Bringing over Dogs

[oregon]

Hi All,
I want to bring over my 2 American Eskimos from the US. Anybody with similar experience care to share? What do I need to look out for and what do I need to do?
Thanks

[Pat]

Hey Oregon,
   Where are you coming from in Oregon...I moved from Vancouver Washington to here 8 months ago. I did not bring our dog but friends of our did and they had to be in quarentine for 28 days....he did visit them on a regular basis.
Hope that helps!

[JD]

Before deciding to bring over your dogs please bear in mind the breed and the nature of the climate over here. 34C pretty much all year with approx 80% humidity. No where really for the dogs to be let off leash safely. Might it be a touch warm for them ( and for you when you are walking them?)
This may not be the best kind of life for them, can you afford to get a house with a big garden for them?
Not trying to put you off, just be aware its a big change from Oregon. Singapore isn't as dog friendly as USA. A large percentage of the population are frightened of large dogs, especially if they come up on you trying to walk two of them together.
Guess you have to balance having them with you as part of the family or leaving them behind in a more dog friendly environment. We bought our dog over and I sometimes think we should have left him at home, not dure his lifestyle here is an improvement over what he had in CA.

[oregon]

Thanks Pat.
I'm writing to you from sunny Portland, the city across the river from your hometown  

JD - Thanks for your reply. I'm too devoted to my 2 rascals to leave them here. I've actually just shaved them to get myself used to their new look and also to see how they manage this summer...

Import of Dogs - Thanks for your tips, definitely very helpful.

[BeThereSoon]

Just arrived with dog - did my own paperwork, etc.  Was a lot of coordination and making sure the flights were okay (dont go throught HK without proper permits), all paperwork in order.  I had someone already in Singapore and that helped immensely as he was able to pay fees, etc from local bank.  Be glad to help if you are thinking about doing it yourself, but be prepared for a lot of scurrying around when you get on the ground here - and I mean as soon as your feet hit the cement!  

[This message has been edited by BoardManager (edited 11-04-2001).]

[Boston Family Sing. bound]

Oh, Oregon...we left our three goldens back in the U.S. and as hard as it was for us, I know it was the right thing.  We have a big house here and a yard, but they were used to 2-plus acres.  Houses here are cheek by jowl, few places to walk dogs off pavement, and it is very warm, not like Oregon in summer at all.  Today it was 86 and humid, and our new puppy spent the day in an air-conditioned room (and he's a toy-sized dog).  Good luck!

[SebbieQ]

Dear Oregon:

   We just moved from Portland, Oregon to Singapore in December 2000, and brought our 8 year old chow chow mix and a cat.  Petmovers did an excellent job once we got here (and provided lots of good info before we left), and the quarantine station was quite good.  I'd obviously recommend the AC kennels which allow your doggies to go outside and bark a the goings on, but to return to the AC at their leisure.

  I don't know what airline you plan to take from PDX, but we took United to LA and Sing from there, with a stop in Taiwan.  United was fabulous -- they put the names of animals on the kennels and the captain went down and said "hi" and reported to us.  Sing had absolutely no idea what to do with the animals.  In fact, they almost wouldn't let us on the plane with them because we didn't have the import docs with us.  In fact, PetMovers has all of the docs and they meet you at the baggage carousel at Changi airport, so don't let the Sing Air staff freak you out.  When we got to Taiwan, I asked whether the animals had water, and they were reluctant to check, but, in fact, they did with a little polite prodding and filled the animals' water bowls.

  A word of caution, though.  Our chow chow was a pretty good dog before we left.  She was an escape artist, and we had to have really secure fencing at our PDX residence, but that was about it.  She has since gone absolutely batso over the thunder and lightening here.  It is much, much louder than at home; in fact, she never even responded to fireworks or thunder before.  One afternoon while we were spending time on Sentosa Island, we return to a completely wrecked house -- 2 curtain rods down, one curtain completely destroyed, three doors with significant damage, a baby crib with two slats destroyed, a dust ruffle chewed up.  It amounted to about $1000 US of damage.  Since then, we bought a vet quality kennel for $500 Sing for her, but she can still break out.  So now we have to muzzle her.  Also, she broke out with wet eczema, which required antibiotics, a GI trim, and daily treatments.  The vet says it's common with sled dog like breeds.  She's really miserable.  Like I said, she was very little trouble at home, so I never would have predicted the problems we encountered.

  Finally, people are really really really scared of big breeds here even though they are less ferocious than the little yip yip breeds that are more common.  So, it's important that you have good leashes and doggie manners, esp. with 2 doggies.  If you hire a maid, make sure to advise her of her responsibilities toward the dogs.

   Hope this is helpful.

[oregon]

Hi SebbieQ,
Sorry to hear you have such a hyper dog  
My 2 eskies are unfortunately those yip yip dogs... They however, usually have no problems with humans. It's the other dogs that get them riled up (small dog, big personality  ).
I am really worried about whether they would be provided with enough food and water while in transit. What happens when they need to go? I imagine being in a crate for 24 hours would drive them bonkers! Is there a way to walk them or let them out to go potty?
Petsmover sounds like a good service but seems expensive. Hopefully when I find a job, the company would be willing to pay for it  

[SebbieQ]

Oregon:

  I guess I should remove the sole of my shoe from my mouth!  (Sorry about the yip yip dog comment -- you know, owners of big dogs just have Napoleon complexes).

   Anyway, our animals actually seemed quite OK during the air trip.  Only the cat relieved himself in his kennel.  The dog just didn't go at all.

    As to the coverage of Petmovers costs, Intel's policy was a lump sum of $200 per animal(to cover the cost of travel and the vet exams/shots prior to departure -- you will need an exam, I believe, 7 days or less prior to departure).  They also completely covered the kennel costs.  But there are hidden costs, like licensing, and PetMovers extras really added up (I believe we ended up spending in excess of $3K sing -- including baths, flea treatments, a new rabies vaccine even tho they had already been vaccinated the week b/4).

   Good luck!

SebbieQ

[dihult]

DebbieQ....was the total cost you refered to only on the Singaporean side or was this door to door?

I am currently dealing with quotes from stateside animal forwarders who would consign the dog over to Pet Movers who would not only receive the animal, and take care of Import handling, but also handle the quarantine process.

The total I'm looking at is over $2,200 USD LAX to Changi with a company called Animals Away from this end (Pet Movers works with them from the US) and Pet Movers at the receiving end.

This is how it looks:

Ground transportation which includes pick up at my home, trip to the vet for Health Certificate, trip to the USDA, trip to LAX:
$395 USD

One day boarding:
$25

Health certificate, USDA fees:
$200

Airfreight and handling costs:
$775

PET MOVERS from Singapore
Import handling:
S$365

Basic quarantine charge;
S$544

Upgrade to aircon kennel:
S$450

Basically what I need to do ahead of time is ensure the animal has its shots in order and has the id chip inserted under its skin.

Can anyone comment on this. Good, bad. I would appreciate any input.

Thanks

[Valarie]

Oregon-We moved her in October with our two Bassett/Lab mix pooches.  I did all of the paperwork in the US (a bit complicated but manageable). I also used PetMovers to handle the import and paperwork her in Singapore.  In fact, PetMovers even assisted me via e-mail with making sure that I had done all of the necessary paperwork. They had me fax things as I had them done so that they could reassure me that everything was in order.

As far as the long trip....DO NOT tranquilize your dogs.  I heard this over and over from different sources including our own vet.  We flew over with Northwest Airlines and chose to take our dogs as excess bagage rather than sending them on their own as cargo.  It made us feel better to know that they were on the same flight as us and it is also cheaper to do it this way.  

When I was making arrangements for their transport with Northwest they informed me that their European partner KLM is the only airline in the world that owns a kennel and it is in Amsterdam.  So, we chose to fly the 11ish hours from Cleveland to Amsterdam where they were taken off the flight and out of their cages for 24 hours at the kennel.  It gave them a break to be fed and watered and of course...potty break!  From there we reloaded them and made the 12 hour flight to Singapore.

We found Northwest/KLM to have a fantastic Pet Priority program.  They kept us informed at all times of the where the dogs where and always brought us a signed form after they had been loaded on the plane and given water.

I hope this info will help you.  We are very pleased that we chose to bring them along.  They have adapted just fine and I have terrific contacts for petsitting once you are here if you chose to not have a full time maid.

[singapore sling]

I took care of all the paperwork myself and didn't use Pet Movers at all. Just give yourself a couple months lead time to make sure you have all the proper documents. I didn't have enough time and wound up having a little bit of a problem when we landed. It was taken care of by contacting the Primary Production or whatever it's called and having them talk to customs or some similar dept in the bowels of Changi.

Save the tranquilizer for yourself. You'll be fretting the entire time. Singapore airlines just loads them on. They sit in their crate for 30 hours total from NY, they exit traumatized but they get over it. Quite frankly, I don't want just anyone taking my dog out for a walk...what if they lose them on to the runway? The KLM deal sounds great. I think I'll have to do that on the way back even though I love Sing Air.

One of my dogs, a furrier Shar-pei is allergic to the crabgrass-like grass here and hates the heat. She almost passed out after walking to and back from the Botanical Garden just 15 mins away. I thought I was going to have to carry her. She loves lying on the cold marble floor.

Singapore isn't good for dog health. Some ticks here are frontline resistant and carry nasties like you wouln't believe. Fainty dog got tick fever which made here temperature go up to 106...off the thermometer! Good thing there are some knowledgable vets here.

Good luck

[oregon]

SebbieQ - It's ok. Must be a case of 'Foot in Mouth' that's going around  
Valarie - Thanks for the info about Northwest/KLM. I wonder if it will be a longer trip for me. Also, do they charge extra for that?
dihult - I wasn't aware until now that they need to have export procedures done here prior to departure. Did everybody needs a USDA certificate? We are shipping our dogs, not beef...
singapore sling - My dogs drag their tongues on the sidewalk in the Summer. Guess I better take them off their AC priviledge this summer in order to climatize them  

[Valarie]

Yes, you will need the USDA certificate.

No, the services of Northwest/KLM did not cost extra.  We did pay $444 each dog as the excess baggage fee.  This will be calculated based on size of crate and total weight.  My dogs weigh approx. 65 lbs each and are long (Bassett) so we went for the extra-large kennels.  You will find that even though this figure seems high, it would cost much more to send them as cargo.

Good luck...ask questions as you go and you should be fine!