Hi Folks, I'm thinking of importing a puppy from Europe later this year and wondered if anyone knows of a really good pet travel company that will organise the paperwork, give advice on vaccines, crates etc  I think there are too many possible problems for me to organise everything myself and I would hate puppy to have to go into quarantine.  Other posts I have read seem to be asking about exporting and lots of good advice has been given.  Here's hoping you can help.

Depending on the country it could work out a lot easier and cheaper to drive. We are driving to Belgium and back in one day in a few weeks to collect a dog.

Unless you want the bloodlines, why not support home-breeding?    When in Canada, we imported two from the UK (to compliments those UK bred hounds we took out with us originally) and both breeders used a company based in the South UK - darned if I can remember their name, but they used to advertise in Dog World.   They'd do it all from collecting the dog to organising the crate and paperwork.   But that was from the UK to Canada.

To be honest, I'd go collect the puppy and bring him back with you in a car which is going to be far less traumatic (distance?) than shipping him by air etc.   And I don't believe in flying a puppy of under 4 months, older if the distance is longer.

DEFRA will give you all the information you need re the qualification for Pet Passport which must be strictly adhered to or the dog will be held in quarantine on entry - assuming the border control bothers, which going by the huge number of puppies coming in from Eastern Europe right now, may not be the case!!

But again, unless you need a specific bloodline, is there no UK breeder for the puppy you are after?

Add -   I Searched and found this company who I think was the one I used when moving across country (UK) a few years ago.    http://www.animalcouriers.com/     Here is another  http://www.petairuk.com/?gclid=CKCW-uqkvLwCFTCWtAodcngAAQ

I'm thinking of importing a puppy from Europe

Unless you do some in depth, relevant research its best avoid east europe.
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Ryslip will sort it ALL out for you, down to the very last detail.

Ryslip will sort it ALL out for you, down to the very last detail.

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why not support home-breeding?

A simple youtube search of 'uk kennel club' answers that one.

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=uk%20kennel%20club&sm=12
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From Europe it is really very easy. Usual puppy core vaccines, microchip, rabies at three months and 21 days later can enter UK by tunnel or ferry. For Europe I would just drive over and collect the puppy. Flying the pup will be very expensive as must travel cargo so much more cost effective to get Sat Nav maps for Europe, a few hotel bills if traveling to eastern reaches of Europe.

Driving in Europe is easy - I have even managed it all by myself :)

k

I used a company called Ladyhaye when I imported my pup from Slovakia. They couldn't have been more helpful and I thought the total cost of £500 was reasonable. They requested that all paperwork was emailed to them before my pup got on the flight and checked that it was all in order a couple of days before he even got on the plane.

Have to agree, when I flew with Inka to USA we flew out from Heathrow excess baggage and flew  back to Belgium to avoid Cargo charges as one way excess baggage was only $150US, and it was a lot cheaper to pay ferry and fuel than return Cargo.

Where did you fly pup into ridgie?, as when we flew a pup into Heathrow the Cargo was around £500, but Heathrow then charged another £500 for the Quarantine kennelling (they charge for two days regardless of only being there a couple of minutes-hours), clearances etc.

Thanks to everyone who has responded. I don't want to get into the debate about supporting home breeders as it is probably a topic in itself. I hadn't thought about driving over but will seriously consider it. I do like the idea of using air fares for sat nav and hotels.  I will look at the DEFRA site and the others mentioned.  I am doing serious research and not certain this will even happen yet. I just thought it would be good to know about companies that come recommended.

I flew this pup into Manchester - no extra charges

Hi
I've imported 3 dogs - one from Finland in 2009, one from Slovakia in 2013, and one from the Ukraine last year. If you want to pm me feel free
Carina

I can't see how Heathrow justify the £500+ charge and when I was enquiring they didn't mention it even though I asked it the quote included all charges.

I'd as soon have driven up to Manchester to collect pup as drive to Heathrow for that money.

I would use Manchester if I ever do it again. Lovely people there too :)

As others have said if you can drive it would be sooo much better for all involved, nearly all of the dog imported to the UK in my breed unless they were from the US were driven over and not flown.

To the other poster there is nothing wrong with shipping from Eastern Europe, I did this last year and I would do it all over again. Its not a certain geographical location that one should be careful of as there are breeders here in the 'good old UK' or even this side of Europe that are not necessarily the best. I do agree though that homework is the key to a successful and smooth running import :).

To the other poster there is nothing wrong with shipping from Eastern Europe,

Interesting post, who was the other poster who said there was somerthing wrong with importing from E Europe?
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one should be careful of as there are breeders here in the 'good old UK' or even this side of Europe that are not necessarily the best.

Ah yes, of course, I suggested the same thing about UK and passed a relevant link- see my relevant post above.
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> Interesting post, who was the other poster who said there was somerthing wrong with importing from E Europe?

Yourself.

> Unless you do some in depth, relevant research its best avoid east europe.

Yourself

Yes I wrote the post you quoted - " Unless you do some in depth, relevant research its best avoid east europe"

I must admit I am at a complete loss to see where that post is suggesting something to the equivilent of "Do not buy dogs from east euro dog breeders".

A few weeks ago I opened the post at the link below where DV Munich has a cautionary comment on some types of breeders from eastern europe.
Odd how no one commented on that post & yet find it a great idea to troll and disrupt this original posters post, change the topic & make my posts the topoc instead, link below to the DV warning I posted some weeks ago.

http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/board/topic/142784.html
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Hi Setterlover,

I have imported dogs from Europe a few times, always did it myself, so if you would like so info re that please feel free to pm me.
Kind regards,
Jeff.

Setterlover 
good pet travel company that will organise the paperwork, give advice on vaccines,

It is essential that you make arrangements with the breeder that before any vaccines are given that the dog is first microchipped, if the microchip is given after vaccinations it will not be allowed to comeback here to UK, at least not 21 days after the vaccinactions it will not.
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Another good idea is to team up with someone and work together, for example I know of a lot of people who traveled and showed in Belgium for a specialist show, whilst there they picked up a puppy who had traveled with the original breeder through Europe and brought it back to the UK. 'Networking' :) it made the process cheaper as people worked together.. but you would need to know and trust the party picking up the puppy.

Good luck :)

Hi, I have imported 4 dogs, 2 from America and 2 from South Africa. There are less stringent rules for importing dogs from Europe, and it is very easy to arrange the paperwork with the breeder. Ask them to take the puppy to their vet, microchip first, after initial puppy inoculations, then when the pup is 3 months is the usual Rabies recommended inoculation time, then wait 21 days and the puppy is able to enter the UK. with no requirement for blood tests. There are also no Import Tax charges for dogs from Europe. There are I believe only 2 airports that are able to handle imports, those being Heathrow London and Manchester. Dog must travel as Cargo! unless you can arrange with your breeder in their country? to find a reputable carrier. Many people from Europe are bringing in puppies in their cars! through the tunnel or on various sea routes and reselling for profit, without being the breeder. They are Puppy Traders, nothing more, making their living from trading puppies. However I can ONLY recommend you collect and pay for the puppy yourself, unless you know the breeder personally. Please ensure that the puppy has been vet checked and you are able to contact the vet personally, regardless of language issues, many vets will be able to translate an email. Many people have been duped by puppy traders from Europe, remember this is BIG money for some European countries, and we are getting hundreds of puppies entering the UK every week. Some have been found to have fake passports, and documents also. (Your puppy can be taken from you at our pet control points when entering the UK, if they are found to be fake! and your microchip MUST be in compliance with our UK, normally ISO are the best, and it must be able to be read on entry into the UK). If you are importing a pedigree dog with papers, contact that countries KC and check the documents, ie registration papers have been processed and transfer docs for our UK KC are applicable. ONLY dogs registered with recognised FCI affiliated KC's will be allowed entry onto our UK KC's books. There are many Kennel Unions in Europe, many non recognised clubs are now registering dogs, making their own database and making a fine living from doing pedigrees for their members, there are FCI x 2 and UCI x 2, and our UK KC only have a letter of agreement with FCI Belgium. I have known people from Poland bring in puppies every couple of days, they usually charge around £200 for their costs, as long as they have 3 or more puppies to bring in, and the breeder usually makes all the necessary Pets Passport and Rabies etc. Your puppy MUST be micro chipped FIRST before the Rabies, as they need the chip no. as proof of the animal on the Passport. If the puppy is small breed, It is not advisable to give the rabies too early and not before 12 weeks, this is the recommendation by the vaccine manufacturers like Nobivac, 3 months and cover a 3 year duration period. Nobivac DHPPI can be given from 6 weeks, and covers: Canine Distemper, Contagious hepatitis, adenovirus, parvovirus and respiratory disease. Remember not all vaccines cover the full spectrum, and ensure you check with your breeder what they have used. Hope I have helped a little, it can all go really well if everything is done correctly, having 4 dogs imported from non European countries, I had to be 100% accurate on all my paperwork and inoculations, but it worked out great! usually professional pet carriers charge a minimum of £500 to handle the documents, when in fact a passport costs as little as £30 and rabies vaccination £20, and puppy vacs £20 including worming.....I do wish you all the best.

I paid £500 to Ladyhaye to fly my puppy into Manchester from Prague. The breeder dealt with taking the pup to the vet and getting all the necessary paperwork, including the export pedigree. At each stage she sent me emails showing the paperwork. She bought the travel crate for me, and transported my pup to the airport. She was wonderful and didn't want to charge me any extra for keeping him longer (he was able to travel at 3 months and 3 weeks) or for transporting him to the airport. I did money transfers to her to pay for my pup, and then for the vet's bills and the crate. It is no longer possible to deal with the airlines yourself, which I did when I imported a dog from Finland back in 2009. As the previous poster stated, the pup has to travel as cargo. For me, driving to collect my pups wasn't an option, due to other commitments.

hethspaw why do you make everything so complicated ? not the content of the post the on going who wrote this who wrote that bit 

Edinburgh's handling charges are just as steep.

> Edinburgh's handling charges are just as steep.

I think they're slightly better than Heathrow. I enquired last year before deciding to simply drive over and collect my pup.

This is what they quoted...

>Ø  Animal Reception Centre Fees   £220.00 (per animal)

>Ø  Airline Handling                                £33.00   (per airway bill)

>Ø  EU processing                                   £45.00   (per airway bill)

>Should an animal require veterinary assistance on arrival the owner / consignee will be charged at cost.

>Should an animal be DOA the owner / consignee will be liable for incineration costs.

>ALL FEES SUBJECT TO VAT @ 20%

So a total of £357.60

not the content of the post the on going who wrote this who wrote that bit

Its 'probably' a style many developed from the early days of forums to decrease or inhibit incidents of deliberate misquotes, alternatively it may be plain stupidity on my part, trying to bumble along in my own ill concieved little way.

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Please note:

Any newly purchased Dog, Cat or ferret (including puppies & kittens), which has been owned for less than 6 months, must be processed via a Border Inspection Post and not an Animal Reception Centre (Note Edinburgh Airport has an approved BIP), this will incur an additional fee of GBP65.00. These imports will also attract Customs VAT which they calculate as follows;



(Value of animal + cost of transportation) x 20%


This was also added to the bottom of the quote I got from Edinburgh.

Yep the VAT on imports catches loads of folks out. Another plus for driving across and collecting :)

>So a total of £357.60

That's cheaper than we were charged in 2011.

On enquiring for total charges I was quoted:
the charges here in the UK are $650.00 - this is what Delta as us to collect, it covers all charges. We are the agent that deals with Delta's Pet arrivals.

We will handle everything for you here in the UK.

Yet on arrival we had to pay
Flight $768.44  =  £482.26                         
Heathrow AVI, Clearance, Animal Reception charges £495.00.

Anita
Please could I respectfully ask you to use paragraphs.  I have tried my best to follow your lengthy post but had to give up in the end, as one line just runs into another.
Thanks  Jean

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">a passport costs as little as £30 and rabies vaccination £20, and puppy vacs £20 including worming..

Wow wish vets around here were that reasonable Rabies vacs around here are around £50- £60, ditto pet passports, Puppy vaccination course £60

We were hit with extra fees when collecting a dog from Heathrow in 2012. Last year however we brought a pup in via Gatwick (before this I wasn't aware pets could arrive at that airport) and there were no extra fees, and the Animal Reception Centre there was much smaller and more friendly. We used Ladyhaye who got the job done without too much expense, although they managed to baffle me with emails full of attachments and no clear instructions about what to do with each. They were able to clarify things via phone call, but they seemed more geared towards people travelling with their pets rather than importing puppies from a breeder.

Hi how do I private message someone on here if you could help I'd be very grateful thank you

Click on the persons user name and you get an option to send a message.

Dint forget this is an old thread

Thank You