Dogs left in car on ferry

[Dianes]

We are starting the process of getting our dog a passport for next year. Our only worry is the journey. Our holiday home is in Brittany, and we usually travel there via the Portsmouth-Cherbourg ferry which takes about four and a half hours. Our concern is what our dog will be like left in the car on the car-deck for all that time. When he is ever left in the car at a place he doesn't know he barks the whole time.
For long trips we have more or less reconciled ourselves to going via the tunnel and having a much, much longer journey, but we would like to take him with us on the shorter trips too. How do other dogs cope?

Thanks,
Diane (Dept. 22 and Hampshire)

[Paulgun]

Diane, why not go on the short route. dover, or tunnel, my friends travelled via BF, when their dog barked they asked them to return to the car deck, just think of the time of the day/night of the journey ( six plus hours !), night time is so much better naturally they sleep but during the day it could be a problem. regards Pauline

[Bernice]

You could try gradually getting your dog to get used to being left in the car. Put in a favourite toy and perhaps a treat. You could even try giving him his food there. Anything to make him look forward to going in the car. Then leave him for a very short time at first gradually increasing the time spent in the car. It might work, it's worth a try.
Good luck
Bernice

[ckenway]

Not a thing I like doing but have you thought of a sedative from your vet. Our dog is petrified of loud bangs (Thunder, fireworks and alike) and much as it cost us dearly in price we elected to go via the tunnel with the dog and 3 cats with absolutly no problem.

One thing I remember from when we went on the ferry (from Dover without our dog) was that I looked out of the front window and noticed on the deck were what appeared to be plastic dog carriers/kennels. Perhaps they are for foot passengers but I don't really know might be worth a phone call.

Chris

[Darren, Vicky and Amelia]

vicky

We moved over last March. We had 2 rabbits and the dog who was 8 weeks old in the car. We Portsmouth-Le harve. The whole journey on the ferry and down to here(Dept 47) was very easy. All behaved very well. I was very worried but there was no problems...Well we did loose our money on the ferry 600 worth of Euro's!!!!!!!!!!!! But the animals were fine.

Good luck and have a safe trip.
Vicky

[Franc]

Diana,
We have noticed that frequently there are car alarms sounding and sometimes dogs barking on the car decks, as well as loud crashing noises, but despite this our dog seems to happily settle down in her box, with familiar blankets, toys, and chews, for the Plymouth-Roskoff 6 hour crossing and then again for 7 hours during the journey through France, with stops of course.
If I knew a magic formula I would pass it on to you , I guess we are just fortunate.
Keep trying and good luck on your next voyage.

Franc.

[Vignobles]

Diane, just one final thought..................?

We like most dog owners love and I mean love our dogs. We have two, one a wonderful Basset the other an equally lovely Staffie.

They know and I mean know when we are going to our home in France. They accept that something nice is going to happen and they can chase and chase all around the garden fresh smells all of those sorts of things.

we have pre-determined stops, have the water bowls that allegedly do not turn over. The regime is something they understand. They have treats in the care plus pigs ears which they would die for. When I come home from shopping from Tesco they make absolutely certain that I have the pigs ears with me. Pse believe me great for dogs teeth, a bit unpleasant for us humans but not too much

On the ferry they settle down very well and once off the ferry we stop very soon for all the necessaries and carry obviously the means to make sure we do not leave any remains.

It is natural to worry very natural, but so far so good.

kind regards

[Me0wp00]

My older dog does not shut up whining and barking from the minute he gets in the car until the minute he gets out. When we moved over from se england to Central France my hubby brought him over on a snowfilled -3c journey, thankfully we had some pet tranquilisers and he slept the whole way. The vet recommends them when my lab pup twists his shoulder and needs 3 days of rest at a time. Here in France they are called calmivet or tranquil and are very scary to use at first but in the end less stressful on the animal. Our vet in England sold them per pill but if you do decide to go this route, buy more than you need incase of delays (they are only supposed to last 8-10 hours) and give them to the dog a good 1.5-2hrs before setting off and when he is as calm as possible. They roll their eyes and look very dopey but can still drink and stagger out of the car to urinate and are back to normal very quickly.

[Pip]

Hello.
I'm just about to drive over to Belfort with my dog: my partner has a job out there for a year. I think we'll be going through the tunnel so Bruce (the dog) and I can stay together, but I have done some research into ferry crossings.

I found this on a website, covering all ferry crossings leaving Britain, I think.


P&O Dover, P&O Portsmouth & Hoverspeed:
Pets must remain in the vehicle during the crossings - Owners do not have access to their pets during the crossing. Hoverspeed also insist that animals must be secured inside the vehicle (eg. in a cat box, or in the boot behind a dog guard).


Brittany Ferries:
Pets must remain in the vehicle during the crossings - Owners may see their pets during the crossing, but must be accompanied by a member of staff.


Stena Line
You can choose for your pet to travel in your car or in a kennel aboard the ship. Guide dogs are allowed to travel on the passenger decks with their owners.


P&O North Sea Ferries Hull
Pets are accommodated in the on board kennels - Owners may see their pets during the crossing.

I hope this is useful to you. Good luck with the journeys!
Pip

[Stuart]

We plan to take our dogs to France using Dover-Calais, either on the tunnel or by ferry (depending on the price at the time).

However, we did have to take them with us when we went to Ireland a couple of years age - 3.5 hour crossing in pretty heavy seas. We were worried about them being nervous, so we gave them a few drops of Rescue Remedy, which is a herbal treatment freely available off-the-shelf from all larger chemists, such as Boots. It worked a treat and they had a better crossing than we did!!

We also took them to the Isle of Man last year (3.5 hours again) with the Steam Packet company, who allow dogs to sit in the lounge areas with the owners. There was no trouble from any of the dogs either going or returning and it made the crossing much more relaxing for all of us. I lived in Greece for a number of years and dogs were allowed on the decks of all the Greek ferries. If Steam Packet and Greek ferries can manage this, why do the Channel companies make life so difficult?

Mind you, I suppose we should be grateful that they let us use their services at all - after all, we are only there for the companies' convenience, aren't we?!

Stuart

[Staubin]

Our dog loves the car and has travelled to France over several years, both on the Fast Craft and Portsmouth-Cherbourg and to Le Havre. We put a blanket, with her own dog smell on it not washed! across both front seats, newspaper in the two front wells and a little water in a plastic bowl. She sleeps happily and has been through some very rough crossings. We have found P and O staff always helpful, being offered a cage on deck or the car and putting our car in a better position when we have not liked where told to go (not on a slope for example). I have been told we can visit with a crew member during the voyage but if she was not happy I couldn't do much and it might upset me.
Perhaps we are lucky with our Yorkie. She loves her second home in Mayenne (53) and we have a great vet. I am sure the overnight idea is a good one as our dog sleeps happily on the journey to the port when it is dark instead of thinking we are going for a walk everytime the car slows down!

[M]

LAST EDITED ON 29-Feb-04 AT 02:28 PM (GMT)

We have just returned from our 1st journey to Vendee with our dog. 4 hrs to Ferry in UK 6 hrs on ferry then 5 hrs to house.
Normally she wimpers and howls like mad when we take her anywhere. This time however, she was superb and settled down. We had a really rough crossing on the way back and were worried she'd be sick but not at all.

People have told me that they've been allowed to go down a check the dog is ok but on both our crossings we were refused by staff and had to just hope she was OK - which she was.

Emma

[Darren, Vicky and Amelia]

vicky

Hello
We moved over here 2 years ago today..well 1st March. When we moved, I was 5 months pregnant. We had 2 house rabbits and a 8 week old puppy in the car. We arrived to our house dept 47, without any problems. The animals were fine. We made regular stops for the puppy to go to the toilet and stretch his legs. The main problem was myself needing the loo all the time!!
Some vets will also sedate a dog before travel.
Good luck with your journey, and your move

Vicky