I am considering importing a dog from Europe next year and am currently looking into the costs and practicalities of doing this. I have a few questions that someone might be able to help with.

I understand the law is changing from 1/1/12 which means dogs can travel without needing to wait 6 months for the rabies blood test, so it will be possible to bring a puppy in from 15 weeks rather than 10 months as is presently the case. Any thoughts on this? e.g would a journey of about 11 hours be too long for a pup of this age?

Stena Line Ferries look to be the most suitable and cheapest too. Has anyone used them and if so what was your experience like? Is it better to use the onboard kennel facility or have the dog travelling in the car? (I would prefer to travel as a foot passenger if possible because I would not feel confident about driving on the continent).

Are there any 'hidden' costs or requirements that I would need to take into account?

Any advice would be most welcome, thanks!

There is nothing as yet on DEFRA's website, nothing in the dog press etc, and the article I found here:
http://www.europarl.org.uk/section/2010-archive/pet-passports-18-month-extension-current-uk-regime mentions that a revision is to be proposed before the 30th of June 2011 -that's quite soon, so I'd wait and see what happens in the next couple of weeks to ensure the new rules end up being as you've been told.

As for ferries -in my experience the "kennels" on ferries tend to consist of rusty old small dog cages, locked inside a room you are not allowed to enter during the journey unless arranged with the staff and accompanied. I would never willingly subject any animal to those "kennels". I have several times watched very unhappy dogs through the window in the locked door, crying in unsuitably small cages lacking even bedding and water. I'd feel better using our own car, knowing it was safe and where I could make sure there was bedding, toys and water available.

One thing to bear in mind is there will be nowhere for the puppy to toilet during the entire journey and an hour before and after.

I did import, and had a fantastic experience of the kennels onboard. Hook of Holland to Harwich. No problems with them not being allowed out for the toilet before boarding at all, and very quick off at the other end. Brand new clean kennels in a private and seperate area, which we were allowed to enter at our will, just type in the key code and spend as much or as little time in there as you like. I thought it was fantastic, much better than the shorter ferry crossings where you leave them  them alone in the car, though I do like the Eurotunnel too.
Ireland has agreed already something as far as I am aware, but it is just a case of waiting to find out about the UK.
For me the whole travel experience with my new girl was 100% positive.
HTH

Just noticed you mentioned you wish to travel as a foot passenger, I think, but I'm sure someone will be along to correct me if I'm wrong, that most ferries do not allow this, though Stena holland to Harwich do.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6idirvY5IU
is a video link of a tour of the ship with a brief glimpse of the kennels.

If they did change the rules it would really help us with foreign numerically small breeds, as the present system means you have to import an adolescent with all the implications of trying to integrate (especially males with males) at that age, and of course the cost of their board/kennelling for an additional 8 months.

Unfortunately there has been talk of shortening the waiting period for some years and it hasn't materialised :(

A point to remember is that you can only bring dogs in on certain ferry routes with certain operators that have signed up to the Pet Travel scheme.

I brought my girl back from USA via the Dunkirk - Dover route, it was December, the journey is not long and she was very happy in the car in her airline crate.

I have imported 2 girls in last 3 years.

If my memory serves me right most ferries we looked at do not allow foot passengers with pets so you will need a car to transport a pet.

To get to the continent&back we have traveled Harwich-hook of Holland, Dunkirk, euro tunnel and Harwich- Denmark.
My preference would always be the tunnel especially if traveling with a new dog, as you stay with them so know they are not panicking etc.

We did do Hook of Holland- Harwich with one of the girls when coming to UK and she stayed in the kennel which was Huge!
Kennels in a another ferry on the same route however were tiny and would have not even fitted a dog of my breed in them!
The Denmark route takes too long to my liking for a dog to stay in the car on their own when they have just left everything familiar behind. We used it on the leg without a dog when collecting one of the girls.

I would think 15 week old puppy will probably travel better than an older dog as they will sleep most of the way anyway :) as long as the breeder has got them used to traveling in the car.If they are used to being in a crate even better and should be ok traveling in any of the ferry routes really (except the Denmark one).

I have also flown a puppy out of UK and that seemed quite hassle free and quick option :) Probably cheapest as well when calculating the cost of ferries & petrol to the destination country. He was 11 weeks old & seemed totally unfaced by his trip when I took him out in the other end.
I was more comfortable flying a baby puppy than I would be flying a 10 month old as I think for a puppy, they will sleep most of the way and have not yet entered their "fear period"...
I feel a 10 month old could be traumatised by the flight so have driven to pick up my girls (+the cost of flying about 70kg of crate and dog is huge :)!).
Well at least in my breed they seem to go through a late fear period then and can act a little funny anyways (girls first seasons looming etc).

Thanks for the replies so far, especially the video link to the tour of the ship. It was the Hook of Holland to Harwich route that I was especially looking into. I hadn't acatually contemplated flying as I thought that option would be very expensive so it's something else to consider.

I am acatually rather surprised there hasn't been a lot about the likely changes in the dog press as it seems certain from what I've read that the UK will not be allowed to extend the requirements of the rabies test after 31st December (although many vets aren't happy about it).

It is very interesting reading the experiences everyone has had.

We were told it was going to stop and be like that a few years ago but they set it back and then back again.

They'd better not change in in January or I might commit murder :)

It will be very interesting if it's changed in Ireland but not here, because all anyone would have to do would be bring the dog over to Ireland first. There are no restrictions for dogs travelling between Eire and UK, so they would either have to put extra controls on that, or go along with what Ireland is going to do.
I hope it's the latter or there might be some welfare concerns.

This is the article I saw re Ireland
http://www.agriculture.gov.ie/pets/changestoentryrequirementsfrom1january2012/

I must say, I am in favour of the rabies, tic and worm controls we already have.
Yes, it makes it more difficult as we cannot import a young pupppy, but looking at some of the illnesses now present in the UK since the arrival of pet passports is very worrying to me.
I'm not sure it would be particularly easy to import a pet first to Ireland then on to the UK mainland, unless flying, which would be very expensive, therefore ruling this option out for many people. Just my thoughts.

If Ireland have already gone ahead to publish this then reading between the lines I suspect that the same will apply to the UK and they are arguing out the nitty gritty on tick treatment etc before announcing it all

I must agree that I have mixed feelings about the changes too, as there does seem to be more of a problem with foreign parasites these days. I think that's why many vets are also concerned. However, it isn't really possible for me to consider doing an import with the current restrictions.

A couple more questions:

Apart from the practicalities of transport, are there any other things I need to look into? The pet passport, flea and tick treatment etc will be handled by the breeder but are there official channels here which I need to advise prior to import?

I think if an import regestration is completed, the dog dosn't subsequently need an ATC?

And finally, is importing a dog usually quite a smooth process? At the moment it looks a bit of a minefield but I suppose everything appears complicated when you haven't done it before!

Which country are you considering importing from?
Even though we are supposedly coming into line with the rest of Europe, that is quite laughable as many European countries have their own  rules regarding age, vaccinations etc.

It will be the Netherlands.

I have just helped a friend through importing a dog from USA and just to get him here, Pet Passport Red tape and vaccinations/vet fees came to over £1700, that is without his purchase and boarding for 8 months.

The total minus a few odd pounds was £4000.

The cost for a 20kg dog in 12kg crate into Heathrow from New York came to over £1000. most of it fees over and above pure Cargo charges.

Obviously if we could have done it at 4 months, we would have saved 6 months board and the Cargo charge for a pup would have been a  bit less.

Probably reduced the cost by about a third. 

I really don't understand why a dog can only come to UK as Cargo.  As checked baggage the same paperwork is checked, you don't have to submit your dog so long in advance, just get given a time to meet cargo hands, they are in the same place in the hold, but at a fraction of the price instead of £1000 May 2011 one way into Heathrow it was $150 each way in December 2010.

I have flown my dogs out of UK twice as 'Checked Baggage' and once into Brussels on way home, and it is a doddle, you pick the dog up at baggage claim, minimum time away from you.

> It will be the Netherlands.

grief easy peasy (and cheap) quick drive over, tunnel or ferry home.

There is a form to download from the kennel club which tells you how to register an imported dog.

Any recognised health tests (Like Optigen) you will need copies of parents results and permission it seems from their owners for publishing results.

I do hope they change the current 6 month rule regarding rabies as it is rubbish and I really would like to know the scientific background on why it is in place.

I know of few dogs that have passed the rabies antibody tests for UK (taken 1 months after vaccination) and then gone on to fail the same test for Sweden(taken 120 days after the vaccination).
Basically these dogs no longer have the required antibodies by the time they enter UK but are perfectly ok to come in as they have passed the pet passport rules to come here!

I'm sure these cases I know of are not rare cases, it is just that most dogs will not be tested twice to enter both countries with different entry rules.
My own dog was one of these dogs. I don't know of that many that are double tested but after I started to ask around heard of few that passed UK/Failed Sweden.
So how many of the UK passport holders would fail the test if tested later like you have to for the entry for Sweden?

I'm all for keeping the tick treatment/worming in place for entry to UK as this might have some benefit in trying to keep nasties out of the country but for the Rabies 6 month wait, I really don't see any point in having this in place as it is.

To avoid testing twice i waited over 120 days with Myka and then her younger half sister Inka.  There was no urgency re travel dates for either, as both were done purely to enable travel of possible breeding purposes rather than for shows.

Their mother had been Rabies vaccinated to be Pet passport compliant.

Myka failed her blood test (never bothered to try again) when done after over 120 days.  when I decided to do Inka I had her double vaccinated, at monthly intervals and the blood was taken after 120 days of second vaccination and she passed.

> I'm all for keeping the tick treatment/worming in place for entry to UK as this might have some benefit in trying to keep nasties out of the country but for the Rabies 6 month wait, I really don't see any point in having this in place as it is.

Strongly agree, after they have a positive blood titre the wait is ridiculous as they are not retested to see if the titre level is still good after 6 months, in fact may never be tested again if they keep Rabies boosters up to date.

In my view they should b e able to enter UK as soon as the satisfactory blood titre results are back.

    > It will be the Netherlands.

grief easy peasy (and cheap) quick drive over, tunnel or ferry home.

Quite agree with Brainless here.  My two dogs and I have done the Hook-Harwich and Tunnel crossings a few times, most recently May 1st this year.  Stena have two brand new ferries on this route with purpose built kennel rooms.  The kennels are all clean, a mix of stainless and plastic with rubber matting on the floors and there are various sizes, the smallest can take two jack russels and the largest would fit a great dane in easily.  There are stainless steel bowls available but often nothing to clean them with from previous dogs.  There is a fresh water tap/sink and a rubbish bin.  There are usually many old duvet's with covers, but again not washed between dogs (they can occassionally smell al little doggy).  They were never dirty so obviously do get washed, just not between each crossing.  There is also a chair in the kennel room and a couple of times there has been a radio on.  You cannot lock the kennels but the door has an access code on it that is only know to crew/dog owners.

The staff will help you throughout but as an idea of the process you drive up to check-in as normal and the attendant will check you in, then give you the chip reader to check puppy's chip before handing it back so they can check the passport and fill out their forms.  They give you a hanger for your car so the loaders know there is a dog in it and will tell you to report to guest services with the dog when you get on the ferry.  Tip for the car deck, the Yellow stairs have a lift and are the closest stairs to the guest services desk, its a long way up from the car deck to the passenger spaces but whatever stairs you use remember the colour so you don't get lost getting off!  At guest service (deck 8 if I remember correctly) they will call a crew member to show you to the kennel and will write the code for you on a piece of paper.  There are no designated toilet areas on the ferry for the dogs and they are not allowed in the passenger areas except when boarding and disembarking.  You can access the kennel whenever you like for as long as you like.  The crossing is about 7hrs.

As for the Tunnel;
As you arrive at the terminal keep to the right of the road and keep your eyes peeled for signs to the 'Animal Reception Centre', its off to the right BEFORE you get to the check-in desks (we missed it first time!).  There is a small fenced exercise area to the left of the Reception Centre with a grassy area and a couple of sand pits with pee posts.

The assistant asks for your passports and they have a look through it, they will then give you the microchip scanner to scan your dog before he checks the passport. When all this is done you are given your passport back along with another magic mirror hanger. You then go through check-in and from this point it's the same as travelling out.

From Jan 1st 2012 there is no need for a 6 month wait any more as they are getting rid of that rule if importing from Europe. I can't remember if they still requre the blood test anymore, can't find my info sheet to check. They are trying to abolish tick and tapeworm treatment too, but RCVS not happy as they think the risk of introducing nasty tapeworms to this contry is too high.
One of our vets has just had to wait months to import her BC pup which will enter the country in October, she's not amused that the rules are changing just after she has had to wait so long!

No titre test required :-) just the vaccinnation and wait 21 days.  Likely to need worming, but that's about it.  Obviously for owners peace of mind other parasites will need to be sorted, but nothing for the passport.
Interesting the stuff on ferries as I'm hoping to bring a dog back from Germany in January so looking at the Harwich-Holland route - fantastic!

Fantastic information, that's really useful thank you very much. :-)