Hello everyone

Hopefully, I'll soon be moving to Colorado on an L1B visa. I have a one year old westie that needs to come too! Does anyone have experience of importing a dog? In particular: How long will he have to stay in quarantine? how easy is it to get a flight?

Thanks in advance for any advice

David,
I have some scottish neighbours who just relocated with 2 westies i will ask and let you know the only issue i remember them having was finding a extended stay hotel which would accept dogs for 4 weeks while their household was in transit. The dogs flew on the same flight they did so choose a non stop flight if at all possible. No quarantine but make sure it is chipped

Thanks very much!

Your dog won't have to stay in quarantine. It will have to have a rabies vaccination and a health check by a vet and then can be transported into the country. You will have to fill out some forms.

If you do a search on this website, you'll find loads of answers to all of your questions. Good luck

Yorkie ... snake size bites...

We moved to Florida from the UK a few years ago, but with a Cat, not a dog.
We flew from Manchsester and our cat followed a week later. We put her in a cattery near the airport and the company that shipped her, collected her and put her on the plane. We collected her from the Airport collections when she arrived in Florida. If coming from the UK since this is not a country with Rabies, there is no need for an injection before, but you must have the dog injected once arrived.
It may be worth looking at the Pet Passport scheme, just in case you need to return to the UK
If you need the web site of the company we used, let me know. They weren't cheap, but they were very good.
Hope this helps

your dog will need the rabies vacine i month before you fly and a cetificate of good health from your vet 24 hours before you fly. We flew with american airlines from gatwick, we couldnt book our dog on the flight , they said it was first come basis so we got there early and she got on the same flight as us, it cost $110.It was really easy and stress free.

I've attached a word doc that explains my dog's journey to the US in 2003 and also my cat who came a year later.

Good luck.

Maggie

Thanks very much

The Marriott Residence Inns take dogs. Sheraton Hotels also take dogs...but only have one or two 'doggy' rooms in each hotel.

Check with the airline on blackout dates for animal shipping. Most have published range of dates during which they won't ship due to high temps on the ramps at airports. May not be a problem if it is a direct, non-stop flight.

- Tim

When our dog and cat flew to the US in October 2005 they didn't need any vaccines to enter and no quarantine. They had to be vaccinated against rabies within a certain time of entering.
However, the problems will arise should you want to return to the UK quickly and you don't have a pet passport.
If you have time before you leave, get the rabies vaccine and chip done under the pet passport regs...it takes about 6 months from start to finish and it is easier to do in the UK. Then as long as you have everything documented in the passport while your dog is in Canada, you should be OK for returning to the UK if you need to, without quarantine.

I can only speak from the US point of view but not many vets here (in PA) understand the scheme but they are gradually getting information on it.

The Euro microchips are different to some of the chips here and so we had to bring our own scanner!

A good pet moving company is Pets on the Move. I have their phone number somewhere if you need it.
They made sure our animals left the UK and arrived in the US in the evening when it was cooler and to avoid sitting on the tarmac they had them boarded at the airport here. They were taken out of their crates, fed, crates cleaned, dog walked etc and then they were flown onto Pittsburgh on a dawn flight to avoid the heat.
Pets on the Move tracked them all the time and we could phone at anytime to check on them.
It was nervewracking but they were fine.

Try the Uk Petsairline.com site or google it - they will do the whole thing for the price of the airline ticket plus okay! Hilary