Hola
Babsie here again. Punta is actual the name of one of our rescue dog, the other one is called Marron.We are entering them in for the Dog Competition in November, which should be fun. Unfortunately Puntahas hurt her back leg, as she runs for the ball, and must have twisted it somehow. We found an excellentsite on the web that does herbal pills for dogs, and are trying them out.The company name is Vibrapure and the pills are for tendons and ligaments. We have been using Winstons Joint System which we bought from a pet shop in La Marina, and are very expensive, but they did the trick. However, we thought we would give these a go and will report on how she is progressing.
If any of you have dogs and are thinking of taking them abroad, don't hesitate. It is really so easy. Both our dogs have passports, and of course all the necessary injections, rabies, flea spraying etc. The first time we took them to UK, we went on the ferry from Bilbao to Portsmouth on BrittanyFerries with the smaller ferry Bretagne, as they have accommodation for the dogs. However, these are cages on the tenth deck, and quite frankly they were a nightmare for the dogs, as they are very small, and the larger dogs were in the cages below and were barking all day and night.
Our dogs were very frightened and luckily we could stay with them whenever we wanted to, but they wouldn't eat at all. There is a doggy walking area and benches to sit on, so it's not too bad depending of course on the weather.
However, there are now doggy cabins available on the larger ferry Port Aven, and they are alllowed in your cabin. As there are only 17 of these available you have to get in quickly. When you get to Bilbao you have to check the dogs into an office - you will see the sign - where they are checked that they are chipped, passports are in order, and had the required injections. You are also given a doggy bag with treats for them!
This year we drove to Portugal with our dogs and this was no trouble at all. No inspections, no additional costs, just drove straight into Portugal.
If you go form Calais to Dover either on the ferry or the chunnel, the dogs stay in the car. As it is a very short tripjust make sure a window is open and they have drink and food but obviously not too much!
If you have any questions, I would be glad to try and answer them. All in all, we have never found it a problem to take our two little dogs abroad, and they thoroughly enjoy the trip too.