How I Brought My Dog to Spain from the United States

Deciding I would spend the next two years in Spain as a language assistant for the Auxiliares de Conversación program, I knew bringing my 13 year-old dog Snowflake, would be a necessity. As complicated as the internet will make it out to be, bringing a pet over is not that difficult if you pay attention to timing and requirements.

Choosing an Airline

First, you have to choose whether you will be flying with your pet, someone else, or having them shipped over. Then, you must decide whether they will be flying in cabin or cargo, and from there you can follow the procedures listed on APHIS accordingly. Luckily, small dogs and cats will almost always be allowed in cabin with the growing popularity of pet travel, but make sure they meet specific breed, size, crate, and location requirements. Stub-nosed breed dogs are not allowed in cargo because of breathing issues, and pets departing from extremely hot destinations are not allowed in cargo either. Flying from Las Vegas with a departure to Spain in September, flying cargo was not an option (thankfully, I didn’t want her to fly cargo regardless), as your pet can only fly underneath from October 1 to May 1.

I reccomend exploring the requirements of different airlines before you begin the process of moving your pet over– you do not want to spend time and money gathering the correct documents only to find out your pet exceeds the weight limit the day of the flight. Snowflake is a 10 pound– or 4.5 kilo, Bichon Frise. According to Condor, the airline we flew with, all pets flying in cabin must fit under the seat to be able to fly. I bought my ticket in early July to avoid price increases, but soon began stressing after realizing she was technically too tall to fit the maximum dimensions (55 x 40 x 20 cm) of the allowed carrier. If you compare this size to other airlines, this is actually a bit smaller than most airlines. I’ve read tons of stories of airlines measuring the carrier at the airport and rejecting them on spot if they’re oversized, so I made it a point to check with the airline in person to make sure the carrier would be allowed on board. The first carrier I purchased, from PetCo, was too small for Snowflake because she could not completely stand up, despite being able to turn around. I then bought the Sherpa carrier in medium, which exceeded Condor’s allowed dimensions by height, however we were able to enter the plane with no problem. The carrier did not fit completely under the seat, so the 8 hour flight to our layover destination in Germany was extremely cramped, but alas we made it. Keep in mind, the carrier must be waterproof on international fights, so be sure to read the label thoroughly.

Meeting the USDA APHIS pet travel requirements

To travel, you must obtain an EU Health Certificate and it must be done by a USDA accredited vet. The USDA APHIS website is pretty self-explanatory, so please confirm with APHIS any contradicting information you read on the internet, and even information from uninformed veterinarians themselves! I was told by a vet that I would have to get the German health certificate since my first arrival into the Schengen zone would be Germany rather than Spain. After calling APHIS to double check, I was told get the Spanish health certificate, despite them being exactly the same, just different languages. Most of the EU requirements are exactly the same, but they may or may not change in the future, so make sure you’re following the specific directions for your country.

1. Get your pet the ISO-compliant microchip:  Even if your pet is already microchipped, you must get them microchipped with an ISO-compliant microchip. This is a 15 digit long microchip that can be read in Europe, so any previous microchips will not be accepted unless you bring your own microchip reader with you. I don’t know of anyone doing this, and it was not expensive to get my dog re-chipped. Snowflake’s microchip was done with Home Again.
2. Get your pet the rabies vaccine… again: Even if your pet is up to to date with their rabies shots, they must get the shots again after the microchipping. This can be done on the same day, but the vaccines must come after. I had to tell the vet doing the chipping and shots to make sure the microchipping was done first, even though the airport (and technically APHIS) would have no way to tell which really came first. Even on my receipt it listed rabies first, but no one questioned me from APHIS nor the airline. After getting their rabies vaccines, there is a 21-day waiting period for dogs over 16 weeks old before they are able to fly. This is important, as they will not be able to fly into the EU if their shots are before the three week mark. Basically, don’t wait last minute to do all of this and you’ll be fine.
3.  Have a USDA-approved veterinarian complete your EU Health Certificate no more than 10 days before your flight:  First thing– the EU Health Certificate is actually an eight page document that an APHIS-accredited vet has to fill out, and it is found on the APHIS website. Here your vet will do a final health assessment of your pet and give them any other shots needed before departure. Technically your vet is supposed to fill out the document on the PDF the day of your visit, though I’ve read of people printing it out themselves. The receptionist at my vet first told me to print out the document and fill out some of the information myself in the waiting room before seeing the vet. That is NOT allowed… at all. I made this mistake the first time by having my vet fill out the remaining spots on my wrongly-printed German certificate in pen. Then, after calling APHIS for about the hundredth time, they assured me it had to be Spain’s certificate, filled out completely (by only the vet) on the computer. I had to go back the next day and have him re-do it. Let me just say, it was a very anxiety-inducing 48 hours, as it would already be Tuesday by the time I would have gotten it shipped to the APHIS office in Sacramento for endorsement.
4. Ship the health certificate to APHIS to get it endorsed: This will be the most stressful part of the entire process if you do not live in a city with an APHIS office. Your certificate must be endorsed by APHIS no more than ten days before your arrival into the EU. Technically my first day of entrance into the EU would be the 25th of September into Germany, despite arriving to Spain on the 26th. The representative of APHIS stated that the 10-day counting period starts the day you enter the EU, so the earliest the health certificate could be filled out by the veterinarian would be September 15th. Just to be extra careful, I added an extra day since the previous representative told me the 16th. But after discovering it had to be filled out on the computer, I came back with my laptop to have it re-filled out on the 17th, giving me exactly eight days to have it shipped and returned (with a self-addressed envelope). I went with FedEx overnight delivery and had no issues. I received my endorsed certificate four days later, as the processing time went quickly. If you want to be extra paranoid like me, call APHIS the next day to make sure they received the certificate and that it is mistake-free.

The journey to Spain

I was a mess the day of my flight. Not because I was leaving my friends and family to live in a foreign country for two years, but because I was afraid that something, somehow would possibly go wrong. I was most worried about the carrier, but after not even being measured, the lady at the airport asked for her EU passport. After panicking and telling her that she only needs the EU health certificate to travel since this is her first time in Europe, it took about twenty minutes to confirm the accuracy of this statement. Seriously, I was about to cry on spot, but thankfully everything worked out and we were allowed to board the plane in peace.

This was Snowflake’s first time on an airplane ever, and surprisingly she was calm during the eight hour flight to Germany, but she get a bit restless a few hours in. She was not allowed out of her carrier, but I discretely let her stick her head out. Some people reccomend anxiety medication for dogs, but I read that it could cause even more dehydration, so she flew without it. I gave her only a few bites of dog food every few hours to calm her down and avoid her using the bathroom– but she was still extremely dehydrated by the time we landed. Condor’s air attendants were really nice and gave me extra cups of water to give to her. By the time we landed at the Germany airport, she pooped, which was extremely awkward because this was not a pet-friendly airport at all and I couldn’t find anywhere to take her outside that would have allowed us back in quick enough to catch the connecting flight.

I was also told by Condor that we would enter customs in Spain since the connecting flight was with Lufthansa, Condor’s partner airline, and that we wouldn’t even have to change terminals once arriving because Lufthansa was “literally right by the plane exit”.  WRONG!!! We did have to enter customs, where the documents were to be re-presented. I was so scared because Germans do not play games when it comes to following rules, but after a quick glance we were good to go.

Tips

• Make sure your pet’s birthday on the APHIS form matches the birthday on the rabies certificate! Snowflake was born January 20, 2005 according to her original birth certificate, but her usual vet lists her date of birth in July because that was the first we brought her to that office. I had to run back to her original vet and have them re-print her rabies certificate with the correct date.
• Prices for the health certificate truly vary. One vet wanted to charge me $150, one $80, one even $200! But thankfully I found an office that would charge me only $60. Do not be afraid to shop around, the only important thing is that your vet is USDA-accredited! Ask the receptionist over the phone, and call again to make sure they aren’t lying just to get you into their office.
• The carrier dimensions are extremely unrealistic, since dogs vary in both size and weight. Your dog could be longer, but be underweight, or shorter and overweight. Technically Snowflake was too tall to fly with Condor, even though she could still stand (90%) in the carrier. If you call the airline they will just repeat the same information that is on their website, but it really depends on the person checking you in at the airport. Go before with your dog in the carrier, have them weighed, and ask whoever is in charge whether they will be allowed to fly without any issues. If they say yes, get their names (or even better, something in writing).
• When choosing a postal service to ship your documents to APHIS, consider whether priority mail means overnight, day of, or 1-day, and if they ship on weekends. Timing is extremely important, so try to get the certificate filled out the first day of the 10-day period.
• The signature portions of the health certificate must be originally signed with ink.

Many vets and pet moving agencies will offer a “deal” where they make sure absolutely everything is done correctly and endorsed by APHIS in time for a small price of $400 or $500…! Honestly, I am the most paranoid person ever and I suck at following directions, so if I was able to do the entire process by myself and manage to get us to Spain in one piece without any problems, so can you. You just have to be sure you’re following directions from APHIS, because people have different experiences that may or may not work for you.

Overall, my experience flying with Condor with my dog was pleasant, and if you are thinking about bringing your pet over– do it! Spain is extremely dog friendly and there are people walking around with their dogs both in the city and the suburbs. I’ve been to cafes, bars, clothing stores, buses, and the metro with my dog and no one has batted an eye. Moving abroad with my pet has also allowed me to maintain a sense of home and familiarity, and with my stressful two months of being here, she has definitely helped me with my transition.