Crossing US border with dog
 

Hello,

quick question for those that have crossed the US border with dogs... what do we need to bring? A quick google suggests just a rabies vaccination certificate, is that all? I'll be crossing at Peace Bridge with my dog, and with a British passport I'll have to stop by secondary... assume the dog can accompany me at that point too?

Cheers!

Re: Crossing US border with dog
 

Yes take the current vaccination certificate. Unless it is a service dog I doubt that you will be able to take the dog into the building. Maybe FL can throw some light on that.

Re: Crossing US border with dog
 

Thanks, I saw on one of the older threads here that someone mentioned you can't take pets into US secondary... so where will my 4 legged friend go :(

Re: Crossing US border with dog
 

It will remain in the vehicle unless you prefer to tie it up outside to something. You could politely ask if its possible to take the dog inside but I would expect and be prepared for a less than polite answer though you may be surprised. They will probably let you check on it if it appears the wait for processing could be lengthy.

Re: Crossing US border with dog
 

Maybe they have kennels at the door? Some of the Canadian crossings do, we have had to put our dog into kennels a couple of times coming back into Canada, we have only been sent to secondary once going into the US, they let my wife sit outside the door with the dog while I went inside as they were only interested in talking to me, they had no interest in the dog or my wife or even the car, but it was summer and hot and dog couldn't sit inside the car.

If you have your own kennel take it with you might be an option as well.

Re: Crossing US border with dog
 

You do need to have the rabies certificate but, in umpteen crossings with dogs, no one has ever asked for it. We left the dogs in the car at secondary and popped out to check on them every half hour or so. The tricky bit is that eventually they have to pee and you want to be careful which tyre they choose to aim at.

Re: Crossing US border with dog
 

I have been asked once to provide the certificate.

Re: Crossing US border with dog
 

I'm sure that would happen to me, the day I didn't have it.

Re: Crossing US border with dog
 

I've been asked to provide the certificate, and also told that all dog food must be in the original packaging so they can check ingredients.

Re: Crossing US border with dog
 

Exactly why I kept a copy in car. One time I was asked where my dogs were. They were staying with my daughter at the time.

Re: Crossing US border with dog
 

And make sure the food was produced in the US or Canada, and that it doesn't contain goat or lamb as last I saw the US doesn't permit pet foods that contain either of those, not sure why.

If feeding raw generally those foods are not allowed into the US without proper permits.


As for rabies, we always have the certificate, but have never been asked to provide it, we have been asked if we had it with us, but the officers never asked to see it.

Only time we ever had any issues really with our dog was the first time bringing her back as we got her from the US, the CBSA officer didn't believe we paid such a low price but we had copies of the the ad, as well as receipt, and other proof so in the end we got through and didn't pay any taxes.

Re: Crossing US border with dog
 

You just need proof of rabies vaccine. I've never been asked and I've taken my dog a few times. I've only been asked about food once.

As for going inside, I took my dog to Seattle when my family came over from the UK for a visit. I entered the US on my Canadian passport but we had to go inside because of the British ones. Was told to leave the dog in the car.

Re: Crossing US border with dog
 

Hmm I may ask but it seems likely he wont be allowed in so staying in the car will be the best option for him. It took 45mins-1hr last time so may just ask if we can periodically check on him before we're called up.

Thank you all for your responses; we will take the rabies certificate with us to avoid any hiccups. I've also heard the dog food is likely to cause more of any potential problems, so we'll either just grab a smaller bag of what we usually feed him (doesn't seem to have any of the prohibited ingredients) or just grab a bag in the US.

Yep we'll take our own so that looks like the best option. My partner is Canadian so hopefully they don't want her to come in as well, we'll at least ask if she can stay with the dog while they process me! Cheers!

Re: Crossing US border with dog
 

Something worth noting is that Buffalo has a great off leash dog park by the river. That could be a good place to de-stress after the border.

Re: Crossing US border with dog
 

Same here. We drove across at Windsor and of course my Brit lady wife had to go to secondary to get the I95. I don't know if I could have stayed with the car or not, I went in with her anyway. They insisted we left the keys in the car and car unlocked and duly checked to car over while we were in secondary waiting to be seen. So expect them to have a poke around your car while you are busy.