Travelling from UK to Canada with your dog
Our dear friend Gypsy travelled to Toronto, Canada with her parents last Christmas and they told us all about their experience – warts and all! Read on to find out what paperwork they needed, how stressful they found it, how much fun they had and how it was for Gypsy to fly in the cabin with her mum and dad. Unfortunately they had to stay in London this Christmas due to the pandemic but we thought it was a good, festive time to talk to them about their big journey!
Please note that due to Brexit, although the Canada leg of the journey would still be valid information, the rules around bringing your dog to the UK from European countries might change in the near future. Please do your own research before booking and once the laws are announced, we will update this page and other relevant sections of our website – Travelling Ruff team
Meet Gypsy and her family
Today we’ll chat with one of our dearest friends Gypsy – known as @gypsy.onthehill on Instagram – and her sweet mumma Bihter about how they travelled to Canada from the UK for a happy occasion! Don’t let us spoil the story, let’s hear it all from them…
Q – Of course, we know and love Gypsy and her humans dearly but let’s introduce you to our readers first. Please tell us a little about your gorgeous little girl.
A – “The little muffin is now 16 months! We have had her since she was 8 weeks old, so it has been a whirlwind year and some change.
Gypsy is… sassy! She loves people, absolutely loves them. We often joke that if an intruder ever came in, she would just bring her ball to play fetch with them hah! She also is very flirty (selectively so), really mild mannered, fun loving and at times a worrywart.
Especially when I go into the toilet and don’t let her follow me in. Is she worrying I will fall into the toilet? Maybe!”
Q – The joys of Cavaliers – they do have the loveliest temperament! How about Gypsy’s mum and dad?
A – “We are Bihter and Jordan, 33 and 39 respectively. I like to think she takes her sassiness after me (mum) and her fun-loving nature from papa (Jordan).
I’m trying to finish my law conversion in the UK and Jordan is working for a big architectural company in London.
We like long walks in the park nearby, just as much as we love vegging out on the couch and watching reruns of Parks & Rec or making fantasy travel playlists for our next dog-friendly getaway.”
Q – We can totally relate as dog parents 🙂 Can you tell us about your connections to Canada?
A – “Jordan is from Canada while I moved there when I was a kid from Turkey. Both our parents are still in Toronto which is why we go back every Christmas.”
Gypsy in Canada
Gypsy and us at her first birthday party in London
Q – We know it was for a happy occasion, would you like to tell our readers why you travelled to Canada this time?
A – “2019 was a mad year for us! So many exciting things happened – Jordan finally listened to my threats and made the move to London from Denmark, we found a beautiful home, got Gypsy and got engaged!
Quickly after all that, we decided to do the wedding over our Christmas trip in Canada since both our grandmothers were going to be in Toronto and we really wanted them to be able to attend. I was always hesitant about a winter wedding as I’m not a fan of cold weather, but it turned out so beautifully!
The only thing missing was our little girl, as the venue did not allow dogs. Yes, we also protested that hard.”
Q – Congratulations to the happy couple and their lovely little girl! So how did you decide to take Gypsy with you?
A – “It wasn’t even a question for me, honestly. Even before we went to pick Gypsy up to bring her home, I knew she was coming to Canada with us over Christmas, so I had done all my research prior to that.
Add the excitement both our families had for meeting the little munchkin, and it was a done deal.
I made a list of all the airlines that allowed in-cabin transport and of course our return back to the UK which would have been the best for Gypsy.”
Flying Air Canada with your dog
Q – What airline did you fly with? Was Gypsy allowed in the cabin with you? What were the rules around this?
A – “I have been a frequent flyer of Air Canada due to their excellent standing in terms of health and safety and they proved to be the best airline for Gypsy’s first air travel as well.”
Choosing your seat when flying with your dog
“You can look up the seat configuration on sites like SeatGuru for your particular flight and get an idea as to what the measurements under the seats would be. Air Canada’s seats even in economy are fairly roomy and as I have flown those flights between London – Toronto, I knew Gypsy would have no trouble fitting and being comfortable in her bag.
Hot seat tip: the middle seat in a row of three has the roomiest width! We flew out in the middle seat.
On their website Air Canada states that ‘You are welcome to bring your cat or small dog in the cabin with you provided it is small enough to stand, turn around and lie down in its carrier under the seat in front of you’.”
Carrier, size and weight requirements for your dog on Air Canada
“We used a soft carrier for Gypsy as hard carriers take up more room under the seat, the max measurements for which were 27(h) x 40(w) x55(l) cm. Other than that, there is actually no weight requirement provided the pet is essentially comfortable in its carrier under the seat on Air Canada.
Hot tip: make sure you book your pet’s flight before you book your own! Airlines usually have a limited number of spaces available for in cabin pets and you should call the number to book your pet’s ticket before your own. Once you’ve booked your own, the airline will link the two together.”
Are dogs allowed outside their carriers in the cabin when flying with Air Canada?
“So, technically – the pets are not allowed out of their carriers, but we got really lucky with an amazing flight crew on our way to Toronto and Gypsy pretty much slept on my lap the whole way there. Mind you, she is amazing on transport of all kinds, so she did not make a peep, I even took her to the plane toilet with a pee pad for her to go if she needed to, and it was pretty easy.
We also got quite lucky once at the airport. I had lounge access, so we immediately went into lounge and let her out of her bag. I had her on her lead, but she was being such a good pup, no one said anything! She was happily chewing away on a yak bone while we sipped our morning mimosas 😀 “
A – “The return, however, was awful. Animals aren’t allowed to fly back into the UK in cabin, and we knew we were absolutely not putting our girl in the cargo with checked luggage so I decided to fly back to Paris with Gypsy, again on Air Canada (flight crew not so nice this time). Jordan flew into London, rented a car, drove to Paris, we stayed a couple of nights and drove back home.”
Requirements to enter UK from France with your dog
“Of course, there are different requirements for the entry into the UK from France, the most important one of which is having tapeworm administered by a vet no less than 24 hrs and no more than 120 hrs before arrival in the UK. As soon as you book your Eurotunnel ticket and check that you are travelling with a pet, you will find the guidelines on the bottom of your booking invoice.”
Q – I suppose the positive outcome of your return was a couple of days in Paris! So, how did you prepare Gypsy for the journey, can you give us any tips about what to do or what not to do before the flight?
A – I watched so many videos and read so many blogs!
She had always been good travelling in her baby bag, but I got her a bigger new bag with windows all around for the flight so she can see and smell everything to feel more at ease.
We spent the three weeks leading to the flight (and I definitely recommend doing this little by little over a period of time) normalizing spending time in the new bag. I placed the bag at my feet while I studied, and I always made sure to do this around her naptime. I lined the bag with one of my sweaters (worn so it had my scent) and started by putting little treats in the bag for the first few days to incentivise her to get in. As luck would have it, she immediately loved the bag and from the third or fourth day she wanted to sleep in there while I studied.
I also had those 10 hour long YouTube videos with flight sounds on to get her used to the sounds. I think it helped her sleep, because she did not mind one bit 🙂
The other thing we did was that we actually took her on a long walk before the flight, which ended up being at 5:30 in the morning but she did get quite tired after her hour long walk at the park and was falling asleep already in the cab to the airport.
Hot tip: as a final note, definitely a last pee/poo walk before security is key!”
What to pack for your dog on a flight?
Q – What did you pack for Gypsy to take with you on the flight?
A – “As a worrying mother, of course I overpacked both my backpack and my carry-on just with things for Gypsy. But essentially:
- a few long chewing treats
- several bags of different treats including carrots and apples
- her portable water bottle (they say don’t give them water but I gave her tiny little bits at a time as the flight was only 6.5 hours) “
- whatever her favourite toy of the moment was.
As I said earlier, I also lined her bag with my sweater and put dad’s scarf in there so she could smell us both. Not that she stayed in the bag for long! Additionally, I packed:
- pee pads
- 2 days’ worth of her food (we have had some NASTY delays or had to be on diverted flights before so I wanted to have some backup just in case)
- her winter onesie for when we landed in Toronto.”
Q – Were the items you packed for her enough? Was there anything you didn’t actually need?
A – “I definitely didn’t need the extra food and treats but better prepared than sorry!”
Dog friendly Canada
Q – How did Gypsy enjoy her time in Canada? What did she get up to?
A – “Gypsy absolutely loved being in Canada! When we landed, we first had to go to customs and check her in, which went incredibly smoothly. We even saw another Cavalier in line coming from the US!
We then picked up our luggage and headed out, where my dad who had been falling in love with Gypsy from afar was waiting for us. Gypsy immediately jumped on him and started giving him kisses, which ended up in them pretty much spending the two weeks being besties.”
“She stayed with my family for the majority, and the family cat Piano who was sceptical to say the least 🙂 She of course made everyone fall in love with her, most of all my grandmother (who had never let a dog sleep in her bed in her life proceeded to sleep with Gypsy sharing her pillow). She saw her first snow, which she absolutely LOVED! We went to lots of enclosed dog parks where she made lots of friends, incessantly tried making Piano play with her.”
“Gypsy also stayed with Jordan’s family in their house a couple of times. They have two big family dogs Indie and Jasper, both gorgeous older boys. Gypsy was so psyched to have two big bros to play with and her and Indie became the best of friends! As the energetic puppy, she would go up to Indie and Jasper and pat them in the face for playtime which was so cute because they are both something like 5 times her size!”
“She celebrated her first Christmas dressed as a reindeer, went to parks by Lake Ontario and saw her first squirrels!
We also pretty much went everywhere together, and I mean everywhere (except out to the club on my bachelorette haha!). We went to the outlet mall together, and even shops like Saks were incredibly accommodating if not doting and adoring! The sales people in Coach practically tried to take her home 😀
Suffice to say, the cute Cavalier always seems to get away with getting in 🙂
We went to our favourite coffee shop chain Tim Hortons together, she hung out with my friends and even came into our liquor shop LCBO!”
When it gets stressful while flying with your dog…
Q – So glad to hear Gypsy had so much fun while in Canada, sounds and looks like she had the best time! Just want to ask how stressful the experience of the journey was? How did you and Gypsy cope with the stress?
A – “The flight to Canada was a breeze and Gypsy had the time of her life, honestly! We didn’t break any rules but I felt as though we got really lucky with our flight crew in that they were so tolerant with her being out of the bag which helped immensely.
However, she was seriously distressed on our flight back to France. We were squeezed in the row before last, the air conditioning wasn’t working properly, and we were in a window seat. Unfortunately, there were no other seats available to change at that point and they wouldn’t move us to a middle seat. I could hear Gypsy crying at times, but the flight crew were really unfriendly and stern – telling me several times that I have to keep her in her bag even though I had made no move to take her out.
I pretty much kept myself hunched over with a hand in her bag for the entirety of the flight which helped calm her down, but I could feel she was so unhappy. Unfortunately, and this is where our flight story gets really depressing, so fair warning – all of this stress culminated in her having blood in her stool for the following couple of days, refusing to eat and being generally lethargic and unhappy. Her mood was only back to normal once we got home and I could see her relief in her face.
On our flight out to Canada, we were able to pre-book our seats even though we had to check in separately at Heathrow for Gypsy. However, the system in Canada is awful and they would not assign us a seat in pre-booking until we checked in at the airport. Another thing to keep in mind!
And yes, of course the first thing we did when we got back was to take her to her vet which said the blood was likely caused by stress as she was otherwise healthy.”
Q – It’s always heartbreaking to see our babies in even the slightest discomfort, so sorry to hear your return flight was a nightmare… In hindsight, would you do anything differently? Do you have any tips and tricks for our readers?
A – “The flight back to France was what ruined the experience for us all. I will never forget how Gypsy looked at me when she realized I wouldn’t be able to pick her up during those hours and how terrified she was once we landed in Paris. How much I cried while I washed her in the hotel bathtub and wished none of it had happened, cursing the entire time that UK wouldn’t allow dogs to fly back in cabin for some random reason that even the representative at DEFRA couldn’t explain beyond ‘it is literally an outdated, random law’.
In hindsight, I may have pushed harder to be able to get a better seat on our way back to France. Maybe I would have flown into Brussels or Amsterdam.”
Q – Would you do it again?
A – “It is not easy. I don’t mean for us but for our little loves. You have to take a lot of things into consideration and have to plan it so carefully, so they are comfortable and happy.
Sitting here and thinking about this right this moment? Not in the near future, no. Which is why Jordan and I are planning more dog-friendly trips that we can drive to.”
Thank you for sharing your experience in all honesty, we really appreciate it. We will give you all massive hugs the minute we’re allowed to go near other people again! ♥️
And thanks everyone for reading our interview with Gypsy’s darling mum Bihter. I’m sure you’ll hear more from this sweet girl and her family again as we already have several trips planned for 2021 (you have to keep the hopes up, right?!) and if we have to postpone them again, so be it. Vaccines are on the way, there WILL be a way back to a new form of ‘normal’ and it won’t be long til we can travel again. Meantime, keep planning!
With all our love xxx
Please note: At the time of writing this article, December 2020, the information given was correct. As European travel requirements will be changing to travel with pour dogs post Brexit, please check with gov.uk and other potential providers for each leg of your journey before booking. When Brexit-related travel rule changes are announced we will update this article and other relevant sections of our website.
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