Dog travel UK to EU and back

[LiesDoNotBecomeUs]

It used to be simple but I'm struggling to work out what is required since Brexit.
We'd like to travel to France and Spain and Portugal... or Belgium/Netherlands/Sweden/Denmark

My lovely black lab has an old EU passport.
He has regular vaccinations and a microchip
He is no longer up to date with rabies vaccination

I know he needs rabies jab (and some weeks after that?) but does he need a blood test too?

He needs paperwork done by a vet. (It there a 'reasonably priced' way of doing that? Our vet charges something like £300. They don't really want to do it!)

Do we also have to apply for a pet passport while in the EU?

He has to have a tapeworm treatment (one we take but give in front of a vet) before returning home. Does he need anything else?

Not to drip-feed:
We had planned to leave him behind while we are away for three weeks but the vet has explained that arthritis is now limiting the Lab's life. He might have a few months - he might have two years..

I want to have him with me as much as possible and don't want to leave anyone else feeling responsible if things go wrong.

Unfortunately your EU passport is now useless.

He needs a new rabies jab at least 21 days before travel. Then he needs an animal health certificate, certified by an official vet within 10 days of your travel. The certificate must be in English and in the language of the country you enter the EU. So if you enter through France, it will be dual English French, and if you get the ferry to Portugal it must be English Portuguese and so on.
Then within 5 days but before 24 hours your dog must have a tapeworm treatment administered by a vet and this must be entered in the certificate.
No blood tests required.
I am having trouble getting a vet in France to do the return bit for me. No one wants the hassle of those stupid long forms.

On fees, the rabies jab will be around £50/60. The certificate including the health check prior to travel will be approx £200. The tapeworm and return certification will be approx £70 but very dependent on the vet.

It really is the most ridiculous system.

Good luck!

*Then within 5 days but before 24 hours of your return Journey ....

You need an animal health certificate now to be done up to 10 days before travelling. We normally do them 3 days before travelling. The rabies vaccination must be up to date and must have been given at least 21 days before.
Contact your vet and let them know how and where you are travelling and where from. Its a complicated process these days and you'll need an hours appointment. The paperwork is horrendous.

I can pm you a copy of the regulations when I'm at work if your vet isn't sure. It also needs to be signed by an LV. We only have 3 in our practice so they do get booked up quickly.

We found the process fairly straightforward if expensive (although for us cheaper than home boarding). Our vet has a form you fill in in advance of the AHC appointment, then they check the dog, check their chip and hand over the 10?! pages of completed form. We could have shopped around for a cheaper vet but the price saving wasn't worth the hassle for us.

The vet we used for the return journey had never seen a AHC before but managed to fill it in no bother.

It seems ridiculous that a perfectly healthy dog going from and to a perfectly healthy place should have all these checks just to cross 30 miles of water!

Thank-you very much for your help though ! I'm glad that it has been do-able.

Have you considered how painful it is to travel with arthritis? Even the vibrations of a moving vehicle (car, train, plane) can cause pain and discomfort. And how stressful travelling for 3 weeks can be to an elderly pet? I know you want your lab with you, but it might be better for the dogs comfort and health to be at home with a house & pet sitter.

@Discovereads -Yes! I wouldn't take him if travel hurt him. His needs and wants come first. My fear is that he would be unhappy being left and I don't want him to have a moment of unhappiness if it can be prevented.

He has good painkillers now (librella is superb) and bounces about all day of his own accord.

His limbs are not flexible anymore (not as much as you'd expect in a 10 year old anyway) but he is keen to move about and apparently this is good for him. He swims with us (wearing a buoyancy-aid now -just in case he isn't as strong a paddler as he thinks), walks and jumps out at the postman.

He lays balls and sticks out for us whenever he finds them and is saddened by our limited understanding of what we should do with them these days. How can humans forget the 'fetch-the-stick' game? He even throws the sticks himself to remind us how to behave. He has to admit that we are quite good at 'hide-the-stick' - and of course, 'find-the-stick' is a game he excels at.

He loves going in the car too. He has folding ramp/steps (these he scorns).

He doesn't look unwell or really old. (He isn't)

We are careful not to let him leap out of cars or over obstacles as there is danger of a leg breaking. This is the life-limiting part.

His bones are not as sturdy as they were. They crumble. He breaks more easily than he should and healing a broken bone in some places would be impossible. That would be the end for him.

My bil used to take his dog every year to France. The last time after Brexit, it was expensive and ridiculously complicated. But worse, ticks are everywhere in France now and she got a load of them. She got Lyme disease and was quite poorly, and needed quite a bit of treatment when she got home. He's decided not to take her again, which of course means he won't be going again. So be aware where you're taking her and ask advice from the locals about tick prevalence in the area.
Considering that the UK is safer, rabies wise, than all the EU countries, except Ireland, I'm sure the rules will change in time.

A number of places in the UK are also full of tics.

OP, I assume your EU passport was issued in the UK? I believe if it was issued in a europeen country (ie. dog is a rescue from abroad), I believe it is still valid.

The OPs old EU passport will no longer be valid because the rabies vaccination has expired.
And a new rabies vaccine can't be entered into the passport by a UK vet. It could be entered by an EU vet, but that isn't possible either because you will need an up to date rabies vaccination and an animal health certificate to get into the EU in the first place.
We are thoroughly stitched up. I hope the queues at Dover are full of brexiteers.

A number of places in the UK are also full of tics.

Its well known they are more prevalent in France. Hence the warning to enquire from locals if there is a problem in that area. Prevention and cure and all that.

But more importantly, getting treatment in France when you're going to be going home is awkward and to coordinate your treatment from France to Britain is difficult whilst emergencies with older dogs is more stressful, particularly if they need to talen home mid treatment.

If a dog got ticks in the uk, tests and treatment would be consistent.

It's essentially the same process as before but more expensive and the Animal Health Certificate only last a few months.

Another thing to thank brexiteers for

Brexiteers have no idea how often they are cursed!
They have cost us all so much.
Those questioned mostly claim to have been misled... but the problems were clearly highlighted. (Putting fingers in ears and shouting 'remoaner' does not qualify you as misled!)

On ticks - they are just as bad here in the summer. Deer and sheep ticks are everywhere around us here in the UK. We treat our Lab regularly (I actually have a tick remover on my keyring) and thank his slippery coat that he has seldom been bitten either here or abroad in the past.

I have always found vets in France really good - and their prices much lower than here. We've been left without charge on a few occasions. (The ones round Calais are usually more business-like and more expensive.)

On ticks - they are just as bad here in the summer. Deer and sheep ticks are everywhere around us here in the UK. We treat our Lab regularly (I actually have a tick remover on my keyring) and thank his slippery coat that he has seldom been bitten either here or abroad in the past.

It's not ticks that are the concern. It's ticks carrying lyme disease.

Lyme disease is here too.
My DH had the target rash after being bitten in the garden last year. (The anti-biotics healed/protected him.)

Yes, lyme disease is here but a much smaller proportion of ticks carry lyme disease in Engand (can't speak for other countries but probably the same) than in France.

I'm just saying my bils dog caught lyme disease and had a bad time and treatment, because of sending away to test etc, was more difficult and coordinating treatment more awkward No dig at any French vet. They're just as competent as British vets. So because ticks with lyme disease are more prevalent, I said it would be wise to ask the locals of heographical areas of concern.
I wish I'd not bothered trying to be helpful now and, honestly, if you're not concerned and it's not a big issue for your elderly dog, then don't bother making enquiries. No skin off my nose.

Have just returned from South of France with ddog.

We asked the owner of the villa we hired to book our vet appointment as it worked well the last time. They advised us to get a flea collar (£61) even though we do the preventative tablet every month in UK and we have come back flea/tic free.

Did see a woman in Dover crying in the pet border control bit because she hadn't done something right-it was saturday and she was saying "then we can't go until tuesday at the earliest"

Def worth finding vet who knows what is needed

@MarshaMelrose -sorry I didn't mean to offend. Thank you for taking time to respond.

I live in the south of England in an area where ticks with Lyme disease are common. We do tend to assume we have to be careful everywhere. July is a particularly bad time to rustle about in ferns! Sept is a bit better.

Before Brexit we traveled to Europe with dogs very often. They were very helpful in bonding with new people when we were mangling their beloved language.

We met lovely dog owners everywhere! Our first dog nearly left us for a Spanish lorry-driver who cooked chicken on his lorry and fed her before himself 😁

Thanks to information on here I now have a rabies form (signed by vet who checked the dog's chip and authenticated it)

I can use this to get an AHC in one of two ways

• from one of the trained vets at my practice (must book well in advance and get an appointment within 10 days of travel) £180

Or -book with a Vets at Folkestone or near Portsmouth who do this for £100 -and take 20min but must see the Rabies certificate with practice stamp and vet signature. Again appointment has to be made.

Travel with tapeworm treatment and explanation of return to uk so that vet in France will sign to say the treatment was taken on the right day.