Traveling through Canada with Dogs

[dedmiston]

I've always heard that you need to bring your "papers" with you when you cross the Canadian border with your dogs, but I don't know what this entails. What kind of papers do you need to bring?

What's the source of this requirement? Do you need their papers to get from the US into CA or from CA back into the US.

Thanks.

[agesilaus]

dedmiston wrote:

agesilaus wrote:

garyhaupt wrote:
All those that say.."but never been asked"....let me assure you, that lots of people are asked, going either direction, and no papers means your trip just came to a crashing halt.

Gary Haupt

I believe that everyone who said they were not asked then said you should bring papers in case the fickle finger of fate should pick you. There a trivia reference included for free....

"Say goodnight, Dick."

"Goodnight, Dick"

LOL I had to think for a minute before that came back. For those who are mystified still. I forgot the Flying part it was the Flying Fickle Finger of Fate.

[dedmiston]

agesilaus wrote:

garyhaupt wrote:
All those that say.."but never been asked"....let me assure you, that lots of people are asked, going either direction, and no papers means your trip just came to a crashing halt.

Gary Haupt

I believe that everyone who said they were not asked then said you should bring papers in case the fickle finger of fate should pick you. There a trivia reference included for free....

"Say goodnight, Dick."

"Goodnight, Dick"

[lakeside013104]

agesilaus wrote:
We went thru getting the papers route before we went thru north of Glacier. The Canadian Border agent didn't want to see any papers and acted like he didn't know what we were talking about.

Sounds like you were offering up information the CBSA Officer did not ask about and was not interested in. Best to answer questions 'asked' with answers that are honest and directly related to the specific question. Nothing more is required.

For either side, vaccination records are all that is generally required. If the Officer sees the animal acting ill or aggressive, then they may ask additional questions.

Lakeside

[agesilaus]

garyhaupt wrote:
All those that say.."but never been asked"....let me assure you, that lots of people are asked, going either direction, and no papers means your trip just came to a crashing halt.

Gary Haupt

I believe that everyone who said they were not asked then said you should bring papers in case the fickle finger of fate should pick you. There a trivia reference included for free....

[garyhaupt]

All those that say.."but never been asked"....let me assure you, that lots of people are asked, going either direction, and no papers means your trip just came to a crashing halt.

Gary Haupt

[SideHillSoup]

We travel with our cat, which requires “ papers” as well.
We have been asked once coming back into Canada if our cat had its shot and papers, we said yup... that was it.
The USA side once .... They wanted to see the cat, which rides in the back of the camper.... we said be careful she is nasty our hand kids are afraid of her and will try to jump out the door when you open it. The guy said you do have papers, we said yup...handed back our passports and waved us through... The lady officer that was with him laughed and laughed.... we just grinned and drove off to AZ for the winter...
The type of food seams to be the biggest issue with going into the USA, nothing about food coming back into Canada for us anyways.
Soup.

[c_traveler2]

Our 2018 journey we brought our dog, had all the the papers that were needed, never were we asked to show them coming and going. None the less have them just in case.

[phemens]

Good point on the dog food. We clipped out the label and ingredients list (making sure to show country of origin mfg) and taped it to the dog food containers that stay in the RV.

[JaxDad]

As has been stated, it's unusual that they will want to see them, but will likely at least ask if you have them or if the dog is up to date on it's shots.

I've bred dogs for more than 30 years and have crossed (both directions) more often than I care to remember and have only been asked to produce records once or twice a year.

They're usually far more concerned about dog food than the dogs themselves.

[thomas201]

The dog's vac record is next to my yellow card inside the passport. I used to travel to places where I had to prove I had my shots.

We crossed from Lubec to Campobello 2 weeks ago, and the Canadian officer actually looked at the dog's paper.

You should tell them you have a dog with you. Mine is silent, you never know she is there.

[DownTheAvenue]

I always travel with my dog's complete medical history, as it proved invaluable when my 8 year golden succumbed to a terminal ruptured tumor 500 miles from home. That being said, I have crossed back and forth many times with different dogs over many years and only once was I asked about a rabies inoculation. I showed the Canadian Officer the rabies tag and he was satisfied. I can tell you the Canadians are so much more pleasant than the Americans at the border.

[toedtoes]

It's a good idea to have your dog's vaccination records with you all the time. You never know what might happen and those papers can keep your dog out of quarrantine in case of an incident.

Just have your vet give you two originals. Keep one in the RV and one in the car/truck. Then you will be covered no matter where you go.

[MDKMDK]

Actually, the official (note the "gc.ca" in the URL name) policy is at this government website.

https://www.inspection.gc.ca/animals/terrestrial-animals/imports/policies/live-animals/pets/dogs/eng...

In simple terms, have a vet fill out a certificate of rabies (or all) vaccination(s) form, less than a year old, and bring it with you. The primary inspection agent may ask to see it.

[romore]

We carried the vaccination records but were never asked about them. It is a good idea to have them, the one time you don't you will get questioned.