Transatlantic with pets

Hello!

Does anyone have experience in taking the transatlantic trip with pets? We will be moving to Europe in the future and have a dog, who would get very anxious in a plane cargo (he has broken a steel crate before when alone, but is calm when with other dogs as he came from a shelter). We are looking to take the transatlantic, but would love to hear people's experiences. We have a Boxer/Mastiff mix (smaller than a retriever, 70lbs). Our one concern is that he sometimes gets mistaken for a pittbull and I know this breed is banned in the UK. We are looking to cross all the way to Germany, but not sure if a stop in Southampton prevents us from taking the dog onboard as mixed breeds even with a tiny amount of pittbull are banned in the UK. Obviously there is no way of knowing all of the dogs breeds. Do the breeds need to get verified by a vet? Anyway, would love to hear some experiences :)

Delete comment--just verified that dogs are allowed to disembark in Hamburg.

(Was tempted to say "debark" but that was just too obvious :rolleyes:)

FURTHER EDIT: I presume you have seen the Cunard FAQ regarding permissible breeds and maximum size of your dog.

If this is the case, anyone know how strict the UK is with letting dogs off the ship if they resemble a pittbull?

Hello!

Does anyone have experience in taking the transatlantic trip with pets? We will be moving to Europe in the future and have a dog, who would get very anxious in a plane cargo (he has broken a steel crate before when alone, but is calm when with other dogs as he came from a shelter). We are looking to take the transatlantic, but would love to hear people's experiences. We have a Boxer/Mastiff mix (smaller than a retriever, 70lbs). Our one concern is that he sometimes gets mistaken for a pittbull and I know this breed is banned in the UK. We are looking to cross all the way to Germany, but not sure if a stop in Southampton prevents us from taking the dog onboard as mixed breeds even with a tiny amount of pittbull are banned in the UK. Obviously there is no way of knowing all of the dogs breeds. Do the breeds need to get verified by a vet? Anyway, would love to hear some experiences :)

May I suggest that you see

https://www.gov.uk/pet-travel-information-for-pet-owners#countries-and-territories

Also email any questions you have to the email address shown at the bottom of the link.

You dog must have a pet passport to enter the UK. So what ever you do do not take it off the ship in the uk unless you have one. I do not know the rules for Germany. But see this link

http://www.germany.info/pets

For Booking the kennels there sometimes can be a long waiting list for crossings.

Your dog will need a pet passport. As long as it doesn't say pitbull on the passport or look exactly like a pitbull you should be fine in the UK. Boxer/Mastiff mix is fine here. If your dog was a dangerous dogs list you could still get an exception in the UK with a special license and the dog being kept muzzled at all times, but you shouldn't need it.

Germany however actually has a much stricter listed of banned dogs than the UK so you may have some trouble there

Germany restricts the import of the following breeds and their mixes: Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Bandogs and Tosa Inu. Transit or export of these breeds is permitted. Additionally, the following dogs can enter Germany only with prior authorization from local customs officials and must be evaluated at the owner's expense: Alano, American Bulldog, Bull Mastiff, Bull Terrier, Cane Corso, Dogo Argintino, Dogue de Bordeaux, Fila Brasileiro, Mastiff, Mastino Napolitano, Mastin Espanol, Dogo Canerio, Rottweiler, and Perro de Presa Mallorquin.

We would be driving and taking ferries to Northern Europe. Germany would be closer, but if the ship does not take the pets there, then Southampton would be our only choice. The issue with our dog is that he resembles a pittbull, is mostly mixed with mastiff and boxer as far as we know, but as he came from a shelter, there is no way of knowing if there is a hint of pittie in him. I would be more than happy to keep him muzzled (he is so dangerous that he "attacks" people by trying to give them hugs and kisses haha). Anyone here have experience cruising with a pet on QM2? I have read some blog posts, but would love to hear more.

The kennels book up very quickly!

The dogs are walked daily and have their own steward. :D There are also cats kenneled on board. Pet owners get time on a roped off section of deck where you will be bombarded by passengers wanting to have a look and asking questions.

On our crossing there was a French Bulldog travelling and he had his own little Burberry tweed coat......too cute!

The kennels book up very quickly!

The dogs are walked daily and have their own steward.

Curious about "walked" .. we checked out the kennels on a TA in June - Kennel guy was lovely and the setup was good - but the roped off area is very small. I had the impression the dogs never leave the kennel/roped off area, which would be not enough space to consider a walk by any stretch, except perhaps for a teacup chi.

Do they take them further for walks?

I had the pleasure of taking my two dogs on the QM2 this summer (May 16, 2014 NYC to SOU and Jun 5 SOU to NYZ).

My advice: book very early and educate your vet. After that no worries.

The biggest stress I had was getting the paper work in order simply because I had vet problems and government vet problems DESPITE the fact I spoke to them months and months in advance. There is a strict protocol when it comes to getting the paperwork completed and administering the tape worm pill and then getting the paper work stamped...that caused the vet confusion. Plus they could not understand the whole travelling by ship concept. After a few desperate calls to Cunard (Robert in their Kennel Department--who was fantastic) all was sorted and off we went.

I could write volumes----but I will try to keep it relatively short.

Check-in was painless....had to move wait over to the side while the purser checked all the paper work and micro chip. Then the Kennel Master came down and escorted us to the kennels on deck 12. The kennels were much bigger than I thought and it was fully booked. I have two small dogs so there was lots of space.

The kennel area had a great outdoor space and two indoor spaces. The indoor space was composed of an area for the actually kennels and an indoor play area. The outdoor area is deck space and there was plenty of room. Indoor play area was great for some inclement weather days. The outdoor deck areas is were the dogs played and did their "business".

I was worried about the dogs adjusting to their new "hotel room" as I called it but they settled in perfectly. Over the seven days the weather was great, then rainy, then stormy--we had a force 9 gale. All in all the dogs never seemed to notice the rocking of the ship....they were having a blast. One note--I thought there was less movement up in the kennels which is near the back of the ship (maybe my imagination)

You can visit your dog between 8 to 12 noon, then 3pm to 6pm and finally from 8pm to 8:30pm. At first I did not think this was alot of time but it worked perfectly.

I have nothing but praise for Oliver - the kennel master. He took absolutely stellar care of all the dogs and kept the whole kennel area immaculate. I am not one to trust my dogs to anyone but Oliver was an exception. All the fellow dogs and the dog owners all loved Oliver.

Arriving in England there was no inspection of the dog paper work. Simply walked off they ship (escorted by Oliver) and grabbed a train and then on to Ireland (via ferry). On that note went by Irish Ferries...their Dublin Swift fast ferry has horrible kennels and their Ulysses cruise ferry has excellent kennels.

Coming back---same process and same care. The dogs immediately recognized Oliver and they were so excited. On boarding they seemed to know the way to the kennels and they settled in happily for the next 8 days(stopped in Halifax).

On arrival in NYC Oliver escorted us off and through to immigration. After immigration we were referred to another officer who quickly checked the dog's rabies certificates and we were on our way. Total time going through the whole arrive process was maybe 3 minutes.

In my experience it was a perfect way to travel pets. The care was above excellent --- and the dogs had a blast! They truly did. It was also a blast for me seeing them having so much fun and not having to worry about them being locked up in a kennel back home. People may think it is crazy to travel with dogs--but it was really no hassle.

It has been a long day--so sorry for any typos and grammar problems.

I am happy to answer any question anyone might have.

(I tried to upload some photos..would not work!)

I was just about to respond about the strict protocol for paperwork but fortunately Tag100 has told you just about everything that you need to know.

My son flew with his pug dog to the UK in August. I offered to take the dog on the Queen Mary 2 as I was worried the dog would be tramatised in Cargo but he flew. I didn't sleep all night worried about him in cargo.

Regardless whether you fly or sail into the UK the statement that there is a strict protocol for paperwork is an understatement.

You do not necessarily need a pet passport but if you do not have one you need

A Health Certificate issued by your vet. You also want to ensure that your pets microchip number is on all documents.

The microchip scanners cannot read all foreign microchips.

My son found out at the last minute that the scanners do not read the type of chip that his dog had administered in Florida. However he contacted the Animal Reception office in the UK who said they had one scanner for Avid microchips. Also make sure the microchip is registered. Some vets leave the registration to the owner.

Your dog will also require flea, tapeworm and tick treatments

within 24-120 hours of departures. Plus the requisite vaccinations such as Rabies not less than 21 days prior to departure.

There is also a C5 customs form that needs completing.

I am sure that If you contact the person at Cunard as suggested above, the person will be able to guide you through all of the steps.

You may want to enquire whether you need to meet the uk requirements if your dog stays aboard until Hamburg.

Please heed the words of earlier posters...the kennels are extremely popular and usually sell out early on the transatlantic. I believe all the slots are reserved for the 2015 summer transatlantic.

Good luck with your new fur baby! He sounds adorable!

If you're unsure as to your dog's breed mix there are a number of commercial DNA test kits available.

https://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywords=dog+dna+test+kit+mixed+breed

Tag1000 used the kennels just before the refit, which added 10 more kennels. There are some positive and opposing views on the subject here.

Hello!

Does anyone have experience in taking the transatlantic trip with pets? We will be moving to Europe in the future and have a dog, who would get very anxious in a plane cargo (he has broken a steel crate before when alone, but is calm when with other dogs as he came from a shelter). We are looking to take the transatlantic, but would love to hear people's experiences. We have a Boxer/Mastiff mix (smaller than a retriever, 70lbs). Our one concern is that he sometimes gets mistaken for a pittbull and I know this breed is banned in the UK. We are looking to cross all the way to Germany, but not sure if a stop in Southampton prevents us from taking the dog onboard as mixed breeds even with a tiny amount of pittbull are banned in the UK. Obviously there is no way of knowing all of the dogs breeds. Do the breeds need to get verified by a vet? Anyway, would love to hear some experiences :)

Not personally but I became friends with this gentleman who was relocating to Europe from the Caribbean with his dog on a crossing I was on.

The picture of course was prior to the refit.

I shall make every effort to capture the new set-up on my next crossing in the near future.

You can find the US requirements for taking your pet abroad here:

https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/pet-travel/take-pet-to-foreign-country

I am taking my cat to the UK via QM2 next May. It's important to create a timeline checklist for all the steps you need to take to get your pet ready.

Please note that the US requirements and the requirements of the country you're traveling to may not be the same. So you'll need to find out both sets of info.