- If you are using Eurotunnel the dogs have to remain in the car during the trip. But if there was an emergency you would want to get them out as part of the evacuation so, if like us you have an estate car, make sure that the attendant leaves sufficient space between your car and the one behind so there is room to open the tailgate if neccessary. On our April trip this was done when I asked. On our August trip the attendant explained that they were instructed to leave no more than 20cm between the vehicles to discourage people from standing between them during the journey and to minimise damage if the train has to make an emergency stop and vehicles move. She agreed we had a legitimate point and said she would feed it back to management - and gave us a generous 20cm.
- Keep a bowl and water handy and offer it at every break. Three dogs can drink a lot and we have now moved up to a 5 litre bottle, which we enclose in two of the free freezer bags you get to take your frozen food home from Carrefour. We find this is sufficient to keep the water cool for the duration of the trip. As you are probably going to clear out the fridge before you leave any ice can go into the bottle to help to keep it cool. We are tending to stop at most about every 1.5 hours.
- The Campanile motel chain allow (well behaved and quiet) dogs to stay in rooms with their owners at no extra charge. You do, of course, need to take their bedding and ensure that they keep off the beds. We now take an old double sheet with us which we put over the bed in case any of the dogs jumps on it whilst we are in the restaurant.
- As you are going to take the dogs to the vets within 48 hours of your return home, you will soon be thinking about clearing the fridge. Why not take some of that remaining cheese that won't survive the journey home to ease the administration of the tablets? Instead of a reluctant dog having tablets pushed down its throat we had three dogs lined up saying "Can I have another?"
-
Goldie is allergic to fleas so we regularly treat all the dogs with "Frontline". I think we have only ever had one tick in the UK on any of our dogs - and we have had dogs for over thirty years - but in France we have peaked at several a day. We have found that it is necessary to check for ticks after every walk or run in the field. We check Goldie particularly carefully because although the "Frontline" kills the ticks after a bit, he begins to be unwell not long after he has picked one up. In fact on one occasion we noticed he wasn't happy, did another check and found one attached to his private parts! Sally and Ziggy don't seem to be affected to anywhere near the same extent and we have removed a dead tick from Sally, who was completely unmoved.
From our UK Vet we got a set of two tick removing hooks - ridiculously expensive for a couple of small pieces of plastic - which are for different-sized ticks and are very effective. These are now widely available on the internet.
The hook has a "V" slot in it which you insert under the tick and then turn the tool anti-clockwise to get the tick out without leaving any bits of its jaws in the dog.
This is better than using tweezers as it reduces the risk of infected blood being injected into the dogs if you squeeze the tick rather than pulling it out. We then remove the tick from the hook and put it on some paper to make sure that it is dead. If it isn't, squash it before disposing of it - they can be very hard to squash between your fingers.If the tick is engorged (we have had several which had reached the size of a coffee bean, see below) when you have got it off wrap it up very well before squashing it - once I didn't and it burst, spraying blood over an area of the terrace which then had to be scrubbed to remove it.
If you find the dogs have several ticks and you have been where they went, it would be an extremely good idea to check yourself thoroughly for ticks. It is an even better idea and more fun to get your partner to do it! Check in creases and under saggy bits. Some of the ticks carry very unpleasant diseases and if you find you have one which is attached it would be wise to consult the local pharmacist or doctor as soon as possible. You did remember to get your free European Health Insurance Card, didn't you?
If you are going to walk with the dogs in an area where you know they will pick up ticks it would be wise to take the precaution of wearing boots, long trousers and a long-sleeved top rather than flip-flops or sandals, shorts and a sleeveless top.
When the tick first gets onto the dog (or you) it is tiny and looks a bit like a small spider.
The left hand photo shows one on the edge of a dog grooming brush and you can judge its size by noting that there are metal combing pins on the top and bristles just visible underneath. It is perhaps a couple of millimetres across.When it is engorged it can be anything from a couple of millimetres upwards. The one in the right hand photo is 13 mm - and, as we discovered when it walked away, not dead yet!