Service Dog

Robin: All the information you should need to take your dog to the UK is here:
http://www.defra.gov.uk/wildlife-pets/pets/travel/pets/ Good luck!

Dogs do not need to be quarantined in Germany. There is quite a bit of paperwork, yet they may accompany you on the plane and would stay with you through the airport. You'll need to talk to the airlines about it as well.

Thanks! I will follow up on those leads. :D

I think it's a lot more than 2 weeks for England, but you will find out on that website. I read a story about an American woman who wanted to enter her dog in the prestigious Crufts dog show in England. It took one year of planning to pull it off. Also, a guy on my German Shepherd forum had to quarantine his dog for 6 months upon arrival in England. Another guy from the UK took his search and rescue dog to Haiti to search for the earthquake victims. He had neglected something in his paperwork and his dog was quarantined for 6 months upon his return.
So just saying, really make sure that you have EVERY little detail taken care of before you travel.

Okay, I don't know what's up with my font! :/

Here is a good summary. So, you need to start 6 months before the trip getting the vaccinations and blood tests.
http://www.dogfriendly.com/server/travel/info/customs/england.shtml

I don't know your situation, but could you go with a friend and have that person help you in anyway needed so you may not need your dog during your trip? Our service dog is going to a "foster home" and then back to the training facility for one week while we are gone on our month long trip. I realize that service dogs are not normal dogs and need someone who knows how to handle them and be around them, so our organization that gave her to us helped us find a place for her to go. She'll have a great time while we are gone! We feel fine about leaving her, knowing she'll be in good hands.

Thank you, all! I checked out the defra website and I am very pleased that I will be able to bring my dog. The steps I need to follow are very clear. (Basically, get the dog microchipped, vaccinated, and get a pet passport.) There are a few other details, but nothing that can't be done in the twelve months I have to prepare. YAY!!!

I am British and live in Germany. I adopted a German Shepherd from a dogs home here, but I had to wait 7 months before I could take the dog back to Britain with me. (You can take dogs out of Britain with no problem). It is a little more complicated than you describe and make sure that you follow the list of rules in the right order and on the dates specified.
To get a dog passport for Britain you need first to have the dog chipped. Then the dog must be vaccinated against rabies. 28 days later the dog must be blood tested for the rabies antibodies. Then, providing the dog passes the blood test, the 6 month quarantine begins. If the dog fails the blood test then you start from step two again. It has to be done in this order. If the dog is vaccinated against rabies and then chipped the passport will be invalid. I always take the test certificate with me for backup. I assume that service dogs will have to adhere to the same rules as it is to avoid rabies on the island and so no exceptions should be allowed. If you have any questions that are not answered on the website the phone number in England is 0118 959 6695 or 020 7904 6415. I have always found them very helpful. Good luck

A lot of people are unclear about quarantine rules. The short version is that things are much easier now and, generally, your dog does not need to be quarantined. Within the EU, pets are issued passports by a veterinarian. In the US, they are issued travel documents, but not an actual passport. You should allow 6 months to complete the process in the first instance, but this can be shorted. For instance, my vet gave Fritz a one-dose rabies vaccination instead of a two-dose vaccination that would have been spread over two months. This shortened the process and he was able to make an international trip at about four and a half months old. The process does change regularly, so you should check with the country's department of agriculture and/or border agency before you book your travel.