If you are going to travel with your dog and need guidance on what documents may be required, this article advises you on where to look and what to order from your vet. In addition to some mandatory vaccinations and the administration of antiparasitic drugs, there are documents that are required to travel with your dog, and we will mention them below.
To travel with your dog you will not always be asked for the same documents or vaccinations. There are countries that do not require, for example, that your dog be vaccinated against kennel cough, but others specify that he must be immunized against it some time before entry. However, there are some common requirements regardless of the country of destination and this post on our site will focus on them. Keep reading and discover what you need to travel with your dog
Identification needed to travel with your dog: microchip and passport
All countries will require that our dog be correctly identified by microchip and passport in order to travel with him. The passport also works as a he alth card, where all the vaccines and drugs that have been administered will be reflected. So it functions as an official document and he alth record, so to speak.
Vaccinations required for traveling with dogs
The vaccine against canine rabies is one of the mandatory requirements to travel with your dog practically anywhere. If your dog has not been vaccinated against rabies, you should prepare the trip well in advance because this vaccine must be inoculated and sealed a minimum of 3 weeks before the trip It is an inactivated vaccine and it will take that long to act, giving rise to an adequate formation of antibodies.
If you have vaccinated your dog in the month of January, for example, and the trip will take place in March, there is no problem, but we must check that the stamp correctly reflects the vaccination date. Sometimes, at the turn of the year, especially, a wrong date can sneak in and that little mistake can disrupt our trip.
And is the vaccine and rabies stamp always enough?
Some countries may require a rabies antibody titer determinationIt is a test that is done in a laboratory from a blood sample of the dog, a minimum of three weeks after vaccination. In it, it is determined that the vaccine has been effective and our dog has a sufficiently high amount of antibodies, with which he is protected against the disease and cannot suffer from it or transmit it.
Other immunizations that may be required
The rest of the usual vaccines for dogs may or may not appear on the list of mandatory vaccines for traveling with dogs depending on the country, but in general, they all ask that our dog be protected against the most common diseases, in addition to rabies: distemper, parvovirus, hepatitis , leptospirosis
The kennel cough is more variable than the previous ones, but although it is not required, it is highly recommended to apply it before a trip with our dog. The trip entails stress, contact with other environments and, possibly, other animals, and greater susceptibility to disease as defenses are not on guard.
Remember that these vaccines take a few days to be effective (not as long as rabies), so we must apply them at least three or five days beforeto start the holidays with dogs, it is advisable to leave the entire vaccination plan in order the week before, at least.
Although they are not mandatory, it is highly recommended to give our dog all the usual vaccinations before a trip, since protecting it is as important as complying with the legal requirements for traveling with dogs in the country of destination.
Antiparasitics against echinococcus to be able to travel with dogs
Our dog's passport has a specific section for this. Echinococcus is a tapeworm, causing a zoonosis (although the definitive host is another animal, it can end up in humans causing a disease), and dogs are intermediate hosts, so most countries require that our dog takeantiparasitics that combat this tapeworm, a maximum of three days before the trip
It must be properly stamped by our veterinarian, specifying the brand of the product, the date and the time our dog takes it.
And external parasiticides?
Although the most attention is paid to protection against tapeworms, it is clear that if our dog has fleas or ticks, our veterinarian will prescribe a pipette or tablet against external parasites in thepre-trip check Despite having recently protected our dog against it, we must accept that he takes the antiparasitic again, since our veterinarian can only prove that he has treated it if he applies it himself.
Likewise, it is important to bear in mind that, although at this time the animal is completely free of parasites, depending on the destination to which we travel, prevention is the key to avoiding the spread of serious diseases. External parasites transmit pathologies that can seriously harm the he alth of the animal, some of which are also contagious to humans. Internal parasites, for their part, are also considered very harmful, so opting for a suitable internal and external deworming is more than recommended before going on vacation with dogs. In this sense, there is the so-called double deworming on the market, which protects the animal against the aforementioned parasites through a single tablet. Because we love them, we protect them, consult your veterinarian and deworm your pet before starting the trip.
He alth certificate to travel with your dog
Our veterinarian will issue a he alth certificate, an official document in which the doctor certifies having examined our dog a maximum of three days before the trip, and states that he does not show any signs of infectious-contagious disease at the time of examination. In addition, it also details the vaccinations that have been given, on what dates, and when it has been treated to prevent tapeworms and other parasites.
Our veterinarian will fill it out and seal it after doing a general examination: states of the mucous membranes, lymph nodes, pulmonary and cardiac auscultation, search for lesions on the skin, ears, ocular conjunctiva, etc.
General recommendations for traveling with dogs
In addition to the documents, vaccinations and requirements for traveling with dogs already mentioned, do not forget to take into account the following tips before going on vacation with your dog:
- It is important to start preparing the trip with our dog well in advance. At least two months before the move so that all evidence can arrive on time. In addition, it is important to prepare the animal mentally if we are going to travel with it by car, plane, train or any other transport.
- They will ask us to collect the requirements of the destination country when taking our dog, because each country has its own rules, and it is impossible for our veterinarian to know them all. We must plan the trip with our dog as we plan it for ourselves, and remember that each airline may impose different requirements, so we must also contact them and inform ourselves.
- Some airlines or railways require that dogs travel in a carrier and/or with a muzzle depending on their size, or all without distinction. Therefore, it is also essential to inform us about this point and get our dog used to the carrier.
- The embassy of the destination country can guide us, as well as certain recommended pages in the he alth certificate that will be issued to us, and the timely advice of our province, who will review the data provided before the trip and correct us if there is one wrong or missing.
