Overseas pet travel isn’t as easy as we’d like it to be, particularly when you’re flying a route like Australia to England. But, we’re about to head off on another adventure to the UK, and we will take our little Westie, London, with us. To find out about the visas we secured to live and work in the UK, you can read more here. How simple is planning overseas pet travel? I think the best way to describe the planning is that it is a process. It’s all possible, but there’s a number of considerations to take into account. This means ideally you would give yourself six months or more to plan. Between the time we discovered we had the opportunity to move back to the UK and the time we needed to fly, we actually didn’t have six months. Together with our trusted vet and a pet carrier, we have made it work though. If you are planning to relocate to another country, maybe our process and information can help you. 5 steps to move a dog overseas 1. Talk to a trusted vet The first port of call for us when planning to relocate London dog overseas with us was to speak to our vet. Our lovely vet Kirsty from Toowong Family vet in Brisbane, has known London since he was a wee puppy. She’s an excellent vet, so we booked a consult with her, primarily to speak about: – the travel process and London’s general health for such a journey – gauging and managing his anxiety in a new situation such as long distance flying. Kirsty checked London over and we chatted about his age and health. We determined that he is ok to fly. The big one for us though is the lengthy flight(s) itself. In the past, sometimes dogs were sedated so they would sleep. It’s been deemed that that this is not safe, so sedation is not an option. Kirsty talked us through a program for managing London’s anxiety, which began a few weeks ago and will continue into when he is settling into his new home in the Northern Hemisphere. Talk to your vet about options that may suit your beloved fur baby. 2. Choose an accredited pet carrier We researched several major international pet carriers operating in Australia and sought quotes from each. After having a conversation with each and comparing quotes, we ended up making a decision based on the itinerary available to London. While it is possible to fly London from Brisbane to London, the routes recommended by some carriers meant that he would not leave his crate for around 24 hours. We chose Petraveller based on reviews and because they suggested a route that – while longer in terms of the amount of time we are separated – it seemed fairer on him to have more breaks. Choosing a pet carrier is a BIG decision. It’s very expensive no matter how you look at it, and we know London’s life and wellbeing is being placed in their hands. There’s a lot of trust and faith involved. We will keep you posted on the outcome. At time of posting, London is set to begin his journey in a week’s time. 3. Consult with your chosen pet carrier to find out about the process involved in taking your dog overseas The next most important conversation we had after the one with our vet, was the one with our chosen pet carrier. Over the duration of one or two chats, a few things were explained to us: time frames and action items for us costs the importance of securing a rabies vaccination immediately for London dog – in Australia, the rabies vaccine is often in short supply and only some vets administer it, so get your pet sorted straight away if you intend to fly in the coming year application for a Transfer of Residency to the UK so we could avoid import fees for London preparing London for travel before, during and after the journey the airline application process which meant we had to choose a date range for London to travel – the application is lodged around the 15th of each month and your pet’s travel itinerary is only confirmed in the last week of each month considerations around where London would stay should we need to fly out first,