We’re thinking about a trip to France next year and would like to take the mutt with us, depending on how much of a ball-ache the passport thing is, has anyone got a dog passport and if so how difficult was it, how much grief is it and would you recommend it? Thanks.

Yes x2, easy, about £170 for both of them. Most certainly.

No problem getting a pet passport,just go to your regular vet.

The rules for coming back from France with the dog have eased a little,so no flea and tick treatment as i’m aware,just a worm treatment.

Taking Molly in two weeks. She has her passport (complete with photo) 😀

We just got our vet to do it. Can’t remember how much it cost…not too much. Dog needs to be chipped. Eurotunnel are charging us £15 each way to take a 4.5kg dog, the robbing bastards. From enquiries I made with dog friendly campsites, it seems most of them will be able to recommend a vet to do the worming. And vets seem to be familiar with what needs doing, so you won’t struggle there either.

The rules changed at the beginning of the year, you no longer have to wait 6 months after the rabies jab before taking your dog abroad.

I’m now considering taking my spa niel out to France for the summer.

Did it last year .

First need a rabbies jab , wait 3 weeks to have results .

If all ok , you can’t come back within the first 6 months . So if you were planning it for this summer it is too late as you would not be able to come back till 20th December .

i’m so jealous you all have dogs….. want one!

Passports are very easy to get now, they have relaxed the ‘rules’ immensley. A bit of a worry from a vet nurse point of view. please just make sure you take your vets ‘advice’ about what the Gold standard is, rather than the legal requirements. May cost a tad more (i.e. flea treatment type) but could potentially stop harmful tick-bourne diseases from coming over.

http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2011/06/30/new-rules-pet-passports/

Here u go defra rules, so you won’t be confused by our conflicting forum advice!

From the up to date defra guidelines (for cchris2lou’s benefit):

Step 1 – Have your pet microchipped – Before any of the other procedures for pet travel are carried out, your pet must be fitted with a microchip so it can be properly identified.
Step 2 – Have your pet vaccinated – After the microchip has been fitted your pet must be vaccinated against rabies. There is no exemption to this requirement, even if your pet has a current rabies vaccination. Rabies boosters must be kept up to date. The length of the waiting period before entry to the UK is 21 days after the first vaccination date. A waiting period is not required for subsequent entries into the UK, provided rabies boosters are kept up to date. If the vaccination is in two parts the 21 day wait will be from the date of the second vaccination.
Step 3 – Get pet travel documentation – For animals being prepared in an EU country, you should get an EU pet passport. If you are preparing your animal in a non-EU listed country or territory you will need to obtain an official third country veterinary certificate (apart from Croatia, Gibraltar, Norway, San Marino and Switzerland who also issue pet passports).
Step 4 – Tapeworm treatment – (dogs only): before entering the UK, all pet dogs (including assistance dogs) must be treated for tapeworm. The treatment must be administered by a vet not less than 24 hours and not more than 120 hours (1-5 days) before its scheduled arrival time in the UK. There is no mandatory requirement for tick treatment. No treatment is required for dogs entering the UK from Finland, Ireland or Malta).
Step 5 – Arrange for your animal to travel with an approved transport company on an authorised route – Your pet must enter the UK from a listed country or territory travelling with an approved transport company on an authorised route.

So, OP, it’s not too late for this Summer, but you need to get yer skates on.

Thank’s all, it won’t be this year so we’ve got plenty of time to get his rabies jabs and paperwork before next year, by the sounds of it it may work out as cheaper (and nicer for all) than putting him in kennels! I’ll speak to the vets in a couple of weeks when we’re next in for his worming tablet 🙂

We went with what the vet said .

Coming back was easy , the woman in Calais gave me the scanner for the chip and scanned the dog myself . Could have had more dogs in the boot .

Just plan where you are going and what you are going to do.

If you are going camping in France think what you are going to do with the dog if you want to spend a day sight seeing. It will probably be too hot to leave them in the car and how secure is the tent etc.

Sometimes taking them on holiday can be just a bit of a pain in the arse.

If you are going to really rural areas speak to your vet re tick prevention as well

The trouble with getting a dog passport sorted is getting them to sit still in the bloody photo booth!

don’t even bother trying if they are feeling ruff