It's A Dog's Life on Roatan!

We have been asked by many people about our dogs and how their transition went. Well. driving across North and Central America in one shot really brings you close together; especially with a flatulent Doberman puppy (Molly). Her compatriots; two Parsons Jack Russell terriers; Paige our smooth coat and Willie the wired hair.

Molly and Willie

Co-Pilot Paige

Getting ready to leave Canada included an unbelievable amount of work and research. Luckily, our veterinarian in Williams Lake, Dr. Doug Magnowski and his team handled most of the research, consulting with the Federal Veterinarian's office in Ottawa. We needed to find out what the international vaccination requirements were to enter each country to our final destination of Roatan. The countries we drove through included the USA, Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras. We originally planned to drive through Belize, however their requirements were going to be almost impossible to meet as they required all shots within 14 days of entering the country while most of the others need vaccinations no less than 30 days of entry to the country.


We rejigged our route to exclude Belize - too bad, we really wanted to see it. Oh well, I guess that will have to be another trip.

If you are planning a trip with your pets, ensure that you have all of the appropriate paperwork and shots to comply with the country you are planning on visiting. We got a lot of our information from friends that have already made this trip and they shared with us that much of the work on this needs to take place well in advance of your planned trip, but close enough to meet the criteria. Be sure to give yourself enough time. We thought we had given lots of time, but it was a little bit tight as the Federal veterinarian papers need to be approved after all of the vaccinations are completed and we all know how quickly Ottawa takes to turn things around. I think they are on island time permanently.

Anyhow, we crossed each border without incident. Believe it or not, we had the most problems crossing into the United States as they examined the dogs paperwork very closely then inspected our truck very closely to make sure we were not travelling with "Mad Cow" dog food - yeah, thanks again Ottawa.

Another tip that we had received from our Real Estate agent down here, Edward Du Monceaux, make at least eight to ten copies of each dog's (or cat's) paperwork. This comes in really handy at the borders especially once you leave the USA. Some of the border crossings are extremely remote and do not necessarily had access to copiers and we had heard if they do, they may charge between $5-10 per page copied. I think we used every copy with the exception of maybe one or two.

So we made it safely through each border - with the exception of Molly almost eating the guard coming into Honduras as I told you about a few days ago.

Once we arrived, our poor dogs started shedding very quickly as they arrived with full winter coats to approximately 85F weather. When we left 150 Mile House it was -10C. There was so much hair we could have made about six more dogs out of what they shed. Thank goodness for vacuum cleaners.

Something we did not expect to be as bad were the amount of fleas and ticks. Almost every day we would take ticks off all of the dogs. Poor Willie was the worst off as the rotten little hitch-hikers loved him.

We tried a few different solutions including an injectable treatment, flea baths and dips and different pills to no avail. Our vet has started carrying a new pill treatment called Bravecta so we gave it a try. It is very expensive, but it has provided unbelievable results and relief for the dogs. We highly recommend this product. We gave it to the dogs at the beginning of September and the fleas were gone almost immediately and the ticks within one day. We have not had one since, so fingers crossed that it continues to work so well.

Another serious threat to canines in the tropics is heartworm which is carried by mosquitoes. This was new to us as heartworm is not common to where we lived in BC. They are now all on an all-in-one pill which looks after any type of worm the dogs can find. And the best part, I told the dogs it was a treat and each of them gobbled it up and were looking for more. Jokes on them!

To prepare for either travel or moving with your pets to the tropics, I would suggest starting a regimen to deal with fleas, ticks and heartworm at least one month in advance of your travel. Depending on where you live now, they may be on some of the regimens already, and if so, make sure they are up to date. You may also want to consider bringing a six month supply with you as they can sometimes be hard to acquire down here. Your pets will appreciate it.

Okay, Blue Jays, let's play ball!

Paige, Willie and Molly are doing exceptionally well and love their life as island dogs; living outside most of the time. Molly and Paige are shop puppies and like to stay out in the shop while Mic while he is working. Willie likes to stay with me either in the office with me writing or outside as long as I throw the ball for him.

Hasta mañana mis amigos!