New dog what to do about Ferry

MichaelT

MichaelT

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Hi, looking for some thoghts on our new dilemma. We have just bought a new puppy (miniature Schnauzer) and picking up at end of month so good news. Bad news is we had booked to cross over to France using Poole - Cherberg BF route mid August so pup would only be 4 1/2 months old. We are thinking this may be a bit young and maybe a trauma for him, I know we can visit the deck to check on him but still... We live in Essex so were planning to meet our son in Cornwall then travel back to poole for crossing and have booked tunnel home already.

So what are seasoned dog owners thoughts, as I see it we have 3 choices

  1. Carry on with booking, excercise him well before to tire him out, visit him on car deck after say 1 hour then every hour until allowed back on the car deck when coming into port.
  2. We have a Flexi ticket so push it out till next year when he is older then as above.
  3. Lose deposit and use Chunnel
Thanks in advance.
 
Difficult because of location. Personally I wouldn’t want to take the chance of causing any trauma to my dog so for me it is always the tunnel. If you can push your booking back to either later in the year, or better still next year, then I think you would be wise to consider it. Could you not go via the Tunnel this year just so the dog is with you at this early stage of its adventures?
 
I would not put my Puppy on a ferry, he could be traumatised for life. I would choose the tunnel for now until he is older. The first day my puppy Stanley came to me I gave him a bath as he smelt so bad, that traumatised him for life he was always afraid of water and even crossing over bridges where he could see water frightened him. I still feel bad about it almost 15 years later.
 
We took our two babies to Croatia via Portugal as soon as they were old enough to be vaccinated!
Do not worry...😍

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Personally. The dog will adapt. At that age I'd use a cage to prevent any potential damage to the van with his bed and toys in and get him used to it.
A good run before and he will sleep and not miss you.

Also put front screen on to make as dark as possible inside

The first time we took the dog we were anxious and thought about going down to check every hr. We didn't she just slept only problem was as we did the afternoon crossing she was full of beans when we wanted to sleep.
 
Put the dog in kennels
 
I'd take him out in the m/h as often as possible as soon as you get him to get him familiar with it before the crossing. Always take him in the m/h to somewhere with 'nice' walks for dogs - countryside, riverside so that he associates the camper with a pleasant event.

We leave out Westie in the m/h for around 4 1/2 to 5 hrs on the Newhaven - Dieppe ferry. First time we arranged especially for a crew member to escort us down to the vehicle deck to check on him but it seemed to unsettle him so we don't do that now and he's fine.
It can be very noisy on the ferry with HGV's rumbling alongside, doors banging, voices, ferry machinery clanging, warning sirens and occasionally car alarms going off so we close all blinds, leave him water and some treats and he never seems unsettled when we get back to him and usually just opens one eye from his snooze on one of the settees among cushions that we've left arranged as a 'bed'. Obviously, we stop as soon as poss after disembarking to give him a good walk.

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So we are going to be away for 6-7 weeks so kennels and kids not an option.

We will have him in a crate to stop any damage and also somewhere he is used to.

Did think about the Northernraider option:giggle: but not sure as its a longer crossing and just thinking safety etc.
 
MichaelT said:
So we are going to be away for 6-7 weeks so kennels and kids not an option.

We will have him in a crate to stop any damage and also somewhere he is used to.

Did think about the Northernraider option:giggle: but not sure as its a longer crossing and just thinking safety etc.
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I'm with you on that. Not sure i'd want to be trapped down there if there was an issue
 
We use a crate for any new puppies. It becomes home. We also take them out in traffic, on buses, trains, escalators etc as soon as we get them even before vaccinations but of course in our arms. They also get socialised with people for who can resist a small pup in arms learning about real life. If I had to leave them in the crate I would exercise before leaving them and then let them settle down to sleep. It's no different to going to bed at night. Obviously take them to as many different places you can before travel and try to make some places very noisy.
 
Northernraider said:
Hide in the van with the dogs . I did it returning from france in march , dogs were absolutely chilled and no one was any the wiser. All blinds etc closed
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I cannot believe someone would be so daft as to suggest hiding in the van while it is in the ferry! Thinks of the risks involved

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15edward said:
Can you search Portsmouth routes with dog friendly kennels and change to one of those routes?
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Good thinking did not know they had them so will check it out.
 
If you get it used to being left in a cage in the van before you travel it will be fine,ours was at five months. You'll have to get your timings right for it's rabies jab,over 12 weeks old and 21 days before travel,not forgetting it's chip and AHC that you will need to leave the country.

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We will be taking him in the van over the summer so he will be used to it (even planning on collecting him in it) so thats not a problem as he will be used to it.
 
MichaelT said:
So we are going to be away for 6-7 weeks so kennels and kids not an option.

We will have him in a crate to stop any damage and also somewhere he is used to.

Did think about the Northernraider option:giggle: but not sure as its a longer crossing and just thinking safety etc.
Click to expand...
The crew are below deck anyway so in the unlikely event of any incident you would just get out . The bonus there is you'd already be with your dog.

Im using ferry to Ireland in September and i will be doing this again .

Much better for the dogs and peace of mind. Not strictly allowed but does no harm to anyone as far as i can see
 
The Dudess said:
I've only every put my dogs into kennels on a ferry once - never again - they're horrible! Pet friendly cabin (if you can get one!!) or Chunnel every time.
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I couldn't leave mine in kennels. I'll be staying with them on Ireland route and getting a cabin from Ireland to france or spain

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Ian Bosman said:
I cannot believe someone would be so daft as to suggest hiding in the van while it is in the ferry! Thinks of the risks involved
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What are the risks?

If the boat was to sink i couldn't live with myself thinking my dogs had drowned alone so id rather be with them.

Although lets be honest how likely is that?

Also there are ferries that allow you to stay in your vehicle when crossing. Ive been on a few of them
 

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