lunarsea

Hi all,

My partner and I are thinking of moving to a coastal town near Alicante from London and are looking for the cheapest way to take our 3 yr old pug cross with us. She weights about 7-8kgs.

I was wondering if anyone has any experience within the last year of moving their dog from the UK to Spain, and if so, how they did it and how much it cost to transport them (I've seem some threads on this site but they are a few years old which might mean the info is outdated)?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Rosemary

As Concierge for the Spanish section of BE I would like to say hello and welcome.

BE is a very large expat website, so if you have problems finding your way around we have concierges who will try to direct you. The moderators for the Spanish forums are Mitzyboy and Fred James, moderators are there to ensure that the site runs smoothly within the rules of BE. Problems and complaints should always be addressed to a moderador who will look into the matter and deal with it efficiently and fairly. Our members who post in the Spain Forums are friendly and helpful with a wealth of knowledge of the issues of living in Spain. At the top of the page you will find a quirkily named thread called Free Beer which is full of important and useful information. Hope you enjoy your time participating in the forums.

Please let me know if you need any further help.

Rosemary

sujee

The cost varies a lot depending on what method of transport you choose. Some companies will arrange everything for you but can be expensive. We were quoted £1000 for 2 cats from Manchester to Malaga.
We are arranging our own using Jet2 which costs around £500 for 2 including the cost of transport crates. You wil also need to have the dog chipped and have rabies vaccination. £80 for those and the follow up tapeworm and tick treatment which also includes the fit to fly certificate costs £40 roughly. There is usually a fee of around €60 at the incoming airport. Do not fly at weekends or that fee is doubles.

There are also companies who will take the dog out by road. Its worth doing a google and find the method you prefer.

Hope it goes well for you

pwwm

Why not drive them out yourself, can stay in motels as you travel with them at nominal fee in the room. Is exactly the way we bought ours

sujee

We won't take ours by road because they get stressed driving to the vet. Flying is stressful too but reduces the stress time by 4.
It is probably a lot different for dogd who by and large enjoy car journeys and can be taken for walks. Cats would have to be in a carrier for days.

adra04778

When we took our dog over she had to be trained to go in the veichle for a month before we went and learn to wear a collar and lead, she was 11 so it wasn't easy, when we set off she cried for a hour, i was on the verge of turning back when for some reason she just stopped, from the moment on, she was brilliant, she was in the car before us and just loved it, she did numerous crossing to and from Spain after that until she died
Not that, that has anything to do with your dog Lol !
But what I would ay is, I think the car would be less stress full than being left in the hold on the plane, then coming out with the luggage at the airport, at least the dog would be with you all the time, you could give it a sedative, like the ones for bonfire night, just to help it relax, I believe your not allowed to give sedative to a dog that is traveling by air.

bigglesworth

We took all ours by Ferry and would thoroughly recommend it. They have a separate pet deck on the top deck, we spent most of our time up there with them - with the most wonderful views. Saw schools of dolphins and others have seen whales I believe. Sheer magic as the sun came up in the morning

lunarsea

That's definitely an interesting idea! How much does the ferry cost? Is it the one to Santander?

Has anyone flown their dog from somewhere like Gatwick to Spain before? If so, how much did they cost and which airline did they use? Does anyone know a standard kind of rate?

Thank you all for your responses so far

lynnxa

I don't know about current rates, but here is a link to Defra & their approved list of routes & comapnies - that should be a good starting point

http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pet...l/pets/routes/

bigglesworth

I cannot remember how much - it was not horrendous though. We used it several times with the dogs (and quite a few without during the volcano crisis). The really good parts were that it removed so much stress from us and dogs, and it is a really nice break as well. Yes it was Santander.

As I say - we love(d) it

lunarsea

Ah thanks for that, definitely going to be something I'll look into.

Has anybody flown their dog over though? I'm just curious as to anyone's experience with this too if we can't arrange a drive over.

adra04778

www.brittanyferries.com

The prices are more expensive after about May but you can see the prices for the full season, we always use the ferry to Santander as we take the parrots and the dogs, so much better for them in my opinion, when you transport your dog by air, they arrive with the luggage on the carosel, thats enough to worry me on its own

Domino

thats what we did with our little guy, no noise or upset in the Chunnel, he slept most of the way and took the same natural stops we took. he didnt get stressed, we didnt get stressed, and every overnight stop we made the small hotel chains in France and Spain were happy to have a single dog stay the night in the room.

Cats-R-Us

Although it was over 10 years ago we moved out with our 3 cats we used the Eurotunnel route and stopped in Campanile motels which allow pets. Prior to moving out my OH worked at Stansted airport and never forgot seeing a dog in its travel crate left on its own on the tarmac amongst all the planes coming and going while it waited to be loaded for its flight. It looked so stressed out that he said he couldn't do that to an animal. Knowing how our cats hated being in the travel boxes even on short journeys he made a purpose built cage which took up the whole of the back of our Fiesta so they could move about freely and see out of the windows. It had an opening from it into the front seat area so that we could take them out and put them in the travel boxes without them being able to run off, to take them into the Campanile rooms. The journey took 3 days but was worth it. Surprisingly they never made a noise all the way down to Alicante and we are sure it was because they were not squashed in travel boxes.

Domino

that is why elsewhere I have suggested that "caring" owners who think it is fine to send the "beloved" in a plane to try it themselves first as animal freight and then make the decision.
we hear so many "loving" owners saying how easily stressed the pet is then they wonder why they have a change of character.