Essential Kit For Your Dog When Travelling in Europe

Pet Passport

You will need to make sure you have an up to date pet passport. Please check that your details are also correct and up to date with your micro chip provider. Don’t have a pet passport? Click here… http://www.rewindthegap.co.uk/2018/06/21/pet-passports-at-the-ready/

Collar Disk details

The most important details on your pets disk is to make sure your telephone number is correct including the correct dialling code for England (0044) at the start. You may wish to consider adding your email address too as a second form of contact.

Seat Belt Extension and Harness

It is an offence in many parts of Europe to not have your dog secured in your motorhome. Your dog should not be in the cab part of the motorhome when you are travelling to ensure they do not cause you any distractions. Lily is secured with a seat belt extension which clips into the rear seats and onto her harness. The fines are on the spot in most places and hefty if you choose to ignore it.

Leads

We have a few leads with us, just in case one gets broken or lost. We use an extendable lead when walking in parks as in some parts of Europe dogs are not allowed off the lead in public areas. We also have a screw hook and long lead so that we can tether Lily up outside the motorhome easily.

Muzzle

Each country has its own rules about whether your dog needs to be muzzled. Most countries request your dog to be muzzled on public transport, we always make sure we have Lily’s muzzle with us but so far we have never been asked to put it on.

Toys and Treats

We tend to buy treats in bulk when we see a pet shop as they can be few and far between in some countries. Lily has a selection of toys in the motorhome that we rotate to keep it varied for her. We have tried to bring toys that can not scratch the motorhome ie. Rubber balls, Rope Tugger’s and a ball on a rope for playing with outside.

Worming tablets

We use Milbemax to worm Lily every quarter as it is a multi wormer. This wormer also contains praziquantel which is proven to be effective against the Echinococcus multilocularis tapeworm which is needed to be given to your dog 1-5 days before travelling back to the UK.

Scalibor or Seresto Collar

Lily wears a Scalibor collar. The Scalibor Collar is for the control of infestations of ticks, control of blood sucking caused by sand flies and for an anti-feeding effect on adult mosquitoes. Each collar lasts for 6 months and can be bought in pharmacies or pet shops abroad.

Poo Bags

We have struggled to buy poo bags in some countries in Europe although they do seem readily available in France and Spain. So we have stocked up and brought plenty with us to hopefully last the duration of our trip. Remember to buy biodegradable.

Grooming Equipment

We have brought dog shampoo with us and we have found a lot of the beach campsites do have dog showers. We have a slicker brush, de-matting comb, pin brush, grooming scissors and nail clippers.

Dog First Aid Kit

We have a very basic first aid kit which includes a bandage, gauze, tape, tick remover.

Dog Insurance

If you are travelling to Europe please check your policy to see if your dog will be covered for the length of your trip. We couldn’t find any insurers that would cover us for our duration away. So we don’t have any dog insurance. We have found that vets are much cheaper than the UK. We have had Lily’s annual vaccination done in Benidorm for the past 2 years and it has cost 28 euros (£23.27). When Oakley was poorly we paid approx £20.00 for an appointment to see a neurologist in Poland.

Micro Fibre Towels

We have two micro fibre towels which are easy to wash and dry really quickly.

Bed

We have two pieces of vet bed with us, so when one piece is being washed we have a spare.

Dog Bowls

We have a non spill water bowl to ensure Lily always has fresh water available and her food bowl. We also have three collapsible water bowls which we use when we go out for the day.

Dog Food

Mainland Europe is quite different to England. There are pet shops but they are not the normal. We have found in most countries locals buy their dog food in supermarkets or vets. The choice is obviously limited in supermarkets. We try to keep Lily on the same food for as long as possible and always make sure we have a new bag when leaving a country so that we can mix the food if necessary. We have found that Science Diet is available in vets in most countries if you wish to use the same food continuously.

Dog Trailer

We have recently invested in a collapsible dog trailer so Lily can come out with us if we are cycling. This has been great in Spain where larger dogs are unable to go on to buses or metros.

Cooling Mat

These are now widely available and great to keep your furry friend cool on a hot day.

This is certainly not an exhaustive list, let us know if there is anything else that you think should be added.