Complicated travel with dog - internationally (5 countries?)

[Lilly9886]

So, my boyfriend and I are planning to close the distance in June/July with me visiting him in México. In the end of August to middle of September we are planning to go back together to my country, Austria, where he most likely will start his master's degree.

The complicated thing is: We WANT to bring our dog.

Luccas (that's his name) lived with me and my bf while I was staying in his city for 1 year. We both love him so much.
And my bf family (the actual owners), would give him away if we don't take him with us..
I don't want that!


Now starts the complication. He lives in a border city to the US, called Mexicali. For us it would be the easiest and cheapest to fly from San Diego.

The flight would be San Diego - Paris - Munich.

So, if anyone has experience in traveling with dogs, any advice would be great.

So we have to get him practically through 5 countries (México, USA, France, Germany, Austria), and that's the worst complication itself. First there are special requirements to bring him to the States, then to bring him into Europe.

I'm starting to read into it, but everything sounds rather complicated. ^^

The good thing is, you CAN bring dogs with the Delta Airline.

Thanks for reading this! and thanks if you have any advice!!

[snow_girl]

Why do you want to bring him? I don't see why the fam would give away the dog if you said you would want it and take it three wweeks later or whatever. I think it would be a huge pain in the ass to bring a dog and would recommend sending it to a canine hotel for a few weeks instead. If you want to go into an exhibit or see some landmark what are you going to do when you can't bring the dog? You will need to find pet friendly hotels and everything you do will be decided by what you can do with a dog. Plus I don't know how quarantine works.

[Lilly9886]

Oh, sorry, maybe my text was misunderstood!

The dog lives in México with my bf and his family, and my bf moves here in fall. We want to bring the dog to live with us (as long as he may live) in Austria, in our flat (house) whatever. I meant, if we would not take him to live with us, the family would give him away for good

I would never take a dog for a vacation .

[lucybelle]

Well obviously things are different for each country, but going through the USA always makes things more complicated. Also, make sure to think about the weather. I wouldn't ship the dog in June/July because it will be too hot!! Could you do it earlier or later?

[Sierra]

It's really hard to travel to different countries with your dog. You need to check your destination countries quarantine period, in some places it's up to SIX MONTHS. If you can afford to travel with your dog, which I know is not cheap, I would strongly suggest that you instead board it somewhere while you'll be gone.

[Dziubka]

Maybe you should have posted this in the Closing the distance section (or people should read more carefully).

Is it possible and affordable to ship him directly from Mexico to Austria (or Germany)? If you can find someone to take care of him for a few weeks and then ship him when you'll already be back?
I found a lot of forums with people asking how to bring dogs from Mexico to Germany when I put it into google

[BabyDimples]

Their situation is they are MOVING to Austria, not just visiting. Lilly is going to visit him in Mexico, where he lives with his family and their dog. When she leaves to go home, he is going with her and is moving to Austria (not just visiting), and they want to take their dog because it is their dog and not his families. That is totally understandable, a dog is a family member. I would take my dogs with me if I could when me and my boy close the distance, but I know that I can't. I'm going to miss them so much, especially because they have been - and are - such a big part of my life, and one of them actually is MY dog. However, his family won't keep the dog and will defineatly give it away. That is their choice because they don't want the dog. I know lot's of people who would do that.

My boy's family don't like dogs, and his sister is shit scared of them, but he has one and it's not allowed in the house at all. The first dog that we got was a rescued dog. He had belonged to the families son who had gone to University, and Sam (the dogs name) had just been put into a shed in the backyard for maybe a little over a year and left because the sons family didn't want him. Food was just thrown into the shed along with a bowl of water that had just been spilled poured in, being spilt every where. He was a Samoyed (type of dog), and because he had not been cared for, we had to shave off all his fur - samoyeds have really long fur because they are snow dogs, he was vicious and didn't trust us, and from the way that he acted, was probably beaten. I'm not AT ALL saying that that is what would happen, but some families just will NOT keep the dog, because they have no interest in actually having a dog, or will keep it and not look after it.

Sorry, I know that it doesn't answer any questions, but I just thought that someone needed to explain their situation because a few seem to be misunderstanding it. Dziubka is totally right about googling it, there's lots that come up. I would search each countries regulations for importing animals, and also look at shipping routes to see if that is any easier like lucybelle suggested.

[Lilly9886]

Thanks Dziubka and BabyDimples!
I'll check google for it, I already checked the airline and the homepage that was posted in the other thread, which was very helpful.

I was hoping that maybe someone with experience with traveling with dogs might be here on LFAD

EDIT: yes, it is actually, and surprisingly, kind of cheap to bring ("ship") a dog in the airline we checked, it's only around 200 dollars.
and we will be landing in Germany, because it's less complicated

[Engel]

Thanks Dziubka and BabyDimples!
I'll check google for it, I already checked the airline and the homepage that was posted in the other thread, which was very helpful.

I was hoping that maybe someone with experience with traveling with dogs might be here on LFAD

EDIT: yes, it is actually, and surprisingly, kind of cheap to bring ("ship") a dog in the airline we checked, it's only around 200 dollars.
and we will be landing in Germany, because it's less complicated

those are wonderful news!!!

[temporaryuser]

if it is a border city wouldnt you only need a health certificate? Those are cheap, it is only physical exam and the dog has to be current on vaccines.
Then have an airline approved crate. lots of absorbent material inside. Get a plastic notebook sleeve insert and have all your information on it - all phone numbers, addresses vet records etc, physical description of dog etc then seal it. I know there are companies that will exercise dogs durring layovers (more safely than airline personel). Then look into the quarantine requirements when you land.
Best of luck. I wouldnt leave mine behind either.

[Lilly9886]

Thank you so much for your response subeasley! Yes I think it seems kind of easy to cross the border with a dog, I thought it would be more difficult and complicated!!

I really appreciate your tips on the traveling, I'll do that! It's gonna help me a lot! Thank you!