New dog what to do about Ferry

[Zoobec]

Hope so he will be 4 months then.

It will be very tight, as he needs to be over 12 weeks to have the rabies injection then you have to wait 3 weeks before travel. Then there’s the AHC to get. We found Yoshi adapted well to travel but he is a very laid back dog, and he was about 6 months old when we went away. we had to travel harwich - hook of Holland as at the time we couldn’t go on our pre planned tunnel Route due to covid restrictions. He was fine in the kennel. We watched him on camera, he had eaten his food in the short time it took us to get to our cabin every time we looked on their camera to check on him he was asleep!

 

[Coolcats]

I’m glad I don’t have a dog…

No kids no dog but we have the ultimate flexibility and freedom as our name suggests we have had cats but even though they are more independent they can still be a tie and cost at a time we want more travel and flexibility to do so.

 

[Theonlysue]

Error

 

[BongoMad]

Hi, looking for some thoghts on our new dilemma. We have just bought a new puppy (miniature Schnauzer) and picking up at end of month so good news. Bad news is we had booked to cross over to France using Poole - Cherberg BF route mid August so pup would only be 4 1/2 months old. We are thinking this may be a bit young and maybe a trauma for him, I know we can visit the deck to check on him but still... We live in Essex so were planning to meet our son in Cornwall then travel back to poole for crossing and have booked tunnel home already.

So what are seasoned dog owners thoughts, as I see it we have 3 choices

1. Carry on with booking, excercise him well before to tire him out, visit him on car deck after say 1 hour then every hour until allowed back on the car deck when coming into port.
2. We have a Flexi ticket so push it out till next year when he is older then as above.
3. Lose deposit and use Chunnel

Thanks in advance.

Miniature Schnauzer. Good choice! Usually good travellers, but also very people oriented and love human company. They can also be quite reactive in stressful situations - but they’re all different and you won’t know until yours arrives exactly what you’ve got! We did one car deck crossing and our dog was right next to a car the owner refused to leave unlocked as requested, and the alarm went off repeatedly until he was located and gave in. Never again. Pet cabin or tunnel. Especially for such a young puppy who’ll only just be house trained, let alone settled in with you. Wishing you happy holidays and years of joy with your Schnauzer.

 

[Icey]

It’s your conscience. My miniature schnauzer has been the perfect traveller from day 1. She lived in a crate when travelling and because it was her bed at home, she slept all the way to Provence. The main thing for any traveller is they feel safe. But also, our girl, now 9 years old, learnt to live with us and we can take her anywhere, boats, restaurants, pubs, walk, rock climbing and she’s in her element.
good luck and happy travels

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[Us2]

Don’t forget his rabies jab, which I think can’t be given until animal is 4 months old.

 

[Rumour and Innuendo]

Who's gonna know?

So you choose what rules and laws you like and only adhere to those?

What has really struck me about this thread is the way people pick and choose which rules they want to follow and those they will ignore! And where does that end? "It's OK officer, yes I was doing 60 in a 30, but it is three o'clock in the morning and there is no one about"! You may not think there is a risk, but what about the crew who, after seeing people emerge from their vehicles during an incident, have a duty to get you to safety?

How often have trucks toppled onto neighbouring vehicles?
Photo shows open air vehicle deck yet claim asphyxiation risk .

People won't fly because there's a risk of crashes... you can't eliminate all risks, even if you stay at home.

Hiding in your MH for a couple of hours really poses no significant risk to you, your dogs or the ship.
Needless to say, I'd not advise firing up the hob to make a cuppa, or getting out the bbq.

Not sure whether you missed the point on purpose or are just not thinking! Yes that picture shows a vehicle on an open deck after toppling over, but you do know there are also closed decks? The asphyxiation risks are on the closed decks and the picture indicates what can happen on ANY deck.

But to the OP, It is a dilemma. Tunnel this year and ferry next. Best way out if this.

 

[Bovadriver1]

Hi, looking for some thoghts on our new dilemma. We have just bought a new puppy (miniature Schnauzer) and picking up at end of month so good news. Bad news is we had booked to cross over to France using Poole - Cherberg BF route mid August so pup would only be 4 1/2 months old. We are thinking this may be a bit young and maybe a trauma for him, I know we can visit the deck to check on him but still... We live in Essex so were planning to meet our son in Cornwall then travel back to poole for crossing and have booked tunnel home already.

So what are seasoned dog owners thoughts, as I see it we have 3 choices

1. Carry on with booking, excercise him well before to tire him out, visit him on car deck after say 1 hour then every hour until allowed back on the car deck when coming into port.
2. We have a Flexi ticket so push it out till next year when he is older then as above.
3. Lose deposit and use Chunnel

Thanks in advance.

Try renting a dog friendly cabin if they have them available

 

[Speve]

Try renting a dog friendly cabin if they have them available

They are like hens teeth we tried for years to get one and never did

 

[madroy]

Hi, looking for some thoghts on our new dilemma. We have just bought a new puppy (miniature Schnauzer) and picking up at end of month so good news. Bad news is we had booked to cross over to France using Poole - Cherberg BF route mid August so pup would only be 4 1/2 months old. We are thinking this may be a bit young and maybe a trauma for him, I know we can visit the deck to check on him but still... We live in Essex so were planning to meet our son in Cornwall then travel back to poole for crossing and have booked tunnel home already.

So what are seasoned dog owners thoughts, as I see it we have 3 choices

1. Carry on with booking, excercise him well before to tire him out, visit him on car deck after say 1 hour then every hour until allowed back on the car deck when coming into port.
2. We have a Flexi ticket so push it out till next year when he is older then as above.
3. Lose deposit and use Chunnel

Thanks in advance.

Draw curtains and go to sleep.

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[BongoMad]

Hi, looking for some thoghts on our new dilemma. We have just bought a new puppy (miniature Schnauzer) and picking up at end of month so good news. Bad news is we had booked to cross over to France using Poole - Cherberg BF route mid August so pup would only be 4 1/2 months old. We are thinking this may be a bit young and maybe a trauma for him, I know we can visit the deck to check on him but still... We live in Essex so were planning to meet our son in Cornwall then travel back to poole for crossing and have booked tunnel home already.

So what are seasoned dog owners thoughts, as I see it we have 3 choices

1. Carry on with booking, excercise him well before to tire him out, visit him on car deck after say 1 hour then every hour until allowed back on the car deck when coming into port.
2. We have a Flexi ticket so push it out till next year when he is older then as above.
3. Lose deposit and use Chunnel

Thanks in advance.

Just found this on .gov.uk - I think it looks as though you'll be stacking your BF booking until next year whatever!

You must get your dog, cat or ferret vaccinated against rabies before it can travel. Your vet needs proof that your pet’s at least 12 weeks old before vaccinating them.

If you’re taking your pet to the EU or Northern Ireland, you must wait 21 days after the primary vaccination before you travel.

You must get your pet microchipped before, or at the same time as, their rabies vaccination. If you do not, they’ll need to be vaccinated again.
The vaccine must be an inactivated vaccine or recombinant vaccine that’s approved in the country of use.

 

[PaddyM]

Hide in the van with the dogs . I did it returning from france in march , dogs were absolutely chilled and no one was any the wiser. All blinds etc closed

Absolutely nothing personal but if I suspected that someone was doing this on a ferry that I was traveling on I would automatically report them to the ferry security team .

 

[madroy]

Absolutely nothing personal but if I suspected that someone was doing this on a ferry that I was traveling on I would automatically report them to the ferry security team .

And will that make you feel better.

 

[TDub49]

And will that make you feel better.

I'm sure there are people on the forum who have worked on ferries and could therefore confirm whether or not any crew spend any significant time on the car decks once the ferry is properly underway. I would have thought that they didn't so as to maintain the integrity of the watertight bulkheads etc by minimising the risk of doors being left open etc.

If that's the case it could be that someone's life would be put at risk by having to try to rescue someone from the car deck who shouldn't have been there in the first place, so it would make me feel better to help avoid that scenario.

 

[Langtoftlad]

Absolutely nothing personal but if I suspected that someone was doing this on a ferry that I was traveling on I would automatically report them to the ferry security team .

Why - still waiting to hear what risk there is to yourself, your vehicle or the ship by remaining in your motorhome.
If it's approved to leave a dog in a van, it must be 'safe'.

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[PaddyM]

And will that make you feel better.

Very much so , thanks for asking

 

[Mrs Drago35uk]

Use Eurotunnel, dog stays with you in van and crossing is only 35 minutes. Would never leave ours unattended - only at home when out shopping.

 

[BarneyRubble]

My thoughts are coverred in some other answers but I'd definitley get your puppy used to being in the motorhome and have a positve association with it - as well as a crate which it sees as it's own safe space. It's the right time now with your young puppy to do this during it's first few months. It also depends on the dog. One of ours was chilled out in ours, the other was petrified when it moved and there was any road noise and rattling! Both of ours were mature dogs when first exposed to MH travel. Good luck...

 

[rb62]

Just found this on .gov.uk - I think it looks as though you'll be stacking your BF booking until next year whatever!

You must get your dog, cat or ferret vaccinated against rabies before it can travel. Your vet needs proof that your pet’s at least 12 weeks old before vaccinating them.

If you’re taking your pet to the EU or Northern Ireland, you must wait 21 days after the primary vaccination before you travel.

You must get your pet microchipped before, or at the same time as, their rabies vaccination. If you do not, they’ll need to be vaccinated again.
The vaccine must be an inactivated vaccine or recombinant vaccine that’s approved in the country of use.

Keep up,see post #20

 

[tkk]

My thoughts are coverred in some other answers but I'd definitley get your puppy used to being in the motorhome and have a positve association with it - as well as a crate which it sees as it's own safe space. It's the right time now with your young puppy to do this during it's first few months. It also depends on the dog. One of ours was chilled out in ours, the other was petrified when it moved and there was any road noise and rattling! Both of ours were mature dogs when first exposed to MH travel. Good luck...

I agree. If you get it wrong at this stage you will have lots of problems with travelling with your doggie subsequently. introduce new things in small controlled steps

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[PaddyM]

Why - still waiting to hear what risk there is to yourself, your vehicle or the ship by remaining in your motorhome.
If it's approved to leave a dog in a van, it must be 'safe'.

Dogs were put into space to ensure space travel / orbit was safe for humans , humans were not put into orbit to ensure space travel was safe for dogs . HTH.
Safety considerations.
1. Fire
2. Load shifting , imagine
a huge fully loaded articulated lorry crushing a motorhome with someone inside .
3. Integrity of fire and watertight doors
4. Accountability for passenger numbers , man overboard concerns and then a full passenger head count .
Simple really when you think about it .

 

[gus-lopez]

We have a Flexi ticket so push it out till next year when he is older then as above.

On dfds a flexi entitles you to a full refund no questions asked. Might be the same on BF?

 

[Cazzibo]

The earliest age recommended for rabies vaccination is three months. Earliest date for travel is three weeks after that. Personally I would not get a puppy vaccinated at such a young age, so defer travel till next year.

I used to take my dogs onto the ferry, Dover Calais, where travel time is just 90 minutes and they didn't seem to suffer. I now have an extremely noise sensitive and generally nervous border collie and have always used Eurotunnel with her.

My advice would be to travel with your dog next year and by then you have a better idea of what your dog can tolerate.

 

[PrettyandFluffy]

I absolutely would not leave my dog in the motorhome on the car deck. This is why we always travel with Eurotunnel. How much deposit do you stand to lose by changing? If you're not prepared to change things for the dog, perhaps re-think getting a dog. If the dog was traumatised by being left like that, that will likely stay with it for life causing you and the dog untold problems in the future (separation anxiety can be dreadful).
We messed up our dogs (2 dogs) rabies vaccines meaning we were not allowed to return to the U.K. from France unless we put them in quarantine. That was unthinkable to me, as was leaving them in a French boarding kennels. The alternative, which we did, was staying 3 weeks in France with the dogs; we did half each.
I believe that if you have an animal you look after it the very best you can. That doesn't mean spoiling them (no dogs on the sofa or bed in this house!) but it means ensuring their well being and happiness and factoring that into plans and travel arrangements.

 

[Langtoftlad]

Dogs were put into space to ensure space travel / orbit was safe for humans , humans were not put into orbit to ensure space travel was safe for dogs . HTH.
Safety considerations.
1. Fire
2. Load shifting , imagine
a huge fully loaded articulated lorry crushing a motorhome with someone inside .
3. Integrity of fire and watertight doors
4. Accountability for passenger numbers , man overboard concerns and then a full passenger head count .
Simple really when you think about it .

You forgot sinking
I agree they're all risks but really on what scale?
You could trip on a step and bang your head!
How often has an artic crushed a motorhome?
Watertight fire doors will maintain their integrity because you're not using them!
Man overboard - when was the last time someone fell off a ferry .

Grasping at straws comes to mind.

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[Rumour and Innuendo]

You forgot sinking
I agree they're all risks but really on what scale?
You could trip on a step and bang your head!
How often has an artic crushed a motorhome?
Watertight fire doors will maintain their integrity because you're not using them!
Man overboard - when was the last time someone fell off a ferry .

Grasping at straws comes to mind.

You could travel at 40 mph in a 30 and nothing happens, is that OK too? You could be lifted on a fork lift truck while you are standing on a pallet and nothing happens, is that OK. So where do you draw the line with which rules and laws you obey and those you don't? Are advocating we all do that?

 

[PaddyM]

You forgot sinking
I agree they're all risks but really on what scale?
You could trip on a step and bang your head!
How often has an artic crushed a motorhome?
Watertight fire doors will maintain their integrity because you're not using them!
Man overboard - when was the last time someone fell off a ferry .

Grasping at straws comes to mind.

It’s illegal, end of .

 

[busby]

Hmm. Rescues are full of dogs that might indicate that they are not all as adaptable as we would like them to be.

Probably more the fault of owners and not the dog.Some folk are clueless.BUSBY.

 

[Northernraider]

Absolutely nothing personal but if I suspected that someone was doing this on a ferry that I was traveling on I would automatically report them to the ferry security team .

Well done . You're one of lifes hero's.

Where im frim thats called a grass and can be life threatening

I'm sure there are people on the forum who have worked on ferries and could therefore confirm whether or not any crew spend any significant time on the car decks once the ferry is properly underway. I would have thought that they didn't so as to maintain the integrity of the watertight bulkheads etc by minimising the risk of doors being left open etc.

If that's the case it could be that someone's life would be put at risk by having to try to rescue someone from the car deck who shouldn't have been there in the first place, so it would make me feel better to help avoid that scenario.

Having stayed in the van i can assure you there are crew members on the car deck the entire trip . Ive seen and heard them.

Dogs were put into space to ensure space travel / orbit was safe for humans , humans were not put into orbit to ensure space travel was safe for dogs . HTH.
Safety considerations.
1. Fire
2. Load shifting , imagine
a huge fully loaded articulated lorry crushing a motorhome with someone inside .
3. Integrity of fire and watertight doors
4. Accountability for passenger numbers , man overboard concerns and then a full passenger head count .
Simple really when you think about it .

As i have said above if any of that unlikely stuff happened im quite happy to be inside the motorhome and perish if need be with my dogs. I would rather that than live knowing they died because id left them somewhere i wasn't willing to be myself.

And as my being in the van would pose no danger to anyone else i really don't give a stuff what busybodies think


P.s i can guarantee you support testing on animals too.

Personally i wouldn't leave an animal anywhere i wasn't prepared to go myself. So no kennels or cages in my dogs lifes thanks.


And if you think a tunnel under the sea is any less risk than those unlikely situations you describe on a ferry you're best staying at home.

 

[Bovadriver1]

Just found this on .gov.uk - I think it looks as though you'll be stacking your BF booking until next year whatever!

You must get your dog, cat or ferret vaccinated against rabies before it can travel. Your vet needs proof that your pet’s at least 12 weeks old before vaccinating them.

If you’re taking your pet to the EU or Northern Ireland, you must wait 21 days after the primary vaccination before you travel.

You must get your pet microchipped before, or at the same time as, their rabies vaccination. If you do not, they’ll need to be vaccinated again.
The vaccine must be an inactivated vaccine or recombinant vaccine that’s approved in the country of use.

I would recommend every dog owner who travels regularly to Europe to visit a vet in Europe and get an EU Pet Passport issued , you don' have to have an address in Europe and the Vet we used in Calais was recommended to us by Le Shuttle and all he did was copy all the info from the UK docs into the Passport. The EU passport is accepted by the UK and cuts out the need for Vet visits etc before leaving the UK

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