1st time ,Ferry Santander to Plymouth in July with pet.What to expect and any useful advice please

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You will not be allowed to return to your vehicle once parked on deck so pack a bag with your overnight things, toiletries, medicines etc. Charger leads for devices but don’t use any data while sailing, it will cost you.
I also took to cabin, a cool bag with travel kettle and tea bags, flask of milk and biscuits, an adapter too as ours is uk style plug but you may have all continental fittings coming from Spain .
We are not keen on the public areas so spend a lot of time in cabin so we get an outside one if possible. We don’t go to the bar or “entertainment “
We have not yet travelled with our dog but obviously you will need dog bowls for food and water and a muzzle for transfer from vehicle to cabin and from cabin to dog walking area.
 
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It's all very easy. At check in they will probably give you the microchip checker to scan your dog yourself which they then compare to the paperwork. When on the boat, the dog needs to be muzzled to go up to the cabin. The exercise area isn't very big, but ok & there is a hose to clean the deck once they've done what they need to do. They dontneed to be muzzled out there. Our dog was a bit confused about where she was allowed to go, eventually she had a pee out there, but didn't have a poo until we got back down to the car deck 24hours later. Dogs can only be in the cabin or the exercise outside area, nowhere else on the boat. Ours was fine when we left her in the cabin to have something to eat. When we got to Spain, they requested that we take the dogs down to the van about half an hour before docking so they aren't part of the mad crush to get back to the vehicles , this worked well too. All in all, it was quite painless.

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Riverbankannie said:
You will not be allowed to return to your vehicle once parked on deck so pack a bag with your overnight things, toiletries, medicines etc. Charger leads for devices but don’t use any data while sailing, it will cost you.
I also took to cabin, a cool bag with travel kettle and tea bags, flask of milk and biscuits, an adapter too as ours is uk style plug but you may have all continental fittings coming from Spain .
We are not keen on the public areas so spend a lot of time in cabin so we get an outside one if possible. We don’t go to the bar or “entertainment “
We have not yet travelled with our dog but obviously you will need dog bowls for food and water and a muzzle for transfer from vehicle to cabin and from cabin to dog walking area.
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Great info thanks
 
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The Happy Hooker said:
It's all very easy. At check in they will probably give you the microchip checker to scan your dog yourself which they then compare to the paperwork. When on the boat, the dog needs to be muzzled to go up to the cabin. The exercise area isn't very big, but ok & there is a hose to clean the deck once they've done what they need to do. They dontneed to be muzzled out there. Our dog was a bit confused about where she was allowed to go, eventually she had a pee out there, but didn't have a poo until we got back down to the car deck 24hours later. Dogs can only be in the cabin or the exercise outside area, nowhere else on the boat. Ours was fine when we left her in the cabin to have something to eat. When we got to Spain, they requested that we take the dogs down to the van about half an hour before docking so they aren't part of the mad crush to get back to the vehicles , this worked well too. All in all, it was quite painless.
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On Sunday, on the BF Santona, the other passengers ignored the request to stay in their cabins whilst we disembarked with the dogs, meaning the corridors were jammed with people and suitcases we had to navigate our way through with our dog and overnight bags. It was chaos!
Have complained to Britanny Ferries who have thanked me for my observations....
 
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Thanks for this advice - really helpful - We are travelling with van and Bertie from Portsmouth to Santander in September. Hadn't appreciated that he would have to wear a muzzle :eek: - it's going to be a long trip!!!!
 
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stella said:
Thanks for this advice - really helpful - We are travelling with van and Bertie from Portsmouth to Santander in September. Hadn't appreciated that he would have to wear a muzzle :eek: - it's going to be a long trip!!!!
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He only needs to wear a muzzle in the public areas to & from your van.

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Ken Octon said:
On Sunday, on the BF Santona, the other passengers ignored the request to stay in their cabins whilst we disembarked with the dogs, meaning the corridors were jammed with people and suitcases we had to navigate our way through with our dog and overnight bags. It was chaos!
Have complained to Britanny Ferries who have thanked me for my observations....
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That must have been infuriating.
 
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stella said:
Even that will be more than he'll be happy with!!!
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We have only been asked once to put our dogs muzzle on. Every other trip no one bothered between van and cabin.
If your dog is friendly I would leave it off unless personally asked by staff.

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BikerJon said:
We have only been asked once to put our dogs muzzle on. Every other trip no one bothered between van and cabin.
If your dog is friendly I would leave it off unless personally asked by staff.
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That's good to know - as you can see he looks really fierce - we' keep it on standby!!!
 
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The Happy Hooker said:
He only needs to wear a muzzle in the public areas to & from your van.
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That’s the rule - but in practice almost no dogs wore muzzles when on the “poop” deck. Ours did at first but then we stopped. They did wear them in the stairs to/from the car deck though as it was busy

On disembarking the dogs get to go first - allegedly. As someone said it’s a bit if a scrum but if you are ready to go the moment they make the call then you should be ok!
 
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stella said:
Even that will be more than he'll be happy with!!!
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So you need to start training him with it for short periods now. Once Peppa got used to the muzzle, she would have it on without a fuss. Look on the internet how to familiarise your dog to a muzzle. And don't be embarrassed yourself walking your dog with one on. Humans also need a bit to training sometimes when it comes to our dogs!:giggle:
 
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Peppadog said:
So you need to start training him with it for short periods now. Once Peppa got used to the muzzle, she would have it on without a fuss. Look on the internet how to familiarise your dog to a muzzle. And don't be embarrassed yourself walking your dog with one on. Humans also need a bit to training sometimes when it comes to our dogs!:giggle:
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Good idea. Muzzles are also required on Spanish public transport. I find that if I carry Rosie she is accepted in shops if I ask and I think more accepted on transport when carried.
 
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I think dogs are only allowed on Spanish public transport if they are lap dogs. i.e. fit in a bag or can easily be carried on. We lost Peppa a couple of years back, but as a Staffie Greyhound cross at 34kg, she was definitely persona non grata on trains and buses.

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stella said:
Thanks for this advice - really helpful - We are travelling with van and Bertie from Portsmouth to Santander in September. Hadn't appreciated that he would have to wear a muzzle :eek: - it's going to be a long trip!!!!
Click to expand...
We started training our dog to get used to the muzzle about two weeks before the trip and unlike previous times when he struggled to remove it, this time he was fine and made no attempt to remove it.

Our dog responds to treats so I put the muzzle on him for a few seconds and immediately gave him a small treat. He had seen it in my hand and was focussed on it rather than trying to remove the muzzle. The type of muzzle we used was one of the canvas ones which are open at the end and he could open his mouth wide enough to take the treat. After giving him the treat I took off the muzzle. I repeated this two or three more times that day and then over time built up the time he would wear the muzzle. Getting him to sit with the muzzle on then calling him over to me for a treat worked well.

There are other training methods, clicks and so on, but this worked for our dog. The main opoint is he got the reward when not trying to remove the muzzle. I also didn't give him a treat after removing the muzzle as I thought he might interpret that as a reward for taking the muzzle off.
 
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When you land at Plymouth as you come out of the docks you could turn left down to the end of that road turn right you come down to a roundabout turn left move over to the right hand lane first turn right on the right is a large park for woofy. He may well need it. About 4 mins away. Safe trip.

N50’22’’15 E004’09’’53’’
 
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A tip we were given to help get them used to the muzzle was to get a small paper cup and put a treat in the bottom. They would then have to reach in the cup to get it. And so doing get used to having the nose enclosed!

We were also asked to show our muzzles at check in - keep them handy..
 
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Another point, they seemed to keep all the “pet friendly” vehicles together and boarded them towards the end, I guess to allow the other folks to clear the stairways.
 
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The tip I would give with the others above is to give your dog a good walk before sailing as once on board ours would only pee and other owners had the same problem,

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We trained Peppa to accept a muzzle by coating it with peanut butter, then offering it her in hand. After a day or two we could fit the muzzle while she licked it. In no time, she would just wear it treated up or not.
Most dogs find it difficult to pee or poo on the ships deck. Peppa would not even go on our own 32' sailing boat despite having been on it for years and it having nets all around the guard wires and a slip proof mat. She just hunkered down below and waited until she could get off.
 
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I hope your dog and you sails better than me , seasick 3 out of 4 crossings .🥴
 
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Plymouth to Santander. We also never go to the bar or restaurant, we have an outside cabin with a TV, take some food with us and hunker down for the duration. Maybe go out on deck if it is VERY calm!
 
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