Taking our Dog to Italy

Uh oh. Hope you're prepared for the following posts...

Here's a quote from the ASPCA website:

"The ASPCA urges pet owners to think twice about flying their pets on commercial airlines, especially if they plan on checking them in as cargo. Unless your animal is small enough to fit under your seat and you can bring him or her in the cabin, the ASPCA recommends pet owners to not fly their animal."

Here's that website:

click here for advice from ASPCA on whether it's a good idea for your pet to be on a long-haul flight

You need to check very carefully with the Italian consulate to determine what documents relative to shots, etc. are need for entry. Sort of his own little passport. It is not as simple as putting him under your arm and carrying him in. Also re-entry to the US needs to be reviewed.

I have a friend who has done this a number of times as her daughter lives in Paris and she stays there for a month or more. FIrst of all you havae to get a
document of some kind from a US. govt. department 2 weeks or less before you depart. I think it was
Agriculture.only remember that it didn't seem to make sense to me. You bring the current Rabies innoculation documentation. This document is mainly needed to re-enter the US. She said that no one at DeGaulle ever asked for any papers for the dog! BE sure to find out all the details as far in advance as possible. No certificate means that the dog does not fly!!!!

Secondly, you are limited severely in weight in order to carry the dog in the cabin. I believe it is 12 1/2
pounds,,,,otherwise the dog must go into the special baggage area.Also the dog must fit in a sherpa carrier that fits under the seat. Recently airlines have been increasing the fees for a pet quite a bit.

I would reserch this online using Google for more details.

Thanks everyone for your concerns. We are Delta Air Lines retirees so feel like we have researched everything about documentation and flying with our dog. I mainly wanted information on dogs in Italy. Hoping to hear from someone who has taken their dog with them and how they might have been restricted or rewarded for having their pet with them. We will be there a month.

I didn't see many tourists with their dogs. Many Italians were out in parks and streets with them. In Florence there is a few larger parks where the locals walked their dogs. One spot was just outside the city wall on the south of Florence. Didn't see any in buildings or tourist spots. One lady stood outside the small grocery store with her dog while her companion went inside. All the hotels we were in were stone or tlie flooring so in that respect they may be more willing to allow it. You also might be able to find B&Bs that will allow pets because you talk/ email the owners directly and not have to go through the clerks.

When we were in Venice we ran into a young couple that was traveling with their young daughter (under one and in a stroller) and their rather large dog. We met them in a restaurant! They came in after us and were seated at the next table - dog and all. The dog was told to stay under the table, which he did, and everyone had a nice meal - he was a very well behaved dog. I don't know if that is typical of Italy - it was our only experience in the 3 weeks we were there, but no one behaved as if it was anything out of the ordinary.

So you already checked and all the places you are going to stay at allow dogs.. wow, thats great..

I know many places do.. but thats alot of research,, good for you. I do hope you will at least make sure your little friend is drugged or something,, thats a very long flight to be terrified for..

Kent...you make a good case. Our problem is we don't have anyone to leave her with for a month and I just hate the thought of her staying at the Vet's for that long. Sure would be nice to have someone house sit and keep Lily in her familiar surroundings. Maybe I need to do as much research on that as I have done on Italy. Thanks again for your concern.

Sue

I would recommend looking for a collage age person who lives at home with their parents and would love a chance house sit for a month. Ask around at work, children of friends, etc. We have found someone both times we went to Europe for a month. In both cases, we really didn't pay them that much because they were so happy to be able to live outside their parents home for a time. It was a win, win situation.

Also, we have a service dog, trained to fly, trained to not potty for hours, trained to sit still for hours, doesn't make noise, etc., yet I wouldn't consider bringing her. I think it is too much to put a dog through.
Have a fun trip!

I have a friend with two dogs who feels guilty every time she has to travel and leave the dogs. She found a place that cares for dogs--more luxurious than any spa.

Her two dogs get their own room with individual beds and a TV that shows videos of...dogs.

Every day they get one-on-one play time with a member of the staff. They also get group play time. If requested, they can romp in the pool. Or hit the treadmill. Or how about a doggie massage.

The owner preplans everything. And...I think she can even watch her dog via webcam.

My friend thinks the dogs are sad and count the days (dogs cant' tell time)until she returns. Knowing her dogs, they're probably having a blast.

Not cheap though.

Frank....think I'll just forget Italy and stay at the dog spa!!!

You are nuts to put your dog through this? You think your dog cares about itlay? It will be tramatic and dangerous for the dog. We have animals and left them. Felt bad about it but it was a nice place and the animals did just fine.

If you can't find someone you know to house/dog sit, try hiring someone through sittercity.com. You can get someone who has undergone a background check and has references to make you feel a bit more confident about leaving them with your dog and the keys to your home.

Bringing your dog on a plane will be stressful for the dog, finding lodging that will accept pets is more difficult for you and what is the dog going to do when he's locked up in a hotel room while you go out to sightsee? Churches, museums and many other places in Italy aren't going to let you enter with a dog. Many kennels in America have changed the way they operate - if you can't find a pet sitter to keep the dog in your home for the month, then find a good kennel that has ample space for the dog to run and play on its own and with other dogs. And be sure the kennel workers devote a certain amount of time each day interacting with your pooch.

Does Italy have a quaranteen time before an animal can enter the country? I know my friend chose not to take her dog to live with her in the UK because he would have had to stay quaranteened for a month - at her expense. There was some issue about bringing him home too. The dog came to live with his aunty - his human's sister. He seemed very happy.

My only comment about your query is if you know in fact that your dog can take the travel. Over the years, my vet has not discouraged me if I wanted to travel with my cat. However, my current fuzz ball, is way to delicate to even withstand an in cabin long flight. So, I leave her with a house sitter.

So this comment is totally aside from the issue of the flight over here....

I see dogs all over the place in Italy and in Germany. In hotels, restaurants, at the H&M clothing store. Everyone seems to be really cool about it. I don't think that will be a problem.

The other big thing is that I see all these dogs, but rarely do I hear them. They are very laid back. These Italo dogs are used to just chilling under a table while the owner has some wine and chats with friends. If your dog is all chirpy or freaking out at the surroundings, then you'll probably have some issues there...

Thanks everyone. Looking for a house/dog sitter. Wish me luck.

For Thomas,

No quarantine for Italy or any European country other than the UK and Ireland.

For Sue,
As for trans-atlantic travel with dogs, I know a lot of folks who compete at the International level with their dogs in Schutzhund/IPO (police-dog type sport) and they travel to Europe annually for competitions. If it were truly traumatic, their dogs wouldn't be able to function at the high level they do (and we have had competitors on top of the podium beating the Germans at their own game, LOL). That said, they are going with their dogs for a purpose. Just taking your dog along for the ride, it would probably be best not to.

Read the following closely, if not, then see first line:
http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/newsroom/publications/travel/pets_wild.ctt/pets.pdf

http://www.cbp.gov/linkhandler/cgov/travel/vacation/kbyg/kbyg_regulations.ctt/kbyg_regulations.pdf

If no luck, we have had Westies for years so I understand your problem. Fly him/her to Canada..we will treat him like the prince/princess that he/she is!! [yes, we know the Westie attitude quite well!]

Unless you want to drop him off to us in Cape Cod in September!!

Seriously though, we have shipped Westies across from the UK on two occasions, no harm done but they were puppies and didnt suffer any effects. I wouldnt recommend taking them on holiday unless you were, obviously, staying in the states.
Good luck though, maybe go through Weste Rescue USA [google them] and see what they can do for you, they might be able to provide the name of a westie lover in your area that might be willing to take care of your pet for you
Pete

Before we went to Italy, I was completely stressed about the care of our 3 animals, especially our geriatric, high maintenance collie. He was just too old to send to a friend's house and really too much trouble to ask of friends. So I insisted that my husband just try to ask around at his hospital if anyone knew of any housesitters we could hire. We were thinking of maybe a college kid. Within several hours, through he grapevine, we had an extended family who had been looking for a large vacation rental for a family wedding and ski vacation. These people, total strangers to us, took the most amazing care of our animals and home and were grateful to have saved thousands of dollars on a rental. So get the word out as loud as possible and I'm sure you will find a housesitting arrangement that works for you. Leaving our beloved animals behind turned out to be a great experience for everyone, especially our pets.

If I was in Foley I would offer to watch the dog for you. If I am willing to do that, there HAS to be someone there would as well...

No reason to put a dog through that long of a flight.

As well, you have not lived until you have ridden in an aircraft for 4+ hours and listened to a dog bark in the cargo hold for the whole time.

"Despite it just being a really lame idea in general, including limiting what you can do (no museum or religous site is letting you in with a dog), possible cruelty to fellow travellers, torture to the dog, need I go on... "

No, Blaine, you needn't go on!!

Thanks for all the kind suggestions. I am doing research and getting the word out. Hopefully, this will all work out for the best.

I've taken all 3 of my kids to Europe (when they turned 21) and now we are taking the dog to hike in Switzerland. I'm guessing the dog will be more fun and less expensive. Every time I go to Europe I see dogs in restaurants, hotels, museums, boats and just last week in a castle on the Mosel. Dogs are great ice breakers and a perfect companion for hikes. I would find it hard to go to Italy with a dog as churches are the only places that dogs can't usually go and Italy is all about churches. But if you guys are willing to take turns going inside, then do it. Your going to have a lot of fun with the dog. The dog needs to be chipped too. Joanne

Yeah, I would agree- don't take the dog (for the airplane reasons more than anything else). Good luck on finding a good situation for when you are gone.

My ex-MIL was taking her dogs to a realy nice spa like mentioned above: TV for the dogs and the works. She got a report card when they got home. My parents leave their dogs at a nice kennel- he has fun with the others, and they know him by name.

We have left our dogs 1) at the kennel my parents use, 2) with their "grandmas" and 3) with a younger work friend of my husband who stayed at our house.

I used to dog-sit for my parents' neighbor when I was a teenager for pretty minimal money. They had better cable channels than my parents, and it was easier than babysitting kids.

We stressed about our furry one, but realized he (and everyone else) would be happier at home than in a plane, car, etc. Bringing him would have been comforting to us, not him. We found a co-worker to stop by and care for him. It made the house look occupied, too. I'm sure you'll find a good caretaker or kennel/spa. Then, you can look forward to a wagging tail upon your return!

Gee joanne,, I have never seen dogs in museums,,, which ones did you ever see dogs in???

I think you are making the right descion Sue,, trying to find a dog sitter.. I understand it sounds like a fun idea( joanne) ,, but in reality,, it is more work and a dog does in fact limit alot of what you do.. you can't leave him in the car to roast,, you cannot take him in many sites,, and I bet you are forbidden to leave him in the hotel room unattended( can you imagine the poor maids having to assess rooms not knowing if a protective dog is inside,, or a hotel clerk having do deal with complaints because an unattended dog is yapping..

I think it is always best to leave dog at home,, unless you are moving there. or you are a professional dog show person.. the average mutt does not need the stress of a 10-12 hr flight, plus perhaps hours in hold,,,

I know a lady that takes her dog on walking tours in Wales,, BUT ,, she lives in England and drives there,, and the walking tour is set up for owners and doggies( what a cool idea)

Just two weeks ago there was a dog in the Mid Evil Crime and Punishment Museum, and the Cochem Castle, but I agree a dog will limit where a person can go and should be carefully considered before deciding to bring one. For example I've never seen a dog in the Gallery Borghese (best art in the world would not want to miss it). We have no intention of leaving the dog in the hotel room, nor do I think it will be necessary as the dog can go with us into restaurants etc. and the other places we are going: gondolas, trains, hiking trails, beer huts. As for everybody's concerns about the dog and the plane ride, they are well founded, but remember dogs sleep about 16 hours a day. We will be sedating the dog as we do ourselves, since a long (or short) plane ride is about as fun as getting teeth pulled. The bottom line is: Europeans understand that dogs and cats are part of people's families and they really don't care if your dog goes with you into a grocery store (seen that often). Any good restaurant in Italy will have a least one cat (a 35 pounder) curled up under the table looking for a scrap. We are only taking the "princess dog" who is well behaved. The other one, the international incident, will be home with a sitter. J

I second the college aged house sitter idea. I am going to Italy and Greece later this month and will be gone for 26 days. I have 2 very rambunctious year old labs that I considered sending to doggie boarding and possibly obedience training. Well, they wanted $20 per day per dog just for boarding, not including training! At $40+ per day, I decided to look into house sitters. My daughter-in-law's younger sister is home from college for the summer and is delighted to have her own house with pool and spa! In addition to taking care of my 2 dogs and 1 indoor cat, she will water a few potted plants, pick up the mail, and generally make the place looked lived in. I'm having a gardener come to mow the lawns and check the sprinklers each week (puppies have a bad habit of chewing up the sprinkler heads or drip lines!) and my house keeper will come once half way through the stay to do heavier cleaning. I'm trying to make it as easy as possible for the sitter so she has time to spend with pups! It's nice to have peace of mind that they will be happy in their own environment, my house will be safe and cared for, and I will have a true vacation free to go whereever I like without worry of pet restrictions.

We just moved to Italy with 2 cats, so I can enlighten a little.
1 - It cost a LOT. You have to have a current version/EU compatible micro-chip. If your dog has one, great. If not, you need to get one NOW and then you have to get a rabies booster. I think you have to be 21 days out on this at a minimum. 2 - There is paperwork that can be quite daunting. We hired AirAnimal to do ours because so many people we read about had paperwork problems. In fact, the EU form referred to by the Italian embassy's website had changed, and only AirAnimal seemed to knw about it. 3 - That paperwork has to be done, along with a pre-flight veterinary exam, no more than 10 days prior to departure. AND the paperwork has to be certiifed by the USDA. Maybe as retirees from Delta you will not have to pay, but each cat was $200.00, parked under the seat in front of us. Funny how a laptop is free, but the cat is $200. :-) So three vet visits, two new microchips (the cats had them but they were not current EU-accepted technology), rabies boosters, AirAnimal fees, Delta fees, all told about $1700 to move our two cats to Italy with us. The only scrutiny was by Delta in Portland, where the very professional agent assured us our papers were in order. We entered the EU in Amsterdam and no one looked at the cats or their papers. Ditto in Rome the next day. But dogs are clearly a part of life in Rome! They are everywhere! Many hotels accept them, but not all. Restaurants almost all accept dogs. But there's precious little grass in Rome so your doggie amy find learning to potty on the pavement a challenge. So are marble stairs a challenge for carpet-loving American pets. We are glad we didn't move our elderly dog. She is better off with her new tribe in Portland.

This is a 3 year old thread - the OP was asking about September 2009 and probably has her answer by now. Good answers but unfortunately not in the right place o+(