taking a dog to africa.

[F.Peeters]

Hi all.
We are plannig a trip to africa next year, and like to take our dog with us.
We will start in holland and drive to cape town via the west side, and back to holland via the east side.
Is here any one who has travelled with a dog trough these areas?
And if so were there any problems with customs, and entries at national parks? Does the dog suffer a lot from the heat/deseases?

Thanks in advance.

[Quintin]

If you look at the diary section of this http://www.bigyellowmog.co.uk/ you will get some answers. Apart from one nasty bout of illness they seem to have had very few problems. A few years back I met a French guy in Mali who was half way through a round Africa trip with his dog and he'd had no problems but I didn't ask him about customs etc.

Q

[F.Peeters]

Originally Posted by Quintin

If you look at the diary section of this http://www.bigyellowmog.co.uk/ you will get some answers. Apart from one nasty bout of illness they seem to have had very few problems. A few years back I met a French guy in Mali who was half way through a round Africa trip with his dog and he'd had no problems but I didn't ask him about customs etc.

Q

Thank you!

[Sjoerd Bakker]

Did anyone ever ask the dogs what they thought of the trip ?

[AndyT]

Try contacting HU member "Lorraine". She has travelled extensively with her dogs.

[RogerM]

I've seen what must have been one of the ugliest dogs ever born travelling on the tank of a motorcycle in Quorn, South Australia. Some sort of bull terrier mongrel, not sure how the rider coped with the slobber coming out of its mouth, maybe they were just very close!! - but this mutt was ideal at keeping anyone from coming too close to the bike when parked.

The worst part of travellig with dogs is when they eat something that disagrees with them - dog farts have to be the worst kind.

[lorraine]

Hi, Lorraine here. I lived in Kenya for five years and travelled quite a bit in Kenya and Tanzania with one of my Kenyan dogs. We travelled using all modes of transport, matatu's, lorry's and Land Rover. No problem. It was a riot using public transport. Everyone travels with goats etc, but not dogs, so the locals thought we were very entertaining.

Border crossing between the two countries (sorry I didn't do more, but I'm guessing it's pretty much the same all over) was easy, you just need a note from a vet saying the dog is healthy. As it was, if the dog was left in the vehicle, and you went into the little border offices where the officers were, no one would even know you had a dog and you can breeze right through.

National Parks are OUT in both Kenya and Tanzania, and I would guess S. Africa too. However, once you're there, you'll find there's often places to camp just outside the park, which is great because unless you have a residence permit, the charges can really add up. However, some places you just won't be able to access, like the Ngorogoro Crater. I had to miss it, but will go back without a dog next time...

Ticks, and therefore tick fever is a problem. And there's the tsetse fly too. You can buy FrontLine from vets in Nairobi and in Cairo. That's all the diseases I've ever heard of. You can buy western dog food in the capital of most countries I would think, since there's plenty of expats and missionaries who have pets.
Good luck!
You can also check out my site www.OnaMissionfromDog.com/kenya.htm.
Lorraine

[lorraine]

I had some more thoughts. If your dog is from Holland, my guess is it will have little experience with wildlife, so you have no idea how it'll react. Chances are when around just the smell of big cats, it'll be terrified. Any dog will sense when there's a real threat around, and big cats are a big threat, especially, but not exclusively at night. Never, never leave your dog alone, not even for five minutes when you're camping in the bush. I'm not suggesting you abandon your plans, I'd travel in the bush with dogs again in a heartbeat. But there are real dangers. I lived next to a game park and neighbors were constantly loosing dogs. I lost two to cats in completely unexpected situations. I heard of a guy near the Tanzanian border who thought he was doing good if he only lost six dogs a year. He would have about ten at any one time.

If you're planning on bush camping, this is what I suggest. Get a second dog. The dynamics totally change and instead of being prey, dogs act as a united pack, protect better and are safer. If you don't want to commit to the hassle of a second dog, here's an idea. Go to tribes from that area and ask if you can rent one of theirs. There's a few benefits. Your dog will have canine companionship for a while and be safer. The dog you rent will get fattened up a bit. And money will go to the tribe.

Many dogs in Africa suffer from worms. Take a good supply of de-wormer with you, or you can buy it there at a pharmacy for very, very cheap and pass it out to dog owners in the bush. They'll appreciate it as even though it's cheap, it's more than they can or want to pay. For mange, there's a good ointment from Germany you might want to take with you, for your own dog if it mixes with the local dogs. You'll see a different aspect of your dogs personality around less domesticated canines, so I'd encourage mixing. Remember to wash your own hands too after touching other dogs.

I'm going to put up a new chapter on my www.OnaMissionFromDog.com/kenya.htm website in a few days which will help you see how attitudes towards dogs will differ from area to area.

Lorraine

[F.Peeters]

Thanks for all your interesting information.
Now, we have some more points to take into consideration.
Frank

[Toby2]

Met a Dutch couple in Africa who had had their Rottweiler poisened in Nigeria. Potentially down to a couple of reasons, 1) Its a large dog which people weren't generally used to and potentially could see it as a threat, 2) the owners were difficult so potentially it was someone they annoyed. Other people we met who were travelling with dogs had smalller less threatening dogs - spaniels, terriers, etc. May or may not be an issue. Probably just wrong place, wrong time.

[lorraine]

A lot of countries with animal overpopulation issues lay poison down to eliminate too many cats and dogs. This could've been the case in Nigeria. This is most DEFINITELY the case in Cairo. Sorry I forgot to mention this really important point. Keep your dog on a lead in cities where this might be a problem and don't let him eat anything off the street.
Lorraine

[oldbmw]

With regard to worms,, most western europeans use drontal for intestinal worms. Panacur works just as well, and if given over 5 days will also kill /cure heartworm.. ( symptom cough as if with a fur ball, appetite normal to poor) as opposed to intestinal worms then appetite is good/greedy.