Europe has gone to the dogs!

The Europeans views dog much differently than the Americans do. There is tremendous bureaucracy around them and at the same time they are allowed to go everywhere with their owners.

We are required to register Ginger in Belgium. This involves going to a vet and showing official USDA documentation that she has current Rabies and DHLPP vaccinations and that she has a readable micro chip. He/she fills out the official form which gets sent to the government. We are then sent stamped forms that make Ginger official. We must carry these with us at all times.

To travel to any other EU countries, we have to have a dog passport for Ginger! A Vet must give you one of these and it involves all of the above plus you get this passport where her vet visits and country visits are stamped. We have completed both of these steps now with Ginger and are waiting for the official documents to arrive in the mail. To travel to an non-EU country there are all sorts of special requirements that must be met and checked to get the dog into each individual country. Some are simple and some are not.

Ginger’s Vet is a wonderful guy that we were referred to by others we know who live here. His name is Dr. Patrick Belcour. He does home visits and carries a cell phone. There is always a vet on call for emergencies. He asked me if I’d be willing to give obedience and manners classes out of his office for his English speaking clients. Apparently there is a big need for English speaking dog trainers because most only speak either Flemish or French. I can’t work (legally) but I thought I’d do it on a volunteer basis for the fun, practice, and networking. Maybe we’ll have the client donate money to a local shelter as payment. This is all just starting to be discussed so we’ll see where it goes!

Ginger is allowed to go into any restaurant with us. She is fawned over more than we are (kisses, water bowl, and lots of French cooing). We can take her into all clothing stores, trains, hotels, and pretty much everywhere but food stores. Every once in a while there is a "no dogs allowed" sign but mostly they are allowed everywhere.

This has caused us to really work on Ginger’s manners. She’s only embarrassed us a couple if times. Once she jumped on top of a table! Thankfully the restaurant was empty and I got her off quickly. We’re working on her growling on leash at other dogs. We still have some work to do but we’re trying to keep her so tired that she doesn’t care. Together with quick timing, we’re doing well.