Dotty70

We have just moved to Texas, 3 months ago. Myself, husband and 10 year old son are here on an F1/2 student visa.
We are here for 3 years. We have left our beloved Dalmatian dog at home with friends. Our son is missing home dreadfully and we now feel that bringing our dog over here would help him settle a lot better. I know 3 months is a relatively short time, but our hearts our breaking at how much our son misses home.
I'm new to this site and wondered if anyone had advice they could share about transporting dogs over. Also, I have read that it is more costly to transport dogs back to the UK, can anyone share advice about that too please?
Many thanks

Weeze

Bringing Pets : British Expat Wiki

This is a good place to start

sherbert

It's more costly to bring them back into the UK because they cannot fly as baggage and must go in as cargo to one of the Animal Reception Centres. If you fly to Europe, you can ship your dog as baggage and it's much cheaper.

Depending on where you live in the UK, when the time comes to return home, you can potentially fly to Germany/Netherlands/Belgium/France and rent a car, drive over with him on the chunnel (very convenient if you're in the southwest) or take the ferry to Dover or to Hull/Newcastle if you're from the north east. Although with ferry/train/car rental costs, I'm not sure you'd save THAT much money.

scrubbedexpat099

Why 3 months? Dogs do not use the VWP.

Nutmegger

That's how long they've lived in the US to date. They're here for three years.

petitefrancaise

Bring the dog.
It's not that hard but you need to make sure you get everything right ready to take the dog back with you.

From what I've read, it is expensive to take the dog back to the UK so be prepared for that.

Dotty70

Thank you for your advice! Wish I'd found this forum before we moved over here!! So much amazing information!
Thank you - just trying to get my friend to measure our dog so we can get a quote!!
Exciting times ahead!!

markcst

I'm going to use PetAirUK. They have been recommended by several people on here. Make sure it is that one (the one run by vets). A very similar named company has a really bad reputation!

abbiecowan

Definitely bring the dog. We had to wait for a while to bring ours just because when we first came out we were in a hotel but we all missed her terribly and felt like we were definitely not complete as a family. Our dog (cocker spaniel) is 12 so we did think about whether we should bring her for about 2 minutes and then just said there was no other option, she is part of the family and home just doesn't feel home without her. We had quotes between £900 - £1500 and have used PetAir in the end as we liked their approach, reviews etc. She will be arriving very soon and we all can not wait!

sherbert

FYI/for next time, most La Quinta hotels and Extended Stay hotels accept pets

abbiecowan

I know I found that out after we arrived!! Never mind she has been thoroughly spoilt at my mums house and made it easier for my Mum to let us go!!

markcst

Home2Suites accept dogs too. We stayed in one on our family visit to see how pet friendly it was and every other guest had a dog

ILMLover

We brought out dog over using airpets. Becca Couch was my contact. I can't praise them enough. A dog who uses to get anxiety and very stress arrived so calm and settled in within a couple of days. Not cheap but having her here has made things very normal. My wife started crying from the joy of seeing here and we were only 3 weeks without her.
Of course trying to strike a balance between wehat is fair for your dog and for your son
Others I know have found that after a few months their kids settle in. It might be worth encouraging him to get out and do things to get a hobby / social circle outside of just school. Also, use this site to see if there are others from the UK in the same boat that are local. You could maybe meet and get another UK friend so they have some common ground.
If you really think a dog will help then consider if it has to be your dog. How old is your dog now. If you are going back in 3 years might they be at the point they are possibly too old and it would be more kind to re-home there over here? If so, by then dont forget he will have made new friends and being back in the UK will be equally tough. He may end up missing the US without the possibility of bringing the dog back.
Would it possibly be better to get a rescue / foster a dog while you're here instead. A new puppy might also be good as your Son could be the one to take on responsibility for going to puppy school and find new friends that way. Of course, you will still have the issue of whether to take them back to the UK in a few years but following the guidelines and using a specialist company shoudl make it easy (but expensive)

andrewlohnes

I used passportforpets.co.uk to move my Border Collie to Phoenix, cost me £1700 in total but I had to pay extra to use a company based in Phoenix to collect him as the customs area was closed when he arrived or something along those lines. But it went great. Coming back to the UK won't the dog have to go in to quarantine?

sherbert

No quarantine anymore if coming in from certain countries (USA included) and the dog has a valid rabies vaccination.