Toby & Clutch's Grand Adventure

So, as most of you know, Matt and I made the decision to stay in Madagascar for another 2 years! If you don't know - we have decided to stay in Madagascar another two years :D Matt is now the Manager of I.T., and it was an offer we couldn't refuse, with one condition....the dogs had to finally make the trip and come live with us. Why didn't they come initially, you ask? Reason number one is that I was too scared. We didn't know what the vet care was like, we didn't know anything about flying animals, and I didn't want to put them in a situation that would harm them. So we set everything up for them as best we could in Canada, making sure the only change in their lives was who was living in our house. When the opportunity to stay another two years came up, we decided enough was enough, and it was time to bring them here. We knew enough from others here in our village that had brought their dogs that it was more than doable, and with enough research and prep we felt reasonably confident that they would okay. The process was definitely not easy, and more than a little frustrating, but it's only been a week of having them here and it was all worth it.

It started off with deciding what airline to choose and looking into pet relocation companies, of which there are many. When it came to the airline, we quickly decided to go with Air France/KLM. They are highly regarded for pet travel and all the reviews were very positive. There are a couple different ways that you can ship animals/pets. They can go as cargo or as live baggage, and can go accompanied or unaccompanied. If they are going unaccompanied then they have to fly as cargo. We were adamant that the dogs would be flying on all the same flights as us. I wanted to see them between every flight to make sure they were okay and that they were still on the same trip as us. We've all heard horror stories of the pets ending up on the wrong planes, or not getting on the planes, etc.. Another thing to note - the cost difference between live baggage and cargo is incredible. We were quoted many thousands of dollars to fly them as live cargo, and to bring them as live baggage cost us $400. When they travel as live baggage they are placed in a temperature and pressure controlled room on the plane, it's kept dark to help keep them calm, they don't leave the building until it is time to get them on the plane, and on long haul flights they are in a room that is accessible by the flight crew so they can be fed and watered if needed. When they travel as cargo there is a good chance they will be left on the tarmac with the rest of the luggage to wait for the plane, and they may not get food and water, etc.... Needless to say we felt that live baggage was the way to go. We were also lucky that they weren't bigger than they are because animals that are any bigger than Clutch typically have to fly as cargo because of kennel requirements - they are simply to big for the baggage hold.

Looking into pet relocation companies was a bit frustrating. Not one quoted us less than $10,000 USD to just do all the paperwork. I don't even want to know what they would have charged to have someone other than us accompany the dogs. Some companies made the choice real easy for me - send them an email asking for assistance moving dogs from Canada to Madagascar and they respond by telling me they only do moves out of Canada, not into Canada - yep, not hiring you, not really confident in your ability to keep track of important details.... In the end we decided that I would just take care of all the paper work and hope to hell that I didn't screw it up. Being Panic.

Turns out that when you are traveling with animals in live baggage, you can not check them through, and need to collect them and re-check them at each stop. This is great as it allows you to check in on them, but can also be vert difficult if going through many airports and if you don't have long enough layovers between flights. They recommend 3 hours minimum to allow for this, but what I learned in Paris is they are wrong, and I'd say a minimum of 5 hours between flights is more realistic. We figured it would be in the dogs best interest, and in the interest of our sanity, to do the route with the least amount of stops as possible, which took us Edmonton-Toronto-Paris-Antananarivo. We also decided to do a one night layover in Paris to give the dogs a break from the kennels and the planes and some time with us to calm them down if they were having difficulties. This added an extra level of planning because it meant that we would have to actually import the dogs into France. They said that we had to, even though we were staying at a hotel attached to the airport and not technically leaving airport property, unless we promised that we weren't going to let them out of their kennels for even a minute the whole time we were in Paris. That seems a bit inhumane......

Once we had decided on the airline and the route, it was time to make sure we could meet all their requirements. Each airline has specific requirements about kennel size, how the dogs are to be in the kennels, what is to be attached, what information you need to have, etc...each country also has their own requirements for export and for import, and you need to make sure you do it all as they say in their required time frames. Fun Times! So we had Nathan and Amanda take measurements of the dogs so we could order the required kennels. Based on Air France requirements, this meant Toby (a miniature weiner dog) needed a medium sized kennel and Clutch (an 80lb Lab cross) needed a Giant kennel. This seemed completely ridiculous so we quadruple checked and that was indeed what they said they needed. Basically the animals need to be able to stand up and turn around in the kennel. We both felt that Clutch needed only a large or extra large at most, but we had no idea how strict they were going to be so we went for the giant crate. We also ordered special absorbent pads and self heating pads, water bottles, and pet passports. All this was about $1000, but we felt we were well on our way. The rest was paperwork.

I was very lucky to have a very helpful vet (who has been our vet since the day we got the dogs, and also the vet of every dog/animal I had growing up), who was just as much of a stickler as I was when it came to making sure we did everything exactly by the book. Conveniently, no quarantine was required coming into Madagascar and believe it or not there will be no quarantine heading back into Canada! They only required vaccinations for Rabies, Leptospirosis, Bordatella and some deworming. Leptospirosis was the only we hadn't done annually, and proved to be a bit difficult to find, because though it's a regular vaccine in Ontario, it is not typically given in Alberta. We had to call 13 different vet clinics to find one that had some in stock, as most weren't willing to order the full case of the vaccine that would likely just go bad before they had need to use it again. Can't say as I blame them. We did find a vet that would do it, and had enough to do the initial shot and the booster - hooray! The really tricky part was making sure we had all the paper work done in all the correct time lines. Madagascar required health certificates and vaccination records no later than 15 days before travel to start the process for the import permit, and then required all the same paperwork to be completed no earlier than 3 days before travel so that they had them when they arrived in the country. France required the certificates to not be completed more than 5 days before travel but no less than 3 days before travel, etc... the list really does go on. These appointments all required that the dogs came also because they had to have a complete exam each and every time. Because that's cheap......I figure all said and done we had about 15 vet appointments, and about 2 days worth of hours into paperwork and getting everything ready. We also had to go to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency and get all of the health certificates stamped and approved, saying that Canada agreed that it was safe for them to leave the country. Surprisingly that was probably the cheapest part of the whole process at only $20.00 per document.

Top that all off with poor Clutch having a botched lump removal surgery that almost ended with him not being able to get on a plane and we are in fine form. Luckily he recovered in just enough time and managed not to end up with an infection so he was able to join us, though I'm not sure how he feels about that fact at this point :) 

Poor Clutch - right after the first surgery (he needed multiple after pulling out all his sutures)

Pouty McConeHead

Hooray for dog onesies!

Fast forward to the Saturday before our departure on Sunday morning. Because we had to be at the airport at 4:00 am on a Sunday, we decided it was in our best interest to stay at a hotel in Leduc the night before so that we could limit the amount of disruption to other people. We rented a minivan to carry all the stuff and loaded up the suitcases. The dogs were not impressed, as typically the loading of suitcases meant we were leaving and they weren't coming with us. Their reactions when we called them to get in the car were hilarious - little did they know :) Once we had our little family loaded in the van we were on our way. We got to the hotel in the Leduc and the dogs were already a little unsure of what was going to happen, but they settled nicely into the comfy beds. So far so good. The alarm going off at 3:00 was met by unhappy grumbles from all 4 of us; the dogs don't believe in staying up past 9:00 p.m. or getting up before 7:00 a.m. They need their beauty sleep you know. 

Checking out the first hotel of three on this journey

Yup, it'll do!

Our arrival at the airport was less than graceful - 6 GIANT bags, 2 dogs and their kennels, multiple carryons and only 2 people is likely not the most well thought out way of doing things. Of course because we are such a sight, we got ushered to the front of the line, and I didn't even feel bad. I was a wreck. Too much concern over putting the dogs on a plane makes me less than capable of functioning like a human. We get to the counter and the very first thing the remarkably patient WestJet lady says is "That kennel is not going to fit". Great start! Turns out that despite my 4 phone calls to confirm the dogs were booked on the plane and that Clutch's kennel would fit on the plane, none of those were even marked on our file and I was assured that whoever I talked to was wrong. Clutch's giant sized kennel would not get through the door on the airplane. Matt is pretty fantastic about keeping his cool in those kinds of situations (or at least making it look like he is keeping his cool), and immediately sorted out that we had to abandon the $500 kennel and all it's contents and go to the store at the airport and spend $300 on a passable kennel to replace it. Our options for the abandoned kennel were to call someone to come pick it up for us, or donate it. Unfortunately we also had to abandon all the pads that were purchased because they wouldn't fit in a smaller kennel and give Clutch any room to get in. The one that we were able to purchase at the airport was not big enough to get him to Paris or Madagascar but would work to Toronto, so we made it happen. There was another dog there in a large kennel with no padding or blankets of any kind so we told that family to grab all the pads and blankets out of our abandoned kennel and they happily obliged. Once we had the kennel issue sorted we had to get them checked in, and we were told they could check them all the way to Paris. Cool! They also told us (as we had suspected) that they were paid for already so we didnt' have to worry about that. Once it was time to take them for their security scan and zip tie their doors shut, I was well into my panic attack. The nice ladies were trying to tell me things and I was deep breathing with tears rolling down my cheeks not really able to pay attention. They tried to make me laugh and assured me they would be okay and were blowing their tiny fan on my face lol. It was quite the scene I am sure. 

Clutch wondering what the heck is going on! Checking in for flight #1

We walked them over to where we had to put the kennels through a security scan, and the west jet lady comes running up to us to tell us they had made a mistake and we in fact could not check them through to Paris, we'd need to collect them in Toronto. This was actually great news to us, but put us farther behind as they had to reprint all new tags and change the plan. She also told us that it looked like we had not paid for them, but she was just going to leave it alone. I could have kissed her! They of course made it through the security scan and were met by a nice man who loaded them up on a cart and took them down to where they would be waiting for their flight. A cool thing about West Jet is they have a sticker that they attach to the kennel with several tear away tags. After you have boarded the plane, and the dogs are on board, they rip off one of the tags and come find you with the tag from the kennel to tell you the dogs are on board and ready to go. That sure put  my mind at ease. Until then I felt like I was going to throw up. Matt is so good at trying to keep me calm, but we both visibly relaxed to at least know they were on the plane. I was still worried about how they would handle the flight, but a huge hurtle was crossed and I couldn't control anything for the next 4 hours so I just sat back and decided all would be fine. 

Sure enough, we landed in Toronto, and thankfully the rest of our bags were checked through to Paris so we only had to collect the dogs, which is really all we cared about anyway. We waited and waited and waited and they finally were delivered together by another nice WestJet man. Man were we happy to see them! They seemed no worse for wear other than having to pee, so we found our way outside to give them some time. The Toronto airport has a fenced in grass area just for dogs, which was fantastic! Unfortunately, the Toronto Airport didn't have anywhere in that terminal that sold dog kennels, so Matt hopped in a cab and took off to the nearest PetValue to get Clutch a larger kennel for the rest of the trip. He was able to find one that allowed Clutch to stand up and turn around and we both felt so much better about the rest of the trip. We loaded them up again after about an hour of move around outside time, where they both refused to eat, and headed off to find the Air France counter. We got in line and were sought out immediately because they were awaiting our arrival to get us all checked in. We were helped by yet another wonderful employee, who kindly told us that we had not paid for the dogs on this flight either. Luckily it was only $400 and that covered us all the way to Madagascar. Again we had to walk over to a specialty security clearance for the dogs and all went well. I was worried about how they would do with the stress they were under and the thousands of people but they were incredible! No barking or whining, so many people were petting them and saying hi and they just let it all happen with a dazed look in their eyes. Couldn't ask for much more really. Again we were met by a very friendly man who obviously loved dogs and he loaded them up and took them away to be loaded on the plane. We were told to ask at the gate for reassurance that the dogs were on the plane, and they didn't let us board until we knew they were there. I was grateful for that as well. 

Puppy area at the Toronto Airport

Clutch still loved me after the first flight!

Toby wouldn't look at me or eat his food.

We made it to Paris with no issue, though we had some turbulence and I can only imagine how two dogs scared of thunder felt about that....The airport in Paris caused us some panic, as it took us almost 2 hours to get through passport control, and all we could think about (other than wanting to get the heck out of the airport) was that the dogs had been waiting somewhere for us for that long. Once we made it trough, I went in search of the dogs and Matt went in search of our luggage. Another two hours later and we had found the place to store our luggage, and made our way to the wrong hotel. Fun fun fun. Turns out there are two locations for the hotel we stayed at that are both located at the airport. One is just more at the airport. Insert very heavy sighs here. After much begging and pleading we got a private shuttle from the wrong hotel to the right hotel and all of us were very happy to have 24 hours settled. The dogs immediately found the bed and the cushy housecoats and passed out. They didn't even notice we had left to go to Disneyland, and we had to wake them up when we were back in the room rather than them notice we were coming in the door. Good guard dogs we have. 

If you are ever looking to fly through Paris with a layover and a dog, the Mercure at CDG allows dogs over 5kg (most don't) and I literally can't say enough about their service. Incredible. If booking somewhere else and you have a dog that's not tiny, make sure you check that they allow bigger dogs. That was actually a bit tricky to find. 

All settled in for their rest in Paris

Getting to our gate the next more was less tricky, as our priority status actually meant something in Paris, and we were immediately helped to the front of the line to get everything checked in and again we had amazing service. We got to see the dogs off until we got to security for ourselves, and they were again taken to wherever dogs go to wait for their flights. I was a little worried as this was the longest of the three flights and they were still refusing to eat, though Matt assured me that this was probably for the best as it meant they wouldn't get sick and then have to sit in their mess for the whole flight. Same protocol of waiting at the gate for reassurance and we were told they were on their way to the plane. That didn't make us feel calm, so as soon as we got on the plane Matt asked the flight crew to check and we were notified once they made it on. Phew. On to the second last leg of the journey and we'd all made it! 

Our arrival in Antananarivo was uneventful. Meet and Greet that we get as Ambatovy employees was a huge help and it didn't take long for us and the dogs and the bags to be on our way. Our driver met us with the permit he had picked up for us, and we made it through customs no problem. Of course we had too many bags/people/dogs/kennels to fit in our car so we loaded a bunch of bags in the shuttle for the hotel and headed out. We finally got all checked in around 1 am, and had to be on the road by 6 am. Matt was catching the charter flight so that he could get right back to work and the dogs and I and Marson were making the long drive from Antananarivo to Toamasina, as the charter won't fly the live dogs. We put as many bags as we could on the plane with Matt, and Marson and I were on the road home by 6:30 a.m. It was a great drive! I slept through it :) We made it to our house by 1:00 p.m. Watching the dogs get used to the new house was hilarious. They could smell us in the house already and obviously couldn't figure out why. Lots of exploration and uncertainty for the afternoon, and they lost their little minds when Matt came home from work. They slept most of the next 36 hours, obviously not having slept on any of the flights. Toby figured out pretty quickly that this was home now and was ecstatic. Clutch was not sure, and I'm not even sure he's figured it out yet. 

Toby watching the happenings of Antananarivo

Clutch was also enthralled with the bustle of Tana

Can you see both dogs?! First few minutes in their new house

Exploring their new back yard

Ya, I think they've settled in just fine!

Morning coffee porch snuggles. 

We have a housekeeper a couple times a week and a gardener and they all did well meeting each other. I was a little concerned as Clutch is a "big" black dog, and that's not usually a good thing here, but he's so friendly that everyone has loved him so far. And he has a little puppy crush on our housekeeper Marline. He follows her around everywhere. She loves it though and spends much of her time playing with both dogs, and won't leave the house without saying good bye to them. It's pretty great. 

On their fourth evening here, Toby found pretty much the only thing in the country that will kill him (a cane toad), and tried to eat it for dinner. I was BBQ-ing dinner and at first thought that he looked pretty darn cute hopping around the yard, until I realized what he was doing and I started to holler. Matt walked in the house from work just as I was in full blown freak out mode and immediately started doing research. Luckily it was just a little toad, and he hopped away - thank goodness for our toothless wonder dog - so in all likelihood Toby would just get high. Sure enough, about 30 minutes after the incident he started hopping around the living room like Tigger with no provocation, barrel rolled on the couch over and over again, barked at the wall for 10 minutes and then passed out. The next day he was a cranky old man as he came down off his high, and I asked him to please wait more than 4 days in the new country to try to end his life. He stuck his tongue out at me and walked away. I guess we will have to see what happens. 

They've now met pretty well all our friends, walked the neighbourhood and explored the beach and ocean. Toby isn't not a huge fan of the fact that the ocean is made of water, but he loved the sand. Clutch took some convincing but loved the beach! We will definitely need to take them their often. 

Through this entire process (and rather long winded blog post), I learned that it was a heck of a lot of work to get them here but it was completely worth it. Also, not one single person at any airport or flight desk or customs counter asked to see a single piece of paperwork in regards to the dogs. I had a binder absolutely full of all the required paperwork and stamped import permits and it was never opened. Of course if we didn't have it we'd have been asked for it, so I'm glad I did everything by the book, but what a waste of hundreds of dollars and countless hours. I can't even reuse them for their return in two years, the paperwork is only good for 30 days. Oh well! Dogs are resilient creatures and can put up with a lot. Now that we've been here for two weeks and are a bit more settled in, the dogs seem to know this is home, and have stopped panicking when Matt leaves for work in the morning. We can't wait to see them explore their new country over the next two years and are so proud of our trooper world traveler puppies! 

Matt and Clutch on the beach