Traveling into Canada
 

The end of the summer, or early fall, my husband and I will be traveling into Canada, with our two Yorkies, and our travel trailer, and we will be bringing a Maltese puppy back with us.

Any ideas what to expect?

Will they inspect our travel trailer? Anything we are not allowed to have in there? The reason I ask, is I am on several prescription medications. Also, we will have food in the refrigerator in the TT.

What do we need where our Yorkies are concerned?

And what about the new Maltese puppy we will be bringing back with us?

Thanks.

Sheila

I cross the border on a regular (read every weekend in the summer) basis, though I am Canadian so I'm not sure if slightly different rules apply to me.

For your meds, make sure all the bottles are clearly labelled with your name, doc's name, etc so it can be verified if necessary.

For your Yorkies, I imagine it's much the same as me going into the U.S. with them, make sure to have their paperwork (shots) with you to show the border guard.

For food, I don't THINK there's anything you're not allowed to bring into Canada, most of the restrictions were heading south, but I'll attach a website where you can check. If there is anything you're not allowed, don't bring it, or at least declare it. They can seize your vehicles if you omit something and get caught. At the very least they will throw it out, which can get expensive :)

They may or may not inspect the trailer, depends on the guard. Most likely you'll be there for 30 seconds at the booth where they'll ask where you're from, where you're going, what you have to declare (food, cigarettes, alcohol, purchases) how long you'll be away, the purpose of your visit.

For the Maltese puppy (congratulations!) you'll want to have the health certificate if you plan on declare him upon your return across the border, and his/her paperwork (shots, etc) as well. Also, keep in mind buying your puppy in Canada will be the same thing as buying a tv or stereo to the border guards, so make sure that you're either under the allowed limit for the time you'll be away - I think it's $750/800 for 1 week - or have the breeder make a receipt for a small amount, in case you make other purchases while you're here.

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/fpa-apa/law-loi-eng.html

Hope that helps!

Tara :)

we go often... don't expect much... they rarely even ask about Layla. Going into Canada is much easier than going into the US. They might inspect your trailer.. don't have any guns or anything.

Make sure you have proof of rabies.. but again... we've been over.... roughly 100 times with Layla.. never once been asked for anything....

Hi, Tara.

Thanks so much for your reply. Regarding the meds, I think I am going to be sure to travel into and out of Canada on weekdays only, because one of my meds is apparently not widely prescribed, (as the pharmacy in a hospital I was in a year ago didn't even know what it was). So, if they need to verify it, I want my D.O. in his office. LOL

Thanks for the congratulations on the Maltese puppy. He/she hasn't been born yet, but my breeder is pretty sure she'll have one for me this summer.

Will I need to pay a customs tax on my puppy?

Thanks for the link, I am going to check it out right now.

Sheila

if you are buying the dog in the US. and coming into canada.. you wont' have to pay tax.. if you are buying the puppy in Canada and brining it back into the US.. you will have to pay a tax... if you choose to tell them you bought the pup in Canada. if you dont' say anything, they probably won't ask. We had to say we bought Layla and needed to pay tax, otherwise they would have let us go.

No, don't plan to have any guns or anything. I don't mind if they inspect my travel trailer. (As long as they wipe their feet. LOL) Don't drink, don't smoke, so I guess we'll be ok. ;)

Thanks.

Sheila

i'm sure you will be just fine. I can't beleive how many times we have gone over and no one has asked to see Layla's rabies records.. lol... works for us!

LOL the odds of them actually checking your meds are slim to none. I think valid ID matching the stickers on the bottles would be fine even if they do.

As marcerella02 said, if you don't TELL them the puppy was bought on your trip, I doubt they'll ask. In the interest of covering your behind though, having the breeder write you a receipt for a small amount would be best, so you don't get dinged too heavily.

When I brought my sharpei Tequila across the border from Ohio 6 years ago, I was in the car with a sharpei breeder who'd also gotten a puppy. So there we were, a senior and a mid 20's woman with 2 7 week old sharpei puppies. We declared them (we both had receipts that said $100 but we'd been gone less than 24 hours, so we weren't allowed to bring anything back without paying duties) and we were told to pull over, go inside and pay the duties. In the time it took after parking to undo our seatbelts, the car was surrounded by 5 big, male, border guards. I about had a heart attack. We crossed over about 3 a.m. and I guess they were bored - they all came out to see the puppies. LOL After playing with them for 5 minutes, they let us go without paying a dime :)

Honestly, if you have nothing to hide, you really don't have anything to worry about. You've probably spent more time asking questions about what to expect then you'll spend with the border guards. Most of the time, at least going into the U.S. we barely get asked any questions, they want to skip to petting the dogs :) Even coming back into Canada, many of them just ask questions about what kind of dogs, aw they're so cute, etc.

Tara :)

Us too marcerella02 - actually, when we had our sharpei and keeshond, since I guess they weren't common, in about 200-300 times we crossed back and forth with them, the most we were asked was if he had the papers, never once had to show them. Since we got SoCo, we've had to show them twice I think, in about 6-7 times since we brought him home. I guess he's not "unusual" enough, but even still, I like the ratio LOL Do you find that they hardly ask you any questions either when you have Layla with you?

Tara :)

I will most likely pay my breeder before I make the trip...so, in that case, what would I say, if they asked?

is the breeder in Canada or the US?

Yes, my labels on my med bottles are very clear. Guess that stay in the hospital had me worried. Funny though, as worried as they were about not recognizing the med, they did allow me to take it.

I will most likely pay my breeder before I pick up my puppy, so if they ask about the puppy, what do I say? (I'm a 55 year old worry wart.) I mean, I will be entering Canada with two, and leaving with three.

I WOULD have had a heart attack had I been in your situation with 5 big border guards surrounding my car. But that is so sweet that they wanted to see the puppies.

I have found, even the biggest most macho guys melt when they see my Yorkies.

No, really don't have anything to hide. I just wanted to make sure I was doing the right things and not get there and find out I can't take my babies in, or bring my new baby out.

Thank you so much. You have been so reassuring.

Sheila

The breeder is in Dresden, Ontario, Canada.

It doesn't matter if you pay in advance, technically. While I realize a Tivo box isn't the same as a puppy, in the eyes of the law, they are, so here's an example.

I bought 2 Tivos on eBay. I had them shipped to my PO Box in NY state. I went down for the day and picked them up. When I returned to Canada, even though I had already paid for them, I still had to declare them AND pay duty on them as they were acquired in the U.S. and I was bringing them back to Canada. Had I been down for the weekend, my allowance for duty free goods would have covered them, but since I was gone less than 24 hours, I wasn't allowed anything duty free. Mind you, on $240 worth of goods, the duty was $30 odd.

Hope that clears things up. The only way I see it being an issue (hence the reason I say have a cheap receipt written) is if you get a smart border guard, they may notice that their shots were recent and were given in Canada, leading them to ask questions. If I were you, I would declare the puppy, say you paid $50 for him/her, you saw him/her on vacation, and make that the end of it. If you're gone at least a weekend (48 hours) you would be allowed to bring back $400 (I think) so it would be a moot point.

Tara :)

Canada and the U.S. don't (generally) discuss what you had crossing the other one's border. Heck, most of the time as our car is only in my hubby's name, neither border technically has a record of my crossing. But there's no way either one will know how many dogs were in the car going in either direction.

I about did, I think if I'd had a heart condition I would have. Thankfully Canadian border guards don't carry guns or I'm sure at 25 I would've been dead from a heart attack! LOL

I wasn't suggesting you did :) You're doing everything right, and I understand being nervous, the only reason I'm so relaxed is from doing it so often (we have a trailer just over the border). We were just there on the weekend even. Our U.S. stop on the way down was spent chatting about the snow and on the way back Canada just wanted to know how long we'd been gone and if we had booze lol.


It was my pleasure, glad I could help. Feel free to ask more questions here or PM me if something pops into your head between now and then :)

Tara :)