Moving your Dog to the UK: A Checklist for Once You've Arrived

This post is a follow-up to my previous post about getting your dog to the UK Still working on moving your dog to the UK? Check out our helpful tips and tricks for getting through the process here.

Now that you and your four-legged friend have made it to your new home in the UK, it might be tempting to just settle in and relax with a nice hot cuppa, but there are still a few important and practical things to do in the first weeks after arrival.

1.Register your pet's microchip on Petlog. As you know from the moving process, it is compulsory in the UK for all dogs and cats to be microchipped. You've gotten to the UK so your dog is indeed implanted with a 15-digit universal microchip—yay! But what's important to note is that, until you register this microchip with British authorities, it won't be traceable to you.

This means that if your dog gets lost and a responsible person takes it to a vet for scanning, the microchip will be read but no owner information will come up. In order to make sure your beloved pup can be returned to you, just register his or her microchip on Petlog. This is the UK's largest database for microchipped pets. It's simple, just go to Petlog's home page and click on "I want to record my pet's overseas microchip." Then you will fill in information about your pet and pay a small fee to have this information saved to the database. Because it can take up to 28 days for your pet's microchip to appear in the database, it's best to do this step ASAP!

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2. Find a veterinarian. This step is crucial if you plan to travel outside of the UK with your dog and I would recommend it even if you're unsure. In order to get your pet to the UK, you had to go through the process of obtaining a third-country veterinarian certificate for him or her. Whilst sufficient for traveling within the EU for three months after arrival, this certificate does expire. It's also a lot bulkier (multiple pages) than the Pet Passport—the document that all British dogs carry with them. In order to have your pet's third-country certificate converted into a Pet Passport, you'll need to find a vet.

I used Yelp to quickly locate several vets in the Hampstead area. I decided on Zasman Vet based on their high number of positive reviews and its proximity (it's walking distance!) to our house. So far, we've been very happy with their service—both from the medical and front desk staff. Zasman Vet also does online appointment scheduling, which is a big help. Don't live near Hampstead? Good news! Zasman Vet has multiple locations throughout the city. Check out their other locations here.

3. Buy a new pet tag. While our dog Spark already had a tag on her collar with her name, our phone numbers, and our California address, this tag was absolutely worthless once we moved to the UK. Suddenly our phone numbers were obsolete and our address was in London, not the Bay area. While in the U.S. most pet tags are purchased from pet stores, we ended up buying Spark's new tag when we took her to the vet.

Zasman Vet (see above) offers a variety of reasonably priced (and adorable) tags from the Red Dingo line. Whilst waiting for our appointment we simply filled out a form and the receptionist quickly submitted our order. Spark's tag (complete with Union Jack design) is scheduled to arrive via our mail slot any day. Again, the sooner you can get the correct details on your dog's tag, the safer they will be and the calmer you'll feel.

Fun fact: because London postcodes are super specific, the receptionist helping us with our tag order told us that most people do not put their whole address on their dog's tag. Rather, they put the dog's name, phone numbers where owners can be reached, and the post code. This set of six alphanumeric characters will help your dog's finder pinpoint your precise street. She also suggested having "microchipped" printed on the tag, which we did. We obviously hope Spark never goes missing or runs away, but if she does we will at least have the comfort of knowing that her tag and Petlog-registered microchip will help get her back to us.

4. Find your local pet store. If you read David's post about the things that surprised us the most about London, you may recall that surprise #9 was: "Local shops are the norm, not the exception." The Brits love doing their shopping on the local high street and no high street is complete without a spattering of local businesses.

If you're lucky, one of these hole-in-the-wall shops is likely to be a pet shop. In Hampstead we are fortunate enough to live across the street from a teeny tiny (but still enormously useful) pet shop and we have visited another in Primrose Hill. Whether your local pet shop is independent or a chain, it's great to know where it is should your pet run out of kibble. Since our shipping container isn't scheduled to arrive for another month and a half, we certainly needed to stock up on the essentials for Spark.

5. Check out Fetch. This brings me to another of our surprises about London—#3: "Delivery is much more normal here." High streets definitely hold a special place in British culture (and my heart—they tend to be really charming) but delivery also has its merits. Living in London sans car means whatever you buy, you lug. Sometimes hauling multiple carrier bags (what the Brits call their shopping bags) of heavy jars, cans, and bottles isn't fun. That's where Ocado comes into play. As a major online supermarket, Ocado offers everything a human could need. But, what's even better, is it has a pet store affiliate—Fetch.

Fetch is very similar to Chewy.com in the States (something I missed dearly upon arriving here) but it's actually even better. Not only does Fetch offer the specialty food that Spark's sensitive tummy requires, it offers same-day delivery on certain orders. This is also a game-changing element when you consider the enjoyability of lugging a crate or large bag of kibble home from the high street. While I definitely encourage you to shop locally, some things are just not available at the tiny mom n' pop-style pet stores and that's where Fetch comes in. Toys, kibble, and pet accessories galore—all at affordable prices.

6. Look into pet insurance. Because we want Spark to live a long and healthy life and we know that she will get sick periodically, we bought pet pet insurance back in California to cover the cost of some of her veterinary treatments. This insurance was helpful but not valid in the UK, where—unfortunately—veterinary treatment is even more expensive than in pricy San Francisco (I didn't know that was possible). Rather than stress about the price of future unplanned treatments, we're looking into getting Spark a new pet insurance plan. There are many companies and plans to choose from in the UK depending on what you're looking for. Important considerations to make are your pet's age, health history, and how long you plan to stay in the UK. Talking to your vet is probably a good idea as well as he or she might have recommendations. Compare and contrast coverage and fees from top UK pet insurance companies here.

7. Join a local walking group. As dog-lovers, the British have many different social groups oriented around our four-legged friends. There are many different dog-walking groups you can join in different areas of the UK. Some of these groups are particular to a specific breed or size of dog—London Pugs, for instance—whilst others are based on geographic area. Joining a local dog group is a great way to meet neighbors, make new friends, and feel more a part of your adopted community. It's also a great  social outing for your dog. Walking groups can be found on Meetup.com but you might also want to check bulletins in your area.

8. Consider using BorrowMyDoggy. Maybe you work long hours and would like a cost-effective way to entertain your dog while you're away from home or perhaps you'd like to take weekend trips to explore other parts of Europe. Whatever the reason, consider checking out this site. When I say the Brits love dogs, I mean it. There are actually so many dog-loving Brits wanting to spend more time with dogs that there's a website dedicated to it. Use this referral code, and 10% of your signup fees will be donated to Blue Cross to help other pets.

On BorrowMyDoggy you can create a dating site-esque profile for your pooch then look through profiles of dog lovers in your area. These are just people who would love to take your dog for walks or maybe watch them overnight or while you're on vacation—all for free! Some of them can't have dogs because of building restrictions or lifestyle complications and some of them already have one (or several) dogs of their own. This is a win-win opportunity for "borrowers" to bond with a dog while your dog gets to socialize and go to the park and you can rest assured knowing they aren't at home miserable.

9. Work on off-leash training. Since we didn't have many areas in the Bay Area where Spark was allowed to be off-leash, this was never an area of her training that we focused on too much. Now that we're in London, we are constantly surrounded by off-leash pups roaming local parks and going for jogs down the high streets with their owners. Spark loves to play with other dogs at Hampstead Heath so we now bring treats with us and are constantly working on her off-leash training so we can get to the point of allowing her a bit more freedom. This is definitely a great way to exercise your dog and allow them to be part of the off-leash fun at your local park or green space.

10. Enjoy the paw-sibilities. The UK is an awesome place to live as a dog-lover. Coming from California—a much more dog-friendly state than my home state of Michigan, for example—I didn't think it would get much better. I was wrong. Spark is welcome in sooooo many more establishments and outdoor areas than she was in the Bay Area. Almost all parks in London are chock-full of off-leash pups, even in the ritziest areas. Well-behaved dogs are allowed into some pharmacies, bakeries, and even this high-end Hampstead steakhouse.

In our first three weeks in London, Spark has already visited Hyde Park, the grounds in front of Buckingham Palace, three different pubs, and a coffee shop—not to mention taking several trips a week to Hampstead Heath, our local gem of a park and doggie heaven. She's headed to Wales this weekend to explore dog-friendly trails and meadows—stay tuned for Wales-specific info! Now that your dog has their tag and has been listed on Petlog, you can enjoy the endless dog-friendly opportunities that the UK has to offer!