Going to France

Published in October issue of Campervan

Hello! I've been on holiday, and as my human was with me, I've not been able to get her to write anything until now, as we're back at home and not on holiday any more.

Well, where did I go and what did I do? 

We went to France...I think it was called that....and I know I've been there before, but on a train when I stayed in my campervan on the train journey, with my humans.

This time  it was a bit different as I went on a boat (not sure what that is) but the sea is involved and my van had to go inside the boat along with lots other vans and cars.

My humans let me stay in the van with some water to drink and a few treats but they went off somewhere else  while the boat took us to France. The human who feeds me came back during the boat ride to check I was OK and I was fine, just snoozing and I wondered what all the fuss was about.

Before we went to France I had to have a trip to the vets and she gave me one of those needle things in the back of my neck and checked I was healthy (I am). Then she had to fill in masses of paper to say I could go - something to do with that strange breakfast thing they had.

[Ed. post-Brexit regulations for taking dogs abroad are a nightmare of paperwork. They replace the Pet Passport and have to be done every time you take your pet to the EU. Read about "The Pet Passport that is no more" here].

 

When we got to the France place we found a big shop [Ed.garden centre] to buy me some food as - weird - we can't take my dog food with us. There was plenty of the right sort of food in the French shop, the smells were pretty good, and there was a BIG dog, which turned out not to be real so it didn't scare me!

Then we got on our way and headed for a campsite near the sea. The human who feeds me wrote all about getting this Animal Health Certificate thingy, which has masses of stamps on each page. Not sure why.

And the story about getting the certificate and about ME! has been published in a magazine [Ed. Campervan, see header picture].

 

 

 

The Pet Passport that is no more

Me having my rabies booster

I've been to the vet. Not exacty my favourite place but it always smells interesting there and I do have a big fuss made of me.

It was something to do with my pet passport, which my humans have used (on my behalf) when we've taken off in my van and gone to mainland Europe. I've been to France and Germany (just saying, cos I'm just a bit proud of having been to what the humans call A Broad).

But since there was this weird Brexit (breakfast?) thing, I can't use my pet passport anymore. I have to have an Animal Health Certificate instead, which my humans are quite narked about. 

I'm a bit miffed too because that passport photo of me is just great. 

But that's no longer needed and it's all about paperwork and forms and doing things the way the government says we have to because of this breakfast thing, and not being able to take very much dog food, and nothing meaty either, and only being able to leave the country in a 10 day period once we have the certificate. 

And blimey! We have to do this every single time we want to go, and we have to PAY every single time too, which we didn't have to with the Pet Passport. Unfriendly growls all round from me and I've heard several suspect naughty words spoken about it by the humans too.

So a few days ago we went to the vet to update my rabies jab, which was about to expire, and although I got a needle in my scruff, it was on the whole an OK visit because my vet made such a fuss of me and she's very kind. Although I don't look too happy in that pic of me having the shot!

When the humans have decided when we'll go to the A Broad place, they'll take me back to the vet so she can do the paperwork. She says it takes her an hour to do and isn't very happy about the paperwork involved. 

She would far rather have the pet passport too, like me and my humans.

 

Ed: For more info on the required Animal Health Certificate see 

https://www.gov.uk/taking-your-pet-abroad/getting-an-animal-health-certificate

and good luck making sense of it all!