Sorry to hear about Tilly. Hope she is OK. Some of the grass does look quite lush at the moment.
The dogs can stay in the car in the Eurotunnel. On the way back, they have to go into a building (with you) to check in. The microchip number is read (the scanner was passed to us for us to scan the dog and the woman read the number) against the number in the passport and the documentation is checked.
The dogs MUST be wormed & have flea treatment 24-48 hours before they return to the UK - I think that is landing in the UK (rather than being on the train/boat), but I'm not sure. If this is not correct in the passport, the dogs will not be able to return. This is not so awful as it sounds - they will not be locked away, they will just have to have the treatments again and then wait until the correct period before they can travel - but it would be expensive. It is absolutely imperative that you check that the vet, who carries out those treatments, writes in the time and the date. So many people have been delayed because the vet has not written in the time. I think many vets think it is all a bit silly and I think they have a point. It all relies on the owner being responsible. Any worms those dogs get, after the treatment to return to the UK, will not die and could be excreted in the UK but, apparently, it was the best solution and it is in all our interests to ensure everyone is careful, after all. But some people don't think, do they?!
I'm using a kennel at Compton Abdale near Cheltenham at the moment. The dogs have bigger sleeping chambers, but no private outdoor run as I've had before. She has a gravelled yard and likes to walk them three times a day in her woods - ON THE LEAD. HOwever, she does walk two dogs at a time. Beecham is going in in a couple of weeks on the understanding that she does NOT walk him with any other dog. I also send a list of instructions and she knows that I prefer them not to be walked in the wood - it's gamey. As yet, they've not been. The last thing I need is a dog being pulled off a point. Lack of exercise will not kill them for the time they are in there. The last kennels couldn't manage to give Beecham his pills without a fight and he is so easy. Donna, who owns this kennel, seems to love him to bits (she should, he's great :)) and he sits and has his pills without a fuss. She also told me that he dances around with his toy in the morning and follows her with it etc etc From that, I know that he is happy. She also feeds them my own food. One of her girls loves Muensters. Her parents had a German import many a moon ago. It's straight down the A40, only a few minutes from the Stowe roundabout (ie where the A40 crosses the Fosse Way). All the chambers are tiled and quite smart. It's called It's a Dog's Life. It might be worth you taking a look. I asked about the one at the big Pear Tree roundabout and was told that no one had ever told the person anything bad about it. I know it's supposed to be luxurious. I went to one near Oxford which was absolutely ghastly and the owner couldn't even give the dogs a biscuit without them running away. Go and have a look @ Donna's, Karen (give her a ring first), she's very nice. It is quite close to the A40 with big iron gates. Her Dobermans patrol at night. I was worried about it at first, but have stopped as Beecham is so very happy there and she likes him. They don't have many kennels either, so the dogs have plenty of attention.
Sue
