Welcome to my dog channel.
We were thrilled to be assigned to London, but not so thrilled to discover the U.K. has to be one of the most difficult countries in which to bring a dog. To get your dog directly to the U.K. you can send them by cargo, doing the process yourself or using a pet shipper. We absolutely couldn't bring Bea in the cabin of the plane, and at this point, she's twelve years old, blind in one eye, and it would feel like some kind of betrayal to send her as cargo if there are other options. You can also bring the dog by ship on the Queen Mary 2, but you need a week for the transatlantic crossing.
Not only is it complicated physically getting into the country with the dog, additionally, England requires a microchip, proof of rabies vaccination, and a tapeworm treatment within five days of flying. If you are traveling from the U.S., they also require well-pet documents completed by a USDA approved vet, and that you get the paperwork stamped by the USDA within 30 days of travel, if the vet in Santa Cruz and I understand the regulations correctly.
The rules are less stringent for European pet passport holders. Bea has a European pet passport, but it's been a few years since her rabies vaccinations were done by a European vet, so no one is sure if her passport is still valid. We went the safe route and did all the above requirements.
You can ride the train in France with a dog, and you can ride a train the U.K. with a dog, but pets can't ride the Eurotunnel train between France and England. You can however go through the Euro Tunnel in a car with a dog. Options to get Bea to the U.K: use a pet shipper, fly with her checked in as excess baggage where she goes in the cargo hold, or come over on the QM2. Another option is to fly to France, ride the train to Calais, arrange for a pet taxi to take you through the Euro Tunnel, then take a train from Folkestone, where the train stops in the U.K., into London. There is a similar route through the Netherlands.
I did a variation on the last option. I decided to fly to Paris, stay the night, then have a "pet taxi" take me from my pet-friendly hotel in my favorite neighborhood in Paris, the Marias, to the door of our new digs in London. I got quotes from three different companies for that service. Prices ranged from $800to $2500. I, of course, chose the cheapest. I booked online with Folkestone Taxi Company. They made the arrangements, but I had to pay ahead for our Euro Tunnel crossing, which was almost $200 of the cost. I also had to pay $80 for the driver to have a covid test, so maybe it's a little less expensive after October 7, when vaccination cards became enough for entry into the U.K.
An even less expensive option would be to use the ride-share Blablacar app, but no one was going to London on the day I needed them to go. I arrived right when the U.K. was having a (fake?) petrol shortage, so I think people were avoiding the drive. It's super cheap if you have good timing. You have to find someone willing to take a dog in their car and to stop at the pet import place on the way into the Euro Tunnel.
Most airline carriers limit how many dogs are allowed in cabin for any given flight. After you have have booked your flight, you have to call the airline and get a reservation for your dog to fly in cabin. They will ask for the dimensions of your crate and the weight of your dog. You pay for the reservation at the airline check-in counter. It's around $125.
Air France never even looked at her paperwork, and they let me take her on the plane on her leash, which is so much easier than carrying her in her crate. Bea has flown so many times and is a go-everywhere dog-person--she just lays down in her crate under the seat in front of me and goes to sleep. When we are home and the crate is out, she goes in it voluntarily, it's her cosy safe space. On the plane, she wakes up and wrestles around in her crate when they come by with dinner cart, she likes airplane food. I gave her a bite or two of my chicken in cream sauce, asked for a cup of water for her and gave her a few sips, and then she went back to sleep. Eleven hours of flying and we landed in Paris. On one of the impossibly long stretches to baggage claim, she peed in the terminal on the carpet. Oops. I had to enlist the help of a nice young woman to accompany Bea down a bunch of stairs in the terminal, otherwise I had to pick her up and carry her on the numerous escalator rides and I just couldn't deal with my baggage and the dog on the escalators. The young woman enjoyed having a dog for three minutes, and I hope she enjoyed her work trip to Paris.
Rogue taxi drivers in the Charles de Gaulle terminal will try to scare you by telling you it will be "impossible" to get a taxi with the dog. Go to the official taxi stand and the next taxi will load you up, no questions asked. I took a taxi because I was moving to London and I knew I couldn't handle with everything on the local train, which is super easy to use, but not with three heavy bags, a dog, and a dog crate. After the taxi ride, we got installed in our hotel room, wandered around the Place de Vosges, picked up some bread and cheese, and then had a good night's sleep. After coffee at the same place Peter and I have been having coffee for 25 years, we checked out of the Jeanne d'Arc, and after a little confusion--my taxi got caught in traffic and was late, and another taxi arrived and I almost got in the wrong one, whomp, whomp--we headed out.
I was jet lagged and fell asleep in the car, which was newish and very comfortable. I'm not sure how long it took to get to the Euro Tunnel, I think a couple hours. At the approach to the tunnel, the taxi driver took me into a pet inspection area. They took five minutes or less to review Bea's paperwork and they quickly approved us. I was shocked at how easy it was. "Because you have all your paperwork in order," said the driver, "it can get quite stressful if you aren't prepared." There is a vet at the pet inspection area in case you need the deworming medicine or some other last minute check. They also checked here for our covid tests and locator forms, which I am exempt from because I'm associated with the U.S. Embassy. I had to show them the UK.gov website that lists this exemption, but they accepted it quickly. Nearby was a huge grassy area for Bea to sniff around, and a Starbucks.
Next, a few minutes drive towards the train entrance, you show your people passports at U.K. border control. "How long are going to be in the U.K?" asked the agent. "Three years," I said. "You do know it rains a lot more in London than it does in San Francisco?" the border patrol person asked. "Don't tell the dog," I said. I'd read about landing fees and VAT taxes on the dog but neither one ever came up. Besides the taxi itself, I didn't have to pay anything for the dog after we left SFO.
The car drove onto the train, the train went into the underwater 30-mile tunnel while I tried not to think about it. Once beyond the novelty of the tunnel and back into the rainswept highway, I fell asleep in the back of the car again. Once the car slowed and and started making lots of turns, Bea and I looked out the window with interest. Our southwest side of the city. Our neighborhood. Our street. Home.
Euro Tunnel Checklist for pets.
Above, Bea in her crate on the way for the flight from SFO to CDG.
Relaxing in the hotel room in Paris after our flight.
Bea checks out London for the first time.