Rupert in England!

I promised an update on the arrival of our dog Rupert and here it is.

First, when we learned that we were moving to England, we immediately started working on getting Rupert into the country along with us.  What we found was that he was not going to be able to fly with us when we moved here last August.  We have several "hoops" to jump through in order to satisfy the British department that allows animals entry (DEFRA which is the same as our USDA in many ways).

First, Rupert needed to have an update on his Rabies vaccination.  Even though his vaccine was not yet due, we gave him a booster and then waited 3-4 weeks for a special blood test called a titre.  I believe the titre is taken to show that he is in fact vaccinated against rabies.  To be certain the immune system is at the appropriate level, you need to wait the few weeks.  Because of the late confirmation from Steve's company that we were certainly moving, we did not pay the $250 for the titre until we were sure we were moving.  That test was done on July 14th.  What I did not know at that time was that between the start of the process and the titre, on June 30th, a decision was made by the UK that dogs, as of January 1, 2012, would no longer need this blood test or have to go through a 6 month quarantine from the date of the blood titre.  Not knowing this, we did the test and had it sent to the one veterinary school in the US certified to analyze the blood in Kansas.

Next hoop:  wait six months from the titre for the dog to enter the UK, unless you want to pay crazy kennelling costs here in the UK until the 6 month period is expired and then you can bring the dog home.  In tears, I called my dad and told him the situation and asked if he would consider taking Rupert until the 6 month quarantine was up on January 14, 2012.  He did not even hesitate when he said yes.  Well, he did ask my mom first, but she is as nice to me as my dad and didn't hesitate even though this was going to be quite an undertaking.

With all in order, Rupert travelled across the US with me last August from Illinois to New Jersey via Cleveland, OH and Rochester, NY where he found a new, temporary home at Grandma and Grandpa's house.  My parents have been absolutely wonderful with him.  They took him to the groomer and the vet even having to deal with some type of worm issue!  Then they drove all over NJ to get to the USDA office twice to get the paperwork right for his travel.  All of the paperwork had to be completed within the month and some within the week before he flew to the UK.

By the way, we did learn about the change in the rules in the fall.  This meant that as of January 1, Rupert would actually be able to fly to us as long as he had that rabies vaccine three weeks earlier and remember he had that back in June.  With this information, we decided to get him here sooner rather than later and booked him on a January 4th flight arriving on the morning of January 5th.  Unfortunately, this meant my parents had to run all over NJ during the holidays hoping that the people they needed would be at work and not on holiday (vacation).  As things seemed crazy, my mother got nervous and booked herself on the flight with Rupert!  This is a grandmother who loves the dog too!

So paperwork was in order.  We also had to have the proper size kennel for the dog.  With a tape measure in hand, my parents even measured the dog, a moving target mind you, and determined that the largest travel kennel was needed.  Oh, and because he is rather tall (36" when sitting) he needed a special extender added to the kennel to get the height right!  Then my parents had to get food and water bowls for the kennel.  If you know labradors you know that a plastic bowl will be a snack on the long plane ride, so my parents afixed some metal parrot bowls to the kennel as required!  Then they donated an old flannel sheet to be used as bedding.  Yep, they love the dog! 

The big day arrived last Wednesday for him to travel.  I can't believe it was just last week.  I had arranged for a company to pick him up at their house and take him to the airport.  The woman who collected him was wonderful.  She promised to take good care of him; and since my parents had already heard great reviews of her from the people in the USDA's office, they were confident he was in good hands.  When my parents went back into the house to get my mom's stuff together, they commented that the house seemed so empty!

A few hours later and my mother was on the plane.  A few minutes after she was settled, the animals were loaded last in the cargo hold below.  The plane was in the air while I was sound asleep.  As I woke, the winds were howling in the southern part of England.  It had been howling for the past 24 hours or so.  It had me nervous for the travelers.  I went online and found the airplane tracking to land almost 30 minutes early.  The winds were helping to push my puppy home. 

I also had a travel consultant here in England that I messaged in the morning about the flight. She confirmed that she was also watching the arrivals and would be in contact through the day.  We had spoken the day before and I knew that it was going to be awhile before we saw the dog.  Apparently, everyone knew about the change in rules so Everyone wanted to get their pets to the UK as soon as possible.  The day before was the first big influx of pets.  Because of a required vaccine within 120 hours but not less than 24 hours before flying, and given that Monday, January 2nd was a holiday for many offices because the 1st was on Sunday, people were getting the vaccine and not flying until the 3rd.  Over 120 pets had to be processed on the 4th of January which is 2x more than usual.  Friends at the school collected their dog at 2pm on the 4th and he had been on the same flight as Rupert but the day before.  I knew that it would be at least 2 before we saw Rupert. 

I arrived at the airport at the same time that the plane was estimated to arrive if it had been on time, but the last report as I left was that it was going to be early.  Unfortunately, when I got to the airport, it was going to be landing 10 minutes late!!!  Apparently they had to circle the airport three times before landing.  Uggh.  An hour later I found my mother rolling her two large suitcases through the arrivals door!  Yeah!  She confirmed that the pilot was able to tell her that Rupert had definitely made it onto the plane.  She said the flight was really bumpy at the end and hoped the dog was okay.  But now we had to wait for the call from Jane, my pet travel consultant.

We made it to my house in Camberley.  I made lunch and we were able to relax and eat it.  My mother was able to wrap all of the Christmas presents she had filling one of the large suitcases.  I contacted Jane who said that there were 200 pets coming through and they were still processing animals that had come in on 6am arrivals!  It was time to get the kids from school and watch Jacob's first Rugby game.  I made sure Jane had my cell phone number.  We were able to watch the entire rugby match and load the kids in the car.

Jacob in the tackle going for the ball.

Jane called us as we were driving home to tell us not to come near the pet reception center at the airport, because there were people cramming the little waiting room and no parking out front.  We should continue to wait.  Hoping it would be any minute, we made a quick pasta dinner.  But we had plenty of time to sit down to eat.  Then we had time to sit together and open Christmas presents!  It was just before 9:00pm when we finally got a call from Jane that Rupert had been processed and we could come to collect him! 

My mother and Cameron and a pile of presents!

Steve and I arrived at the Animal Reception Center (ARC) at about 9:30 and the place had at least 8 groups of people waiting for pets. I overheard one gentleman saying his pet arrived on a 6am flight and the customs assistant apologized but said the pet's paperwork was still in review.  Another woman was standing with two very large suitcases and I think she had been there all day waiting for her pet.  There was a family with little kids on a couch and based on the piles of paper cups on the table, I think they had been there a long time as well.  I was able to get the attention of one of the control officers and she took my name, Rupert's name and the flight number.  I told her our consultant had indicated the paperwork was complete.  She disappeared through a door to investigate.  We waited for about five minutes and I wasn't sure anyone was actually looking when the woman appeared with a large envelope and a clipboard.

"He's ready," she said.  She handed me his paperwork and asked me to sign him out.  She then said she would bring him around in moment and that they would bring his kennel out through some large garage bay doors.  It was only moment when she returned with out dog!  I felt badly for the people who had been waiting all day when we just waltzed in and waited less than 10 minutes to walk away with our pet.  He had been out of his kennel for the day and I was assured he had been fed and given water for dinner.  He was happy to see us and seemed to recognize us. 

We had to take the kennel apart to fit it into the back of the minivan.  Rupert jumped into the car without problem and settled in for the drive home.

For the first night, I slept on the couch in the living room to keep him company and get him outside if he needed.  I don't know how jet lag affects dogs, but Rupert did alright.  I didn't get much sleep, but I think that's because I was on the couch and not because of the dog.  We also had to change his food, but he seems to be doing well with that as well.

My mother and I took him to Windsor Great Park for a walk on Friday morning.  When we were in the park he did get sick.  I am not sure if it was the food, the jet lag or a combination, but he hasn't had any other problems.

Rupert and my mom on the long walk in Windsor Great Park

Here is the castle which is small behind Rupert and Mom above.

I have been looking forward to walking Rupert all around England.  The English love their dogs and you see them everywhere.  Windsor Great Park is no exception.  On Sunday, we went on a country walk in the town of Shere and I was even able to let him off the lead (leash) and he was so good.  When the horses were coming toward us we put him back on, but he didn't even bark at them.  And unlike my mother and I, he didn't slip and fall in the muddy trail down the hill near town!  We could not take him to Hampton Court Palace today, but will make it up to him tomorrow when we head over to Runneymede which is where King John signed the Magna Carta in 1215!  More sightseeing for Rupert.

The town of Shere below.  Just before the big slip in the mud!

Rupert on the trail!

I think he likes it here so far.  There are lots of new smells and he has already tried to go after one of those cats who wanders into our yard.  I have been awaiting his arrival to help chase them away!  The kids play with him and let him out when he needs it.  It's nice to be a complete family again!  It's too bad that Grandpa has to miss him so much.