Moving An Older Large Dog To Thailand

[tebee]

My wife has suggested I bring my dog with me next time I come to Thailand and we keep him there rather than in Europe as at present. Now this idea has much merit from our point of view. I spend about 6 months of the year in Thailand, whereas she is normally over here for only about one month, so I would save a small fortune in pet sitting fees. The dog might be happier to, as his back legs sometimes give him problems in cold weather - he has mild dysplasia and he misses me when I am away. He is very happy with both my wife and her son though - sometimes think he prefers our son to me or it could just be he's a softer touch.

But he is a big dog - about 65 kg of English Mastiff and is over 7 years old now so I wonder how well he would cope with the heat.

This is them together - it's a toss up who is bigger.

He is used to a fair bit of heat, we live in France and he is currently stretched out on the tarmac in my yard in 30 degrees of sun, but 30 degrees here seems cooler than 30 degrees in Thailand.

He is not an active dog, needs two short walks a day, so could take him out morning and night when it is cooler - too long a walk and his dysplasia will play up the next day. We live on one of the gated estates in Thailand in a townhouse with no garden, but there are places outside we could take him to. There are aggressive soi dogs in one direction but the other is clear. We also have a large covered terrace.

We do plan to move to France permanently eventually, but that will not be for a few years yet, probably after our son finishes medical school. At the moment we keep going back and forth as we have rental properties in both places and we need to maintain their EU residence rights. I suspect sadly, that by the time we are ready to move back, the dog will not be a problem.

So would he cope with the heat in Thai? Is there anything we would need to do to keep him cool and happy? Any other problems you can foresee?

Tom

[BottleBlonde]

What a beautiful dog!

Veterinary care is an issue here, especially as they get older and with the existing hip dysplacia. Unfortunately the majotity of vets in Thailand are Buddhist and against Euthenasia even when an animal is suffering. For westerners it is extremely hard if we make the decision to let our 4 legged babies go, but whats even harder is when we are unable to help them.

You may also have issues trying to import him due to size and breed, many airlines may refuse to fly and some have restrictions due to temperatures and breeds that have short muzzles. My suggestion there would be to contact Ratchaburi kennel as they breed such dogs and I believe also import studs etc from europe and may be able to give you some advise.

There is no quarantine which is great, but dogs here are more prone to tick based diseases as we do not have the mild temperatures in europe that kill off a lot of these diseases and parasites.

I wish you the best of luck if you decide to make the move for your boy. If you do, I would advise under no circumstances to sedate him on the flight.

[BottleBlonde]

Sorry, hadn't fully read the post and so just realisedhe is an English mastiff. Ratchaburi breed Bull mastiff, but sure they could still give you some advice.

[meatboy]

sorry op but i would definately think about the move expecially for an old dog and such a large one,he would suffer badly with the heat and humidity would need 24/7 air con or fan,then there is the mossy's and a whole lot of other do's and donts,over here the temp.is constant almost 365days and also the nights to think about,there are plenty to read in this forum so please dont bring him over,such a loverly dog deserves not to have to endour such suffering that he would encounter here.

[macnmotion]

Hi. There are points to be made on both sides. With proper attention, dogs can tolerate this climate (I brought 2 Golden Retrievers from the USA). Normally I'd say bring the dogs to be with you. However in this instance it seems to me the most important thing to consider (more important than the cost of pet sitting up North) is how the dog will be taken care of here during the 6 months you are not around. As has been pointed out, vet care in Thailand is not what we're used to in western countries (at least in my experience over 3 years here with 3 dogs). Trying to make sure the right decisions are made from a distance can be very difficult -- language issues may get in the way, whoever is looking after your dog here while you're gone may not be of the same caliber as the dog sitters back home, etc. I guess it seems to me that if your dog is going to spend 6 months away from you no matter what, the best decision might be to keep the dog where he is. Also from your description, it seems as though in France your dog would be with family up to 11 months a year, but here only 6 months a year. Finally, I'll say that I too had good intentions of walking my dogs around the neighborhood, but the street dogs have a way of finding you no matter which direction you go! Fortunately I anticipated this and rent a property with a very large fenced in yard so the dogs have plenty of room to run, play and live. Only you can determine if your location here is appropriate.

As for suffering, well that totally depends on how you're able to care for the dogs here. My goldens certainly don't suffer, but my electric bill is pretty high some months!

I hope you find peace in whatever decision you make. Best of luck!

Edited July 24, 2012 by macnmotion

[Sophon]

Also from your description, it seems as though in France your dog would be with family up to 11 months a year, but here only 6 months a year.

I read it the other way around.

Sophon

[tracker1]

If your dog has remained at the present address for most its life. You might find that the dog will stress much in a new location takinging into account its age whether you be with it or not in its new location and the experiance of travel may have an adverse reaction on the dog as well with it all adding up to a very dissapointing move for both you and your dog. I looked into it with my 5 year old german shepherd.

[Cuban]

The dog might be happier to, as his back legs sometimes give him problems in cold weather - he has mild dysplasia and he misses me...

There is a train of thought that including some Vitamin C within the diet counters some of the dysplasia, also consider a BARF diet that includes chicken joints as a source of bio-available glucosamine.

It is my belief that it is better to feed a dog a diet that includes these items as a prevention rather than seeking to resolve a problem that has developed over time where these items are missing from the diet.

HTH.

[tebee]

OK to clear things up, if I bring him to Thailand, he will be with family 11 months of the year, at the moment, for 2 almost 3 months stretches each year, I have to get someone to pet sit him. He is with a family with other dogs, but the girl who looks after him says he does miss us and he frets. He always loses weight when I am away.

I had not thought about the vets being Buddhist and not wanting to euthanase a pet, but I'm sure that, if the worst came to the worst, I could do the dirty deed myself.

His dysplasia is not severe and doesn't normally bother him, but before we got him he fathered a litter of pups who all had major problems with it.. We only discovered this a couple of years later when we hired a barmaid who had the same breed of dog. She was telling us about the 3000 euros worth of operations her dog had been through and that she was suing the breeder. Realized it was the same breeder we had got our Cholmondeley from and then she mention her dog sire as being Dodi which is what our dog was originally called! Strange coincidences that happen in life....

Interesting about the vit c and chicken joints, will have to look into that. We give him cod liver oil now.

He has been through a business going bust and a subsequent relationship break up which both involved rather traumatic moves so I don't think another move would upset him any more - As long as I am the afterwards.

Tom

.