Traveling
With a Dog
Poppy has done more of Europe than most people
A dog changes a trip more than a child does. Not in a bad way, but you stop being a tourist and start being a resident of wherever you are, because the dog needs a walk at seven no matter what time the museum opens. The paperwork is strict and completely doable. The rest is easier in Europe than almost anywhere.
First, decide if the dog actually comes
Be honest about the dog, not about how much you love the dog. A young, confident, crate trained dog under about fifteen pounds who sleeps under a cafe table is a travel dog. A nervous fifty pound rescue who barks at strangers is going to have a hard trip and so are you.
Length matters more than distance. For two weeks, a good sitter at home is often kinder. For three months or a move, the dog comes.
Cargo is the line for a lot of families. Under roughly eight kilos including the carrier, most airlines will let a dog fly in the cabin at your feet. Above that, it is cargo, and cargo is a real decision with real risk that some breeds cannot make at all. Snub nosed breeds are refused by most airlines outright.
The paperwork, in the order it has to happen
This sequence is not flexible and getting it out of order means starting again.
One. An ISO compliant fifteen digit microchip, implanted before the rabies vaccination. If your dog has an older chip that European scanners cannot read, you need a second chip or you carry your own scanner.
Two. A rabies vaccination given after the microchip, by an authorized vet who scans the chip first. A first ever rabies shot is only valid for one year for travel purposes even if the vaccine itself is a three year one, and you must wait at least twenty one days after it before you travel.
Three. An EU health certificate completed by a USDA accredited vet, close to departure.
Four. USDA endorsement of that certificate. For a normal family trip, the certificate is valid for thirty days and you must arrive in the EU within ten days of the endorsement. That ten day window is the tightest part of the whole process.
Finland, Ireland, Malta and Norway also require a tapeworm treatment given by a vet one to five days before entry.
Airlines, and the part that costs money
Book the dog at the same moment you book yourself. Airlines cap the number of animals per flight and per cabin, and the slot is gone long before the seat is.
Expect a fee each way, and expect it to be charged at the airport rather than online. Measure your carrier against the airline published under seat dimensions rather than trusting a label that says airline approved, because that phrase means nothing.
Do not sedate a dog for a flight unless a vet has specifically told you to. Sedation and altitude is a bad combination and most airlines advise against it.
Walk the dog to exhaustion before you leave for the airport, then withhold food but not water for a few hours before the flight.
Once you land, Europe is the easy part
Trains, trams and buses across most of Europe take dogs, often for a small ticket or free if the dog fits in a bag on your lap. This is the single biggest difference from travelling with a dog in the United States and it changes what a day looks like.
Restaurants and cafes in France, Italy, Germany, Belgium and much of central Europe will simply let a well behaved dog lie under the table. Nobody makes a fuss. The UK is more pub than restaurant, and Scandinavia is somewhere in between.
Ferries generally take dogs. So do a surprising number of small boats, funiculars and mountain lifts.
Supermarkets, pharmacies and most museums do not. Plan the museum days as the days somebody sits outside with the dog and a coffee, and rotate.
Where you sleep, and what pet friendly really means
Filter for pet friendly and then read the actual line, because it hides three different things: a size limit, a fee, and a rule about leaving the dog alone in the room. That third one is the one that ruins dinner plans.
Apartments beat hotels with a dog, every time. A kitchen, a door, a floor that is not carpet, and no lobby to walk through at six in the morning.
Ask about the stairs. A fourth floor walk up in an old European building with no elevator is fine for you and a lot for an older dog.
The day to day
Find the vet before you need one. Save the address of an emergency clinic in every city you sleep in, and know that European vets are generally excellent and far cheaper than American ones.
Bring the food you use for the first week and then switch to something local rather than shipping kibble across an ocean. Do the switch gradually.
Water is the thing people forget. A collapsible bowl lives in the day bag.
Heat is the real danger, not distance. Southern Europe in July is brutal on a dog, especially a small dark one. Walk early, rest through the middle of the day, go out again at seven like everybody else does.
Poppy has been on ferries, trains, city streets and a battlefield in Belgium, and the honest verdict is that the dog slows the trip down in exactly the way that makes it better. If you are planning a move or a long stay with a dog, that is a conversation I am very happy to have.
Questions people actually ask
How far in advance do we start the paperwork for taking a dog to Europe?
Work back at least two months. The microchip has to come before the rabies shot, you must wait twenty one days after a first rabies vaccination, and the health certificate and USDA endorsement happen in a tight window just before you fly.
Can our dog fly in the cabin?
Usually only if the dog and carrier together come in under roughly eight kilograms and fit under the seat, and only if you booked the slot early. Larger dogs go as cargo, and snub nosed breeds are refused by most airlines.
Is Europe actually dog friendly?
Very. Dogs are welcome on most trains, trams, ferries and in a great many restaurants and cafes. Museums, supermarkets and pharmacies are the usual exceptions.
What is the ten day rule?
For a normal family trip the endorsed EU health certificate is valid for thirty days, but you have to arrive in the EU within ten days of the USDA endorsing it. It is the tightest deadline in the process.
Should we sedate the dog for the flight?
Not unless a vet has told you to for a specific reason. Most airlines and most vets advise against sedation at altitude.
More in Before You Go
01International travel with kidsFlights, jet lag, packing, food, and the parts that actually go wrong.Open this guide →
02Travel insuranceWhat it covers, what it does not, and when it is worth buying.Open this guide →
03Passports and visasTiming, children’s passports, consent letters, and the new Europe rules.Open this guide →
Written and kept current by Nicole Damiano, ASTA Verified Travel Advisor with Adventures We Seek. If something here is out of date, tell me and I will fix it.
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