 10 months plus (could be longer if the blood test is needed to be redoen or anything goes wrong in the process).  the most vital thing is to ensure that they use and ISO Microchip BEFORE he ahs his rabies shots, and that they check for the presence of the chip at every stage (when they take the blood sample etc), as freinds know to their cost that if it goes astray the whole process has to start again.

You should of course pay her at a normal rate for boarding, adn ensure that they won't change their midn abut leting you ahve him if he turns out really well.

Knowing how young they can make a dog up over in the USA he could even be an Amercian Champion by the tiem you got him, if you were prepared to pay for showing him too.