jaca

I am coming to Brisbane in may/june with my family & want to bring my dog..Honey who's a golden retreiver...my OH is against it as he believes that

It'll be too difficult to find a rental property with a dog
& she'll be at home alone all day while we are at work (his parents live with us just now...but thats another story!!!!)

I'm not sure what to do for the best...how she'll adapt to the heat....& heard that dogs must be on lead at all time ..we live near the beach in ayr & she loves to run free there.

I would love to hear about your experiences of bringing/leaving your pets & also what kind of costs are involved ??
all info appreciated.
thanks Jacq xx

Nozzys

Hi Jacq,

Well we had the same dilema, we moved to Brisbane in October, we brought with us our Golden Retriever, Buddy (aged 6) and our cat, Chocolate. (We used a company called ParAir). It was a tough decision, however, they both coped with the flights, also extra flight from Sydney to Brisbane after being in quarantine for 30 days. Buddy did lose a lot of weight in quarantine but unfortunately you can't bring them in without going through quarantine.

Rentals are quite difficult to get with or without pets. We managed to get a nice one but have to keep Buddy outside. After him being in quarantine and then having to go into kennels for a week up in Brisbane as there was a delay in us getting into rental property, we just took him straight out back and he lives in the back garden and on the undercovered patio area. He can see us at all times through the patio doors and when we go out we chain him up on a long chain so he is undercover if it rains and also out of the sun but also can get onto the garden if he needs. Not how we have ever kept pets in the past but he has taken to it really well and it also doesn't restrict us if we go out for the day. Lots of people keep their dogs outside here - having said that, when we have our own house we will probably have him back inside.

There are a couple of dangers we were not aware of before we arrived and that is paralysis ticks and heart worm. Frontline has to be applied every fortnight and tablets given for heart worm. I didn't want the worry of forgetting to give the tablets so took Buddy to the vet and he has had an annual injection. Both these are fatal if you do not take precautions. Also cane toads are another danger. We were very surprised that with all the blood tests that Buddy had to have before we were allowed to bring him that no-one had mentioned the dangers that faced them here.

However, we are really glad we brought our animals. The cat we keep inside at the moment, discreetly, as we don't want to let him out until we have our on place and even then we may well keep him in. It does make you feel more at home straight away having your animals with you and we couldn't leave them behind.

Hope this helps.

Nat X

Nozzys

Sorry forgot to mention costs involved - with Par Air, for dog and cat, bearing in mind that the the cat's flight was only £500 because were also bringing the dog:-

Blood tests, approx. £150 (dog only). Dogs and cats also have to be micro chipped.

£2,364.50 Flights from Heathrow, export health certificates, worming treatment for dog, insecticidal and worming treatment for cat.

Import permit - $280 plus $60 for additional pets.

$1,329.30 quarantine fees.

Flights from Sydney to Brisbane, door to door service, $323.40 (Jet Pets - Par Air put us in touch with them).

Some of the figures are quoted in dollars and some in pounds as this is how we had to pay them.

Also in answer to your other question, dogs do have to be kept on a lead here.

Nat X

quercus

That's a good reply from Nozzys.

We brought our dog over, but it is stressful for them. Molly came out of quarantine five weeks ago but still can't bark properly, as she lost her voice.

They tend to come out anxious and confused, also thinner. They do adapt quickly though. If your dog is accustomed to being left in kennels it would be easier, as he'll know you will be collecting him at sometime.

If your dog already has a good, happy home with your parents and it won't break anyones heart, I would consider his quality of life now compared to the possible stress there could be taking him. Another thing you could consider is getting him sent over later when you're more settled.

It might sound hard hearted, but if you decided to leave him and wanted another once you had settled in, there are lots of dogs in the pounds here, being destroyed daily by the sound of recent posts.

Scuba Steve

I honestly think, especially having read some of the horror stories on here as well, I wouldn't recommend putting an animal through all that stress unless absolutely vital. I know from personal experience how hard it is not to have your dog around (I had a flat coat retriever/newfoundland) but thinking back to mine when I had him, there's no way I could put him through all that strain, especially when your dog's got a pretty sorted life as it is. I understand its hard but you need to establish for whose benefit you'd be taking her out for, your's or her's.

Timber Floor Au

A flat coated retreiver / Newfoundland ? lol strange concoction.

Its a 23 hr flight ppl.
Its 4 weeks in Qtine

Get a grip on reality.

Qtine are run by animal lovers, and the standards in there are exceptional, best in the world, or at least on par.

I really doubt the anxiety of 4 weeks, would overshadow, the rest of a dog or cats life without its owner.

Ste

Scuba Steve

Unusual but he was an absolute beauty. Looked like a big black Golden Retriever with an almost obssessive deisre to swim in dirty ponds.

Timber Floor Au

I can relate to that.

3 of mine played a rendition of the great escape just before xmas.

Dug a hole 5ft wide 4ft deep, and then JUMPED the fence pmsl...

Making their way down the hill, to the lustrous cool muddy slimey boggy dam, on a neighbouring property.

Oh what fun dogs are !

: incidentally : we breed Newfs.

Having helped mate newfs on every single occasion necessary ( which is every single occasion ) its a wonder they are not extinct, as they are crap at mateship.

Generally takes 4 people to do a mating.

Scuba Steve

You breed them? They're fantastic animals, maybe I'll take one off your hands if/when I get settled.

jaca

could the girl who emailed me when I started this thread a few months ago & said that Honey our golden retriever could stay with her & her retriever near Brisbane for a few weeks when we get there PLEASE contact me again...I've lost the email:curse::curse:
Jacq

Centurion

Completely agree. The excuse of its too stressful on my dog etc is crap imo.

If people don't want to bring the dog because they consider it hassle in their lives when they don't need it fair enough, dont understand that attitude, but fair enough. But don't try to excuse that with "its kinder for my dog" rubbish to ease guilt.

Getting a rental that takes a dog is easy enough. Most say no to pets. Rather than sitting down and simply surfing the net you have to get off your bum and actually make a few calls and speak to some people. Offer an extra bond etc and that enough to get over that problem usually.

It may require a bit more effort but its completely doable except in exceptional cases of a really aging dog or when simply someone can't afford it for example.

noofie

We have 2 year old beagle that we plan to bring with us to the Gold Coast later this year.

Don't know if I can bear the thought of leaving him out in the garden!!!! Do many people do this?

Jackie
x

Centurion

Why do you want to put him in the garden to live ?

Many do, its Queensland and the temperatures dont drop that badly, but I'd say about half don't and the dog lives in the house.