[anne]

We are planning on moving to Auckland at the end of the summer. We have a great dog (really still a puppy--15 months old). My husband's company will pay to have her brought to NZ. Can anyone tell me anything about how the quarantine system works? Are dogs kept in crates for a month? It seems to me that most pet owners I have heard from come from the U.K. and I don't think there is a quarantine from England, right?
Bringing our dog is just one of the many worries that I have surrounding this move. I'd love any info.

Anne :exit

[jess]

Hi Anne. Welcome to the forum!

Quarantine was not at all as bad as it sounds. My dog had a 8' x 8' indoor room with a sliding glass door to an outdoor run of the same size. We used Shado-Lans north of Wellington, and the owners were terrific. They ordered in her food so she didn't have to switch and were great with her. We visited often during the month she was there.

Check out this thread (http://www.emigratenz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=9290) with some more info, and try searching 'shipping dogs' or 'quarantine' on the forum for even more info.

Your dog would have to be microchipped, and there are lots of tests to be done. We used IPT pet shippers and had a very good experience with them. (Some people have not been happy with them, but there are also others with good experiences like ours.) A pet shipper will help you keep up with all the different tests, and how and when they need to be done. They also handle the final exam at LAX. IPT is online here (http://www.iptlax.com/).

I have a list of the tests we had to do with our dates. If you would like me to email it to you, pm me with your email address, because it's too long to send to you in a pm (that's private message).

[anne]

I am going to check out all of the links that you sent me. Also...wonderful to hear that you can visit your puppy when they are in quarantine. Do you know if there are quarantine facilities close to Auckland? Was your dog completely stressed-out by the experience? How can I private message you?

Thanks again for the help.

Anne :o

[Trigirl]

anne - to send a private message to someone - click on their name above a post that they have made. a drop down list will appear and one of the options will be send private message.

good luck with the move.

[jess]

In Auckland:
Qualified Pet Services (http://www.qualifiedpet.co.nz/)
Pet Haven (http://www.pethavenkennels.co.nz/)
I don't know anything about those two. Perhaps others will come along who can give you their review...

Our dog did very well, and wasn't too stressed except when we would leave after a visit - the only time I've ever heard her howl. Broke my heart, but it all went by quickly, and she got lots of love from John and Denise who own Shado Lans. The only bad thing I ever really hear about quarantine is dogs putting on a little weight from less exercise than usual.

(You can pm me by clicking on my username 'jess' above my post and clicking 'send private message'.)

[Howie]

Hi
I shipped my dog from the US a year ago and used IPT. They were great and I'm so glad I used them. Quarantine sucks, but I do think it was perhaps harder on me than on my dog. He stayed at Qualified in Auckland. They are south of Auckland, so depending on where you are living, it can be a bit of a drive out there. Their visiting hours are only something like 10am-2pm (that's not quite right, check with them) so it was hard to fit visiting in with looking for a place to live and starting a new job. I visited him everyday nonetheless. The runs at qualified are smallish outdoor/indoor runs, but they are concrete both in and out and I was worried he wasn't going to figure out where outside was and where he could "go". But he figured it out. When he got out of quarantine he was fat and out of shape and it took a while before he could go on a good run.
Hope that helps, PM me if you'd like more info.
Susan