Taking dogs into Canada and back

[rbpru]

We will be in Ely Minnesota on vacation and plan a trip into to Canada. We will have two dogs with us and plan to stay overnight.

Are there any problems with getting our dogs into and out of Canada?

We have the Rabies certificates.

[michigansandzil]

I have personally never travelled with a dog to canada, but I know that pit bulls or any mix thereof, is illegal in Ontario. My sis-in-law has a lovely mixed breed with pit bull in it, and she won't go into Ontario with him.

[Community Alumni]

I live on the Canadian border. I travel with my dogs there frequently. I bring the shot records. I have never had an issue with them not being in French.

[Ecmele17]

I travel back and forth through Canada multiple times during the year with our dog. Bring proof or rabies vacinations and licenses. Your vet can also provide a signed "Health Certificate". (Basically a document that calls out all shots and vaccinations.) My dog food has only been confiscated once in 10 years. To be on the safe side, make sure whatever you bring is in the orginal packaging and clearly lists all ingreients on the bag. As mentioned in an earlier post, lamb is the ingredient that will cause issues at the border. I have found that having friendly dogs helps as the border officer will likely want to pet them, usually without asking first.

[vic46]

rbpru wrote:
We will be in Ely Minnesota on vacation and plan a trip into to Canada. We will have two dogs with us and plan to stay overnight.

Are there any problems with getting our dogs into and out of Canada?

We have the Rabies certificates.

What breed of dogs and what province(s)?

[2oldman]

Dogs Canada in Canada/Alaska forum Feb 2014

[myredracer]

Ditto on the dog food, especially going into the US. We took a small baggie of dry dog food with us once and got caught. We were detained for over an hour and thought we were going to be sent to Guantanamo Bay. Not fun.... Apparently some people were dumping out the contents and putting in banned substances so they stopped it altogether.

Some types of dog food are banned. There is a limit on the amount too. Lamb into the US is a nono. There are rules on the country of origin.

Otherwise, you just need to have up to date vaccination records. We take our dog back and forth across the border lots and have never once been asked about shots.

Info. here:
US border dog rules
Canada border vaccination rules
Canada border pet food rules

FWIW, fruits and vegetables are a problem and it's best not to take anything across the border unless you have studied the US and Canadian allowable lists in detail. If you haven't it's a good idea to visit both the US and Canada gov't sites for what is and isn't allowed to enter for everything.

[crabbin_cabin]

Should be posted in either the Canada forum (see sticky there) or the Pet forum!!

[Nvr2loud]

If the OP already has the dogs vaccinated, he should have the certificates already on file. The only concern could be if the certificate was not in English or French

I've always carried mine too, but have yet to be asked for it... but the one time I forget it and I'm sure I'll be spot-checked LOL

[rr2254545]

This is for a basic dog - see their website

The rabies vaccination certificate must:
•be written in English or French;
•be issued and signed by a licensed veterinarian;
•identify the animal (breed, sex, colour, and weight);
•state that the animal is vaccinated against rabies;
•indicate the date of vaccination;
•indicate the trade name and the serial number of the licensed vaccine; and
•specify the duration of immunity (otherwise, it will be considered valid for one year from the date of vaccination

[petetdy]

Take a look at this page http://travel.gc.ca/returning/customs/pets

[Nvr2loud]

Unopened and sealed commercial dog food only. We only carry a very small bag of dog food with us when we travel to Florida and back home to Canada each year. We can't bring the opened bag back into Canada, so we just discard the remaining amount along the way.

Keep the vaccination certificates with you.