While writing the recent 2014 Reflections post I realized just how many times we have to ask new owners to step away from the van and give their new dog space and a chance to disembark safely.
I realize, and appreciate, just how excited a new owner must be, but the chances are that your new ‘best friend’ doesn’t know that, and would like a little time to adjust.
Anyway, I know a lot of new owners are aware of exactly how to scare their new rescue dog when they meet the transport, but for those that aren’t fully aware below are some guidelines.
First, please don’t come alone. Bring as many friends and family as you can so that your dog is confronted by as many new faces as possible straight away.
Second, the van is nice and quiet and dark so what your dog needs more than anything once the doors opens are lots of flashes from as many cameras as possible. He will absolutely love the fact that the first photos you have of him are of a startled looking dog backing into the rear of their cage.
Third, ensure you all crowd the van. Your dog will have been in a transport cage throughout the journey and will be used to getting in and out with us, but we use quiet areas with nobody around, so be sure to all stand as close to the van as possible so your dog has lots of people in their face.
Fourth, I know you are very keen to give your new dog their new collar, leash, coat and while this can’t wait until they are safely in your car, it is even better if you can ensure that they are tucked away in your bag so that once we hand the dog over to you on our leash we need to stand around waiting for you to find your leash. If you aren’t too sure about this visit a local supermarket and look out for the people that are experts at waiting until the cashier has scanned everything and given them their bill and then they start to look for their money.
Fifth, and finally, once you have your dog in your car, and are putting on the new collar and leash, please ensure that one of your friends opens up another door of the car providing the dog with a convenient exit should it decide that it doesn’t like the new collar, leash, or been trapped in the car with lots of hands all over it.
Now of course we are not necessarily experts at this. We have (at the time of writing) only transported 1429 dogs (and 1629 cats) so we are still learning, and as I repeatedly get told by people that have owned dogs for years and driven them to the park every day in their car they know what they are doing, so please feel free to ignore all of the above, in fact feel free to do the exact opposite!
On the off chance that we can help with transporting your pet or rescue animal you will find our Schedule and Availability useful as it has the dates for all our 2015 Scheduled pet transports. Our Prices vary depending on whether you are using the PETS Scheme or TRACES Scheme, the size of the dog or cat (box) and destination: we go to Germany, Holland, Belgium and the UK every month.
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