Hi,

I'm currently talking to a breeder in the South of France who I hope to have a puppy from at some point. I am totally clueless about how I would go about bringing a puppy back from there. The breeder said she would sort out the passport but its a case of how would the puppy come home? Driving isn't really an option as its 15 hour journey. If flying, how does that work? Does the puppy get put on the plane in France and I pick up from a UK airport? It sounds really stressful on the puppy but not as bad as a mamouth journey by car? Or can the pup fly back with me (it'll be cavvy sized)? What are the costs involved?

If anyone has any answers I'd be so pleased!

Many thanks!

It will cost a huge amount if you choose to fly the pup into UK and probably won't save the pup a huge amount of time in confinement as they only allow dogs into UK as Cargo.

This requires the pups to be deposited with the cargo people about 5 hours before the flight.

You then have the flight of a couple of hours, then it has to go into the animal reception for you to pick up, again some hours will elapse.

I would always choose to drive with the pup.  This enables you to stop to see to it's comfort.  I have had pups go to Scotland from here and that can be a 12 hour journey.

As to the passport a puppy must have a Rabies vaccination at 3 months of age at least, and can then travel to UK (or other EU country) after 21 days.  You do have to use and approved entry point/route.

Thank you so much Barbara. I didn't think of the time pre and post flight and would hate to think of the poor pup confined for that length of time. As you say, even though its a lot of miles it makes sense to drive so that I can be with it, reassure it, take regular rest stops etc.

Its going to be some time before we're ready for our next dog but want to make sure I research every detail before we do.

Thanks again, very helpful. :)

I'd definitely do the drive. Handled correctly it could be a really positive socialisation experience, whereas a flight at that age is going to just be an unpleasant experience and you have no control at all over it.

I no here you can have pup on the plane at your feet as long as pup and soft kennel don't weigh more then 22 pounds.
Must be flight approved kennel and must be a soft kennel. They must have at least 24-48hrs notice about a pup coming as carry on.

Can't bring in pets as Carry on or Checked baggage in the hold into UK, they have to come in as Cargo.  No problem flying them out that way, but not in.

You could always fly there, using one of the low cost airlines, then take the train back up to Rotterdam, as a foot passenger with a dog you can then use the Hook of Holland/Harwich crossing. Problem then though is getting home from Harwich! I drove to Southern Poland to get my pup, though she was 10 months old by the time she was ready to enter the UK, but she did really well on the journey, admittedly we did do it over a few days with plenty of sightseeing on the way home.