The treatments were news to be Untill a week ago, so it's great you're aware and on top of it.Leave the worries behind, I'm sure everything will be fine. Be sure and take loads of pics, love to see them. Have a great time

I believe they've enlarged that window now for the vet visit before travelling. From memory - up to 5 days but check it out on the DEFRA website.

It used to be a real PAIN when flying because a lot of people (me included when down in the West Country) had to do an overnighter near the airport before flying and it mean the 72 hrs would have expired before the flight. So unless you lived right near the airport you were flying from it meant finding and booking with a vet closer to the airport and making time and a detour to do that too before leaving. Much easier if you can do it well before setting off for any airports - at your own vet at one end and at your convenience when travelling back.

And I also believe it is only the worm treatment that is now mandatory for re entry to UK, not the flea and tick with it (as it used to be).

But even if you are only gone a week or so and had the worm treatment before leaving, you have to have it done again before coming back.

Hi,

Well, we are back from our holiday, so I thought I would let you know how we got on.
Stena Line Kennels were great. She had a crate type kennel that gave her plenty of space (although she is not a big dog!) and she settled very well. - I do however think that it helped that there was only one other dog in the room with her, so no constant barking to contend with!
We were allowed to visit her as often as we liked, and had a small outside deck area to walk her on.
We also had a cabin, and there was a doggy TV channel on which we could watch her to check she was ok..
Throughout the 6 hour crossing we checked on her via the TV every now and again, and took her for 2 deck walks - she seemed to take it all in her stride and was absolutely fine!!
On the way back, unfortunately I had made a mistake with the time difference. We were going from Caen to Portsmouth which I thought was 4 hours, but turned out to be 6!, so I spent the last couple of days of our holiday worrying about how she would cope as she had to stay in the car on her own.
We were allowed to visit her once, and as it turned out, she seemed to be fine - very excited to see us when we returned, but luckily I don't think she was stressed by the experience.
As for the holiday itself, she had a fantastic time!- she has been sailing, rowing, playing on the beach, splashing in the sea and lots of bike rides in a doggy trailer. - She wasn't keen on the doggy trailer at first, but then we put a kids sand windmill on the back for her to watch, and she was fine after that!
She also doesn't seem to be a real water loving dog (She is a cockerpoo) she will happily sit in a boat, or paddle in the sea up to her knees, but no actual swimming! (Maybe this will come when she is a bit older? - she is only 5 1/2 months)
She was also a real hit in the campsite in France - it took us ages to get around because all the kids wanted a cuddle!
The only downside was that she was only allowed on the local beach after 7pm, but we found a beach a cycle ride away that she was allowed on and actually it was great, because it was much quieter there!
She was also not allowed by the pool, but she was allowed in the bar area which was just next to the pool with just a 3ft glass partition, so one of us sat with her there while the kids were in the pool.
As for sleeping, we tried her in the awning of the van, but she just cried (I think there were noises she wasn't used to) so she ended up sleeping under our bed. I was a little bit worried that she would get used to sleeping with us and then not want to sleep alone when we got back, but we have had no problems at all in the 2 weeks since we returned.
All in all I am really glad we took her with us.
For next year I think we will do a few things slightly differently (e.g look at the crossings more closely! and maybe go for a gite/ villa rather than camping, so that she can be securely left for an hour or 2 if we want to go to a town etc), but other than that, I would recommend taking your dog abroad!

Thanks for the update. That all sounds absolutely great!