ALSO SEE: Germany vs USA - Cultural Differences: Dogs
Taking Your Dog to Germany
From an Interview with
Jana and Evan Eggers in Berlin
GW: The dog photos you sent me bring up yet another question! Did you bring your dogs from the US?
Jana: Yes. It wasn’t our choice to have big dogs in the city, but we just wouldn’t or couldn’t leave part of our family behind. If we could not have brought the dogs, I don’t think we would have taken the assignment (which cuts out England, as they have a quarantine period. I’ve heard horror stories, too, that 50% of the dogs don’t survive the state-run quarantines).
Ed. NOTE: Since this interview, UK and EU quarantine policies have changed for importing pets from certain countries. As of October 1, 2004 the EU regulations for importing "certain pet animals (dogs, cats, ferrets)" have changed. Your pet needs to have a certified rabies shot within 365 to 30 days before entering Germany and most other EU countries. Check for current regulations, and see the Web links below.
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Evan introduces Miranda to the ins and outs of the Berlin U-Bahn (subway). PHOTO © Jana and Evan Eggers |
It’s absolutely crucial to know what the rules are for any country your flight may land in. For example, if you fly from Boston to London to Berlin, your pet (whether carried on or checked) will be confiscated in London and either quarantined for six months or destroyed. Really. This is because the UK is an island without rabies and they (like Australia and Hawaii, to name a couple of more) are very serious (unreasonably so in many people’s opinions) about keeping rabies out. So the choice of flying on KLM/NW via Amsterdam, or BA/AA via London, or LH via Frankfurt, becomes a serious issue. Check it all out before you buy your tickets.
Ed. NOTE: Since this interview, UK and EU quarantine policies have changed for importing pets from certain countries. Check for current regulations, and see the Web links below.
And the airlines had more regulations than the Germans. Since we work for Sabre I could look directly at the reservations system and read the rules for myself for international transport of pets, and I can tell you there are A LOT OF THEM, over 15 pages’ worth. They’re airline-specific, too, so don’t think one airline’s rules will work on another. Examples of specific watch-outs we discovered between American and Lufthansa (we flew both on our way here): the biggest size “Vari-Kennel” carrying crate that is supposedly airline-approved is outright forbidden; even the next-largest size is forbidden on smaller jet aircraft (e.g., MD-80) and turbo-prop aircraft; you need to tell the reservations agent you’re checking a pet as luggage when you make your reservation; there is a maximum number of pets allowed to be checked as luggage on each flight and some people will tell you it’s first-come, first-served; during warmer months individual airlines have different embargo periods when they simply won’t accept pets as checked luggage; if the weather is too hot on the day of travel at any airport your pet will travel through, they will simply refuse to let you bring your pet.
What was your own experience in flying with dogs?
Evan: We had to get a cold weather certification from a federally approved vet for our dogs for the airlines, since we were flying in November and “one or more of the airports we would be transiting had temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit predicted.” This is intricate because there are very few of these federally certified vets around who can affix the “federal stamp” to the paperwork, but many vets are allowed to fill out the form and sign it, but not stamp it. If you interpret the airline rules strictly, the stamp is necessary. We didn’t get one and everything went fine anyway.
My advice? Don’t rely solely on your travel agent to interpret these rules for you. Spend time ingratiating yourself with an airline reservations agent to review all the rules with you. And if you’re connecting to a different airline, as we did, perform the same “due diligence” with the second airline as well.
What do you do with the dogs when you’re on the road?
Evan: We kennel the dogs when we travel, unless it is just a day trip. We could not take them on the trips we take, as we’d run into the international transit problems I just finished talking about. We did not think it would be a problem finding a kennel, but it was. We found out that Germans either travel with their dogs or they have family members take care of them.
Jana: This is another place our relocation angels saved us. (Yes, I even call them “angels” rather than agents now.) I had taken a recommendation from a respected expat book on Berlin for our first trip, which I thought was safe. (By the way, I have used many recommendations from it, with this being the only bum one.) It was horrible and it ruined the business trip for me, as I got no sleep worrying about the dogs. The woman was very nice, but the place smelled terrible (not a good sign for a kennel) and looked like a fire hazard. Our angels did check on the dogs (We were only gone a couple of nights, so relocating them at this point wasn’t really feasible.) and also began researching kennels. The day after we got back they took us to six kennels to visit. We found two that are great and one that is OK as a back-up.
| GERMAN DOG COMMANDS In case you want your dog to understand German, too! Sitz! = Sit! |
How about dogs/pets on the U-Bahn or in other
public places?
Evan: We have seen dogs everywhere (except the grocery store)—from restaurants to movie theatres to the U-Bahn. We are amazed at how calm the city dogs are, other than ours! For example, I was on a train the other day where a guy walked in with his dog and told the dog to lay down at the end of the car and he went to the other end to find a seat. Our dogs are not that calm or well-behaved. We believe this is because dogs in Berlin are generally raised in this environment versus our dogs who had only been on a leash to go to the vet before. We have only been to a couple of outdoor restaurants with our dogs, but do take them on the U- and S-Bahn regularly. The only problem we have is other dogs, as our dogs are not dog friendly.
Jana: I can’t believe you haven’t told about the poop scooping! This is one area that we’ve learned lots about... unfortunately! Maybe this is where we have gotten the idea why dogs are getting less popular. We’ve been yelled at many times on the street by people who don’t wait to see if we clean-up after our dogs, which we do every time! I can understand that parents with kids are particularly annoyed with dog owners, but I really wish they would wait to see if we were guilty before yelling.
Evan: We do have these great pooper scoopers though and that’s made the task better. They have a wire frame that allows you to actually “scoop” rather than “grab and gather” and then they seal! Very nice. We have also been stopped on the street by people asking where we got them. We have looked in every pet shop here and don’t see anything like them, so unfortunately we have to tell them “aus Amerika.” As a matter of fact, we’ve been stopped so many times, we were thinking about starting our own business to import them. We would campaign for them to be the official pooper scooper of Berlin. Now, wouldn’t that be a great way to make a million?!
How about pet food?
Jana: Oh, my gosh, this is another surprise! It is hard to find good dog food here. In the US, we have those pet superstores, where we could get good quality dog food easily. Pet stores here are usually of the small, family-run variety and the food quality does not seem standardized. We now order food through our vet, who is kind enough to deliver it to our house since we don’t have a car. With two German shepherds we use lots of food.
And vets?
Jana: Unfortunately we’ve seen our vet more in the five months we’ve been here than we saw our New Hampshire vet in three years. But I have to brag on our vet. She’s terrific! We’ve worked with her and her partner and have been very impressed with the care they give the dogs, including an emergency set of stitches at midnight on a Saturday! One of the kennels that we use is also a vet and she’s really good, too. So, I would say that the vet care in Berlin has been exceptional from our perspective.
Pet Information for Germany - Web Sites
- Basic Tips - People and Pets Moving to Germany from Jane in Germany
- Pets - How to Germany
- Flying via the UK?
- Bringing Pets to the UK - How to avoid quarantine in the UK using the Pet Travel Scheme (PETS)
- PETS - Pet Travel Scheme from the British Embassy Berlin
- Taking Pets to Germany from the UK - Dogs, cats and ferrets must be micro-chipped and the ID must be recorded in an EU pet passport which must contain all necessary health records such as a valid rabies vaccination. (German Embassy London)
- Taking Pets to Germany from the USA - Dogs, cats and ferrets must have a valid rabies vaccination and either a microchip/transponder (standard: ISO 11784 or ISO 11785) or a tattoo for identification purposes. (Tattoo only accepted until July 3, 2011.) (German Embassy in the US)
- Dangerous Dogs - Certain dog breeds are banned from import to Germany! - from German Customs (www.zoll.de)
Full Interview with Jana and Evan Eggers
1: Not Business As Usual: An American Couple in Berlin
Sabre and gedas telematics - Berlin surprises: the “little things” - Banking and paying bills - Different business cultures - Taking care of business: a typical day
2: Not Business As Usual: An American Couple in Berlin
Wired in Deutschland - Working together as a married couple - Doing business -- in English or German - Moving to Germany
3: Not Business As Usual: An American Couple in Berlin
Finding an apartment in Berlin - A 16-page lease agreement? - Berlin as a place to live - Getting around in Germany/Europe - Advice: The “Expat Top 10”
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