Well we did it!! Just returned from 2 weeks holiday in France with Phoebe (now nearly 11 months old!). Have to say it was nowhere near as bad as I was anticipating and I probably didn't need to stress as much beforehand!!! The eurotunnel issues didn't help my worries but in the end we were only delayed about 2 hours both ways. Phoebe was an absolute star in the car and just seemed to accept the long journey. We made lots of regular stops at the service areas and she always seemed happy to get back in her car crate. When we arrived at our house she settled quickly and coped well with the heat! She was desperate to get in the swimming pool with my son but it was one of the rules of the house so we kept her away! Seeing the vet before we returned home was pretty easy (although the vet didn't know the most recent regulations and ended up just being led by us!). Pet control at the eurotunnel was straight forward. We treated Phoebe with advantix before we went for tick / sandflies and all seemed well. I would definitely take her abroad again and now feel that we have conquered that one! Although also Plan to have a few short breaks away without her (going to find a good local dog boarder) as the holiday made me realise even more that sometimes dogs can limit what you do / when you do it and also sleep ins on holiday are non existent!!! Phoebe is also quite challenging at times (?) am hoping this is adolescence and will pass (?) and therefore needs constant training and therefore at times the holiday wasn't completely relaxing!!
Really pleased to hear that all went well for the holiday . Main thing with the vet for the return is that they sign date and record the time in the passport for the administration of the warmer. That's about all the travel companies are looking for and that the microchip scans. Shame about the pool not being dog friendly most French visitors would have ignored the rule
Good for you,great confidence booster now that you've done it once.Because our dog isn't really allowed to go to many places with us ,I'd love to take him away with us....but I can appreciate it not being so relaxing at times...oh and no lie ins?Blimey,these days that's mostly what I want a holiday for! X
Ah, so glad it went well. You're right that it's not entirely relaxing taking them away - I'm away this weekend with friends and the dogs aren't allowed in the pool there because it's one of those ones with a liner that might be ripped by their claws. After a week of swimming in a pool when we were away on holiday, I think I'm going to have a hard time keeping them out!!
Definitely sounds like a success! We haven't had Lilly around a swimming pool on our holidays, but knowing how she needed encouragement to get into the hydrotherapy pool, I suspect we would be fairly safe!
