Help needed to see the family

[HowMuchLonger]

We currently have a problematic situation>
Our summer holiday plan is to drive down to Spain for a week or so. The route involves: Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany (stop off at Nurburgring), Switzerland, France, then to the south coast in Spain.

Now for the problem: I live/work in Norway, and my fiance and dogs are in London. How do we get the dogs to Norway to start our hols?
a) Ferry, dogs left in car for 19hrs (not acceptable)
b) Fly commercial airline, dogs in cargo (not acceptable)
c) Channel tunnel, then OH drives. 1,700miles (along way to drive when we are planning a circa 6000mile road trip shortly after)
d) Charter a plane
e) Charter a boat

So in all of your wisdom does any PH'er have any idea how much it would cost to charter a plane or boat that would let us carry 2 small dogs with us? Any help would be great as I think it is starting to get quite stressful.

[HowMuchLonger]

Let me say that one of the dogs is a little bugger, who can not be left alone unsupervised! The proof of which was teeth marks in all the leather in my new Disco3, and ripped interior of the O/H's TT. In the 7 years that we have been together we have only been away together for one long weekend due to not wanting to leave them on their own. We have finally got their passports sorted out so the dogs will be going on holiday with us.

[HowMuchLonger]

I am sure OH will be on soon, but I will pre-empt her comments...the dogs come with us.

This thread would probably be more successful if I had just asked "how much for a charter plane/boat from UK to Norway" with no explanation as to why.

[HowMuchLonger]

Thanks, who did you use? I had thought of netjets, but they seem to be a form of time share, and not suitable for a one off trip.

[HowMuchLonger]

bigandclever said:

How about this for a daft idea...

Find someone to take the ferry from Plymouth to Santander... the crossing is 18 hours or so but they have kennels on board and they allow you to take the mutts out and give them some exercise to stretch their legs.

http://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/pet-friendly-hol...

Edited by bigandclever on Wednesday 5th May 20:42

Excellent idea, but if we did that I would get the car brought from Norway to UK, then take the ferry. Drive back to Norway for a OH to stay for another month or so, after which we still need to get the little ones back to the UK from Norway. There in lies the problem.

Have you used that ferry with dogs, if so how was it?

[HowMuchLonger]

Being honest, it is my fault. I spoilt him as a puppy, as such he does have a problem. He will hyperventilate, salivate everywhere, and his eye goes very red (bursting blood vessels apparently. He has high blood pressure so is on pills for that. The vet also agrees that he has very bad separation anxiety, and prescribed him temazepan. The dosage is similar to that of a human, bear in mind he is only 8kg, and it had no effect on him.

He has a cage, and will go in it while we are at home. He may even let us shut the door if we are still there, but when we leave all hell breaks loose. He is 10years old, so not a puppy that we can train easily. We have tried behaviorists, training, etc.....all to no avail.

He is not happy if we leave him with friends, so I imagine he will be the same in kennels. When he has been to the hospital under sedation the vets will ring up for us to come and get him asap because he acts like he is about to have a fit when he wakes up.

The poor little bugger has had a traumatic life so we don't want to stress him out any more than necessary.

I must add that his sister is as good as gold! (Except in the car, where she has to run back and forth for the entire journey just in case she missing something interesting out of the other window).

Edited by HowMuchLonger on Wednesday 5th May 22:49

[HowMuchLonger]

Nickyboy said:

If the dogs were sedated as they normally have to be for flight then they wouldn't know anything about being seperated from you for a few hours

Planes do not allow the dogs to be sedated (from what we have read)..They also don't recommend snub nosed dogs fly due to their breathing issues.

[HowMuchLonger]

dugt said:

Tell the dogs to man up and get a muzzle for them in the car?

Have you ever seen a Shih-Tsu with a muzzle? I can't even imagine what shape it would be.

bull996 said:

What date is your trip? I am driving to from here to Copenhagen and would take the dogs to meet you if the dates tally.

Very kind..



I expect the TT would be more fun but I am anticipating it will be the full fat that goes round the ring. That will be followed by a ring taxi to see how it should be done. Hmm maybe I should buy a spare set of brake pads.

[HowMuchLonger]

ninja-lewis said:

I take it getting a ferry from Norway to UK and picking them up yourself on the way to Germany is out of the question?

Completely out of the question. The UK-Norway was cancelled a while ago.

[HowMuchLonger]

Quick update> The vet has refused to give the little bugger a "fit to fly" certificate, so the plan is as follows:
Drive across Norway, then ferry to Denmark. Drive across Denmark the ferry to UK. Collect the family then take channel tunnel to France. Drive across France and Spain, then stay with parents for a week or so. Then return via: Spain, France, Switzerland,Germany, Denmark, Sweden and Norway.

Total distance: approx 12,000km

[HowMuchLonger]

XJSJohn said:

FasterFreddy said:

Have you considered a cat? They don't tend to be as needy...

... might rip up the leather in the Rangie though

The Shih Tzu has already managed to rip the leather in 2 brand new Disco's, a brand new TT, and scratched nearly all the doors at home. So I doubt a cat would be any worse.

Please note this is note a wind up, not sure how it could be. As I think I have mentioned before this will be our first holiday in 7 years, so I am really looking forward to it.