I want to take my pets with me – now what?

Our two boys on the day they arrived, testing their new beds

We were one of those families that made the decision right from the get-go that our pets would move with us to the UK.  This was non-negotiable for us and as we started our plans and built a budget, the costs of the pet relocation was always included. 

Taking your pets with you is a massive decision.  So is leaving them behind.  Right from the outset, I want to stress that, if you choose to leave your animals behind, please let them go to new homes immediately.  Don’t drag this out, don’t use any lame excuse for keeping them with you, don’t, whatever you do, leave it to the last desperate minute when you put out pleas on social media coupled with threats to drop them at the SPCA.  That is not fair.  But if you choose to move without them, and choose to rehome them as quickly as possible, giving you and the pets a chance to adjust (and for you to make sure they are really in a good home), then that is a decision that can be understood and most will support you. 

If you are one of the thousands that wish to move with your pets, I’m sharing our experience with you, so that you know what lies ahead.  The more knowledge you have and the more research you do, the smoother your move will go.

So…you have made the decision…now what? 

Well, moving with your pets isn’t an easy task and it’s an expensive one.  So the first thing you need to do is start researching how to prepare them for the customs and immigration process.  This isn’t as simple as booking a ticket and dropping them off at the cargo company.  Whilst the dreaded quarantine period has been dropped, it takes around 4 months to get your animals ready for the move to the UK.  Your first stop on the journey is the UK government website, which is a wealth of information on everything possible.  

You can read about the requirements at this link.

Once you have read up what is required, you can chat to your vet about getting your animals ready.  This part, the prepping and paperwork, is tedious but it’s actually the easy part.  You pay out chunks of money and fill in reams of forms, and you know your animals will arrive on the other side.  That’s when the hard work begins!

Please understand the point of my blog today, this is not a post to discourage you and make you feel negative.  It’s a blog to candidly share our experience so that you can be as prepared as possible for your own journey.

1.  First and foremost, owning a dog in the UK is a luxury.  No dogs here (that I know of) form part of the security plan, all dogs are inside dogs, every single one of them (that I’ve met) is patiently trained, and everyone walks and grooms their dogs without exception.  Dogs cost money, and more money. 

The English love their dogs and spend an infinite amount of time training and caring for them.  I have never seen so many well behaved, well trained animals, off lead and on.  Owning a dog is a serious matter here and I must be honest, our Saffa braks are quite noisy and unruly.  They were worse when we lived in our first tiny property and had a tiny courtyard for a garden and no real space to run around.  I worked a 10 min bike ride from home so I had to dash home every lunch hour to walk them which was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do – it took ages for them to settle into this routine and get used to only ever being outdoors on a lead.

Thankfully we moved after a year and now are lucky enough to have a property with a massive garden full of interesting smells and passers-by – they are still noisy braks but are somewhat more chilled now that we live in the country where dogs are a huge part of the community.  On that note, the whole village knows our dogs and the few times they have managed to get out the gate, we’ll get a knock on the door to tell us that “Benji and Brady are out and are in the village green” – this is so much better than microchipping, village life is awesome!

If you can’t walk your dogs yourself, you’d need to pay a dog walker, prices start at around £12/hour and they are in high demand so it takes time to find a good walker.  If you have 2 dogs, as we do, you are looking at around £20/hour for a walk, if you book them for weekdays, that's £100/week.

Next is grooming, which is also pricy.  Our hairy guy costs us £35 per groom, and whilst the groomer does a great job, its money we have to budget for.

Lastly pet insurance can cost a bit too, starting at around £15/month per pet with some going as high as £35/month per pet!

Do some calculations and you’ll quickly see why pets have their own section on the budget.

2.  Secondly, renting a property with pets is an absolute nightmare.  It’s just a fact of life and will be something you need to brace yourself for.  You will get so many no’s…sooooooo many.  The best advice I can give is to find a private landlord when you first arrive.  This comes with its own risks but it’s probably the quickest way to get a reference and find a property to stay as the agents will stonewall you.  You may be asked to pay an additional deposit, or an additional fee each month towards cleaning, but dealing one-to-one with a private landlord is just so much easier than the nightmare of rental agents.

Once you have a good reference, it’s a whole lot easier.  One tip that I can share, which worked brilliantly for us, is to create a 1 page “CV” of your pets.  Add a photo, their names, ages, general health and training.  Add a sentence about each one’s personality and explain how you will protect the property from damages.  This helped me break the ice with a few landlords and I’ve never looked back.

Another tip, for when you arrive – book pet-friendly holiday accommodation for when you get here and make sure you have several weeks booked.  Yes, it takes ages to find and rent a property so don’t put yourself into a panic by giving yourself a week and then face the thought of possibly putting the animals in the kennel while you hunt for properties.  We actually left ours in SA for 2 months and they joined us only once we had a home secured and had moved in.  Not everyone can do this but it’s worth considering – weigh up the additional cost of flying your animals so long after you arrive vs the costs of kennels or pet-friendly holiday accommodation and you might find that bringing them to join you is not only less stressful but also more cost-effective.

Mud...and a naughty dog!

3. And then, there is this thing called mud.  OMG, be prepared for so much mud.  When the weather in the UK is kak, it really sucks.  And the dogs have to walk whether it’s wet out there or not.  Life becomes quite interesting when it’s measured by the most absorbent towel, the best method for removing mud and how to get the buggers not to shake INSIDE the house and spray mud right up to the ceiling!  There is an apt saying in this country: “Boots and dogs welcome, leave the mud at the door!”

4.  Lastly, you’ll want to know how they handled the move.  Well, our poor guys moved in the heat of the SA summer to the dead of the UK winter and they did struggle to adjust initially.  The journey itself was fine though, they arrived somewhat stressed but otherwise in good health and very excited to see us.  Since we’ve taken on the country life, they are way happier although they still aren’t huge fans of the wet weather.  They do however, just love snow, when we get it.

SNOW DAY!!!!!

Would I do it again?  Absolutely. These are our animals, they are part of the family. 

"Ohana.  Ohana means family and family means, nobody gets left behind."