We went for Poole to Cherbourg as the shortest Western Channel crossing, because our caravan is in storage about 40 mins drive from Cherbourg. We did have some concerns initially but the dog seems to settle well in the car now - just curls up and sleeps most of the time - and doesn’t seem bothered by bumps, bangs, car alarms or strange noises. We decided to give this route a try, then if it doesn’t work out swap to one of the crossings with a pet friendly cabin - I can rearrange crossings up to 5 days before travel with no penalty.
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Quote: Originally posted by saxo1 on 15/12/2017
If you don't try you will never know.
I think it is often the owner who is more stressed than the dog.
saxo1
Good plan Bofs - you seem to have everything covered. I'm sure you'll have a lovely time.
We took our cat with us for the first time in 2015 after buying a house in France,and she took to the house first time - leaving (unexpectedly) via the roof terrace, but turning up at the front door (different street) about ten minutes later! She'd only been taken in there in her travelling box!
Then she went caravanning with us and loved the caravan, and is now quite happily a 'campsite cat' adapting to wherever we are, seeing the caravan as home and being free range on campsite where it's allowed, otherwise kept indoors. Sad that cats can't be taken into restaurants and cafes as dogs can - otherwise she might worm her way there too!
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Quote: Originally posted by Val A on 15/12/2017
Good plan Bofs - you seem to have everything covered. I'm sure you'll have a lovely time.
We took our cat with us for the first time in 2015 after buying a house in France,and she took to the house first time - leaving (unexpectedly) via the roof terrace, but turning up at the front door (different street) about ten minutes later! She'd only been taken in there in her travelling box!
Then she went caravanning with us and loved the caravan, and is now quite happily a 'campsite cat' adapting to wherever we are, seeing the caravan as home and being free range on campsite where it's allowed,
otherwise kept indoors. Sad that cats can't be taken into restaurants and cafes as dogs can - otherwise she might worm her way there too!
Hopefully our dog will be as adaptable as your cat.
Hi we have taken our springer to france for the last few years and as everyone has said campsites etc are really dog friendly. Vets are fantastic and much cheaper than Uk.
Only a couple of points to add - we normally do the eurotunnel crossing which is great for dogs and we have found it works really well for ours. Last year we tried the Portsmouth to Caen crossing with our dog left in the car. We gave her calming drops in the lead up to it plus a calming collar which actually really worked however she absolutely hated the crossing and so we reverted back to the eurotunnel this year. It seems loads of dogs are fine with ferries and the only reason I mention it is just to see how yours is with the ferry first before booking your next crossings.
The other thing is totally not to worry you but I really don't want anyone else to go through what we did. So, off lead walking, make sure this is not in woodland and only open spaces. Unfortunately our springer ran out of the car and into woods at an Aire and sliced her torso almost off. It was the most horrific experience of my life. I had been asleep when we stopped and went to get her out of the boot which was a brand new car and automatically opened so she was out before I gave her the 'stay command'. My husband and son had set off walking to stretch their legs so she ran after them and then straight into the woods. We were somewhere south of Le Mans but it was such a blur we can't remember the exact location. Luckily we found a local lady and showed her our dog, she drove her car to the vets so we could follow. 3 emergency operations later and our gorgeous girl was very sore and fixed up. The vet told us it was poacher's razor wire and they had had several dogs in that month with the same injury. So whilst i'm sure its rare we only do off lead walks on beaches etc now.
Just to add on to what is mentioned by Dobboanddobbo in the previous post be aware that in many areas, especially woods and forests, poachers are at work.
Legitimate hunters may put up signs saying 'Piége Garde' (or very similar).
This indicates Traps have been set and keeping your pets on leads and using only the obvious paths is strongly advised.
But Poachers won't bother putting up signs so keeping the dogs on leads at all times when in the Countryside is the best course of action.
The French will hunt and poach anything that moves on the ground or flies in the sky and as long as you're aware of that you should be okay.
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TBH you have to be mad to go walking in woodland in hunting season.If you must,wear something flourescent orange especially on Wednesday and the weekend.
Many thanks for the warning Dobboanddobbo and others. Would not have thought about that. Off lead only in open areas and beaches then. Hope your dog has fully recovered and suffered no long-term ill-effects.
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Thank you, miraculously it missed all of her main arteries and organs so thankfully she made a full recovery. We/she was very very lucky. The only long term effect was that it affected her seasons.
Another thing i just thought of which you won't need for this next trip but maybe useful for summer trips is that i bought a pet cooling mat from b&m and took it with us this year. It was a godsend for her this year in the heatwave as it turns really cold when your dog lays on it. From memory it cost about £10.
Poole-Cherbourg is obviously a route you know , and if you are confident that the dog will be happy sitting/sleeping in the car for 3-4 hours, the crossing should be no problem. As already mentioned above, the admin office can arrange for you to make a 10-minute visit during the crossing, when you can walk the dog around the car deck.
We've taken our dog 3 times on caravan tours in France without problem, although it's much smaller and less hairy than a bearded collie! It may be difficult at Easter to find dry/warm weather in the top half of the country, which given your dog's shagginess is perhaps an issue. There is absolutely no need to book sites in advance except in high summer, so why not keep your options open until you know what the weather is doing?
Unfortunately there is no UK-style network of public footpaths in France, so you are best heading for somewhere you know there to be paths, e.g. alongside rivers or (if you risk poor weather) at the seaside. Of the places you mention, the Loire region would be the safest choice around Easter. A fine little municipal site, Les Reclusages at Montoire-sur-le-Loir (on the Loire's sister river) is beside the river, spacious, and just a short walk from the market town.
We have found that it is not always easy to locate somewhere to run dogs off the lead when staying on a campsite. However, on several occasions we have asked reception staff and they have pointed us to a nearby spot. Once the manager of the municipal we were staying at even opened the gate to the adjacent sports field for us to use (he managed both) - on the condition that we cleaned up, of course, but we always do. Some campsites even supply bags for this purpose.
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Topic: First time to France with dog.
