[Stacy]

Ok guys I need your opinions. My husband (Greg) and I have a small ebay business where we sell Mexican folk art created by the Huichol Indians. Well, it is time to make another trip down into Mexico for more inventory and now we have Coal. Sooooo, is it dangerous to take your dog way down into a foreign country? Has anyone done this with their doods? The drive down to San Blas, Nayarit is about 20 hours from Phoenix. We would divide it over about 2 1/2 days as my children are coming this time as well. Would this be risky to Coal's health? It would of course be easier to travel without Coal but if I don't bring him, I have to hire a pet sitter and he will be alone for much of the day. I just don't know what the right answer is! HELP!

 

[Maureen]

Wow, Stacy those are good questions!
Offhand, I would be wary of bringing Coal on this trip. If something happened you would never forgive yourself!

I don't know if I told you this, but I have a client who's become a friend in PHX, and there's a breeder there that Virgil knows there (I have emailed her a couple times), I could check with them for reputable kennels for boarding Coal, or get permission to give you their emails. Most good boarding places play with their "guests" every day, so I wouldn't think being alone a lot would be your only other option, ya know? I would think there are a spectrum of solutions, if you decided to not bring Coal.

I hope this helps!

{ps: I wanna see your ebay stuff, how about a link in an email? :wink: }

 

[Jannie]

Hi Stacy

I am facing the same decision with Sadie - we have a lot in common!

We are driving to Florida for the March break. Sadie's dog sitter fell through so we are considering taking her. It is a two day drive. The house we have rented in Florida accepts pets so that is not a problem. And she would provide a diversion for the kids in the car. I'm just not sure how she will handle such long hours in the car.

The alternative is a kennel where she might have some human contact but certainly nothing close to what she is used to. She is always with us, night and day, as my husband takes her to work with him when I am working. So . . . it would be a big change for her and I'm not sure if she would handle it well.

 

[mssteuer]

When we got married last July back in Europe, we brought Pacha with us (because we'd be gone for 3 weeks, she was only 4 months old, and we couldn't stand missing her that long, so young!). It's quite a hassle with all the paperwork, required shots, chipping, getting the approval from the federal authorities, getting the approval from the foreign authorities, etc.). Other than that it went all very well, she didn't seem to mind the flight that much, and enjoyed seeing new places, people and dogs.

As to health risks, Holland isn't really a dangerous country. Mexico on the other hand may have all sorts of risks that i'm not aware of. Also you may need to check the quarantine requirements (some countries require the pet to be quarantined upon arrival - and also the US may require upon return, depending from where you flew in - Mexico may definitely be a country that the US doesn't trust, health risk wise). Of course if he will need to be quarantined (either way), it's not worth it!

 

[Jac]

Hi Stacy,
Sounds like fun!
My concerns would be more with quarantine laws...I'd suggest that you check it out to be sure that you can cross borders with Coal. Get permits in writing so that you have no problem. You will probably need health certificates too.
If you can find a good pet sitter, I'd suggest leaving Coal...it will be hard on you, but he will be fine.
Either hire a house/pet sitter or find a really excellent kennel (but only if Coal has all of his shots!)
If you do take him, keep your eye on him every minute...the word is out that they are expensive dogs...just tell everyone that you got him at pound and you don't know his parents!
Good luck...Jac

 

[BeckandPat]

You can take your dog to Mexico. The only requirement is that you have a record proving that he's had his rabies shots (both for entry to mex and
re-entry to USA). If Coal would be able to hang out with you where you sell your goods and stay in the hotel with you, I'm sure he'll be just fine.
We know friends who drive from LA to Baja to go camping with
their 2 dogs and have nothing but a blast.

As far as long hours in the car, we took a 3 week road trip in our small SUV across the US over Xmas. Nigel had the time of his life. He loved sniffing new places, checking out the hotels, finding the dog parks along the way to meet new friends. He went from a car weary puppy who would get sick to his stomach on a short trip to the park to a seasoned 9 month old who loves to travel. The secret? Gingersnap cookies. The low sugar kind you can find at Trader Joes or other stores calms the stomach for long car rides. Make sure they have access to plenty of air, consider a doggy seatbelt, and get on the road!

 

[Chesterpal]

We did the drive from Illinois to Colorado over Thanksgiving and Chester was fantasic. He loved sniffing all the new places and was great about getting back into the car after a rest stop when it was time. It got tricky when we went in some place to eat---we had never left him in the car before. We had to get a table near the window and one of us kept going out to check on him.

 

[Cinsmom]

We take Cinnamon with us all the time on long car trips. (Family lives 600 miles away) She is great except for those eating stops. We know now to undo her seat belt before we go in or she will chew through the belt. When we undo her, there is no damage to the car, but I guess she wants to be able to see us at all times. She rides well, no car sickness.

We are flying to TX tomorrow and she will be at a friends' house for a week. The first time we will be without her since we got her. We can't take her on this trip. My in-laws were in a bad traffic accident and things will be better if she didn't go along this time. I'm sure she will be fine, but we will worry about her anyway!

 

[Jannie]

We took Sadie on a road trip back in March and it worked out really well. We have a mini van with the stow and go seats, so we took the two middle seats out and put her crate in the middle of the van, so she could see the kids in the back and us in the front. She spent most of the time lying in her crate, chewing on her chew toys. We made lots of stops and took her for walks. I was worried she would bark in the hotels when we stopped, but she was great. Try to get a room on the mainfloor with an exterior door for quick exits. We solved the problem of leaving her in the car at mealtime by taking picnic lunches to eat at the rest stops. All in all, it worked out really well - and she got SOOOO much attention everywhere we went, it was incredible.