Importing from the USA

[Ingvild]

Hi!
I just wondered if any body has imported dogs from the US into Europe and could tell me a bit about it. What to look out for etc. Also I was wondering: What do people do when they are importing a puppy from a country where Weims are docked into a country where docking is banned? Do you get the breeder to pick out the puppy at birth? Will they do that? It sounds a bit risky, but maybe the only way to go. (Here in Norway you can't show or compete in field trials f the dog is docked. The Club is "lobbying" to get this overturned so imported dogs can compete, but it doesn't seem to be going our way. )

[Sylvia]

As you know.. We asked the breeder to choice for us which she let the tail on, we wanted to have a dog with a tail.
And if it is a good litter then mostly it will be allright..
You never can say before as well if they will get HD, that is also a risk.. That is how I look to it

Why the question? Are you thinking about importing? (Irena is not the only curious person LOLLL ;D )

[Ingvild]

Yes, I'm thinking of importing but not for about 2 years. In the meanwhile I want to do allot of research in order to get this "right" So if anyone has some tips I'm all ears:) The puppy will be quite old before we can import her to Norway due to her needing to have her vaccinations. Have any of you imported an "older" puppy (I guess she will be around 6 months old). Do they do OK on the flight over and transitioning to a new place?

[greyflyte]

I imported Rookie from USA. He was 11 months old by the time everything was sorted. He had to go into quarantine for 1 month. I dont think he enjoyed it.

One of his daughters he sired here in New Zealand this year has gone to Switzerland. She had to have the tail left on too so the breeder chose at docking time to leave a tail on one pup.

[rivenwil]

This is probably a bit of a late reply as I've been away in the USA. I've imported 3 Weims from the USA. Because of the quarantine restrictions, need for vaccinations (because the UK is rabies-free for the most part) and the DEFRA requirements, my latest puppy couldn't come in until she was older. That meant leaving her with a friend (a very good friend) for several months until she had met the DEFRA requirements.
I don't know what the import restrictions are in Norway. They can't be as bad as the UK! The plane journey was fine by the way, but then my puppy has an exceptional temperament for a young girl, was well socialised in the USA, and crate-trained too. That takes a lot of the stress out of a journey like this.
Also, regarding getting an undocked puppy in the USA. I think that would be virtually impossible at the moment. Let me qualify that-it's not impossible- but if you want a good one I doubt very much that any of the more successful US breeders would volunteer to leave one of their puppies undocked.
Then that begs the question, why ever would you want to go to the expense of importing a puppy and then leave it to the breeder to go 'eny meany miney mo' to choose you a pup at 3 days old (when the tails are docked) ? There is absolutely no way a breeder can pick a show prospect out at 3 days old (if you want a pet only, then it doesn't matter as much). You would do yourself better justice to travel to the USA, see the different dogs there, choose which type your prefer, go to that breeder and buy the best puppy you can (whether it has a docked tail or not).

I rarely EVER see European Weim breeders visiting the WCA Nationals in the USA (usually held in May-June each year). I think I have come across 2. In contrast, I have seen at least half a dozen or more Australian breeders at the Nationals. It costs a lot to travel all the way from Australia to the USA (my goodness, I think it is a 20 hour + plane flight!!! ). It cost a fraction of that to fly from Europe out to the USA. America is on Europe's doorstep. Europeans are in a much better position to import from the USA than Australians (who live at bottom of the World!), yet the Aussies are streaks ahead in that regard.
As a general comment (not directed at Ingvild only) I strongly suggest that if you are serious about breeding/importing from the USA that you at least visit the country once and attend a WCA Nationals event (preferably on the East Coast/Mid-West where they pull a big entry). If you are going to build a foundation upon imported US lines, you really should learn first-hand as much as possible about those lines and it's hard to do that if you don't speak face-to-face with the breeders.

Don't mean to sound like mum , just wanted to give some hard-won advice re. importing.

Kate

[Irena]

Kate, glad to have you back on the board!

As I was reading your post (LOTS of food for thought), I started thinking - I guess Ingvild could perhaps be better off importing a puppy from Australia if she wanted to. They don't dock tails there anymore, so that would pose no problem at all, and as to the dogs, they not only have exceptional Weimaraners, but superb FCI group 7 dogs at large. The cost of shipping to Norway would be higher than from the US, but as Kate said, if you can't be sure about what you get from the US (due to tails), at least in case of importing from Australia you WOULD be sure. And what with them regularly importing dogs from the states, chances are you could find a litter with the same lines in your pup's pedigree that you would if you imported from the US (if that is really of crucial importance that they be some US lines).

I don't know what they decided about tails in New Zealand, but if they have banned docking too, no reason not to consider NZ as well. Again, the costs of shipping would be higher, but just like in case of Aussie, very, VERY well worth it, I'm sure.

[greyflyte]

We are lucky enough to still be docking here in New Zealand. The Bill has been delayed till after our election in September. We are still fighting the fight tho.

[greydove]

I agree completely with Kate's post and in particular about any of the noteworthy USA breeders leaving tails on...I would be very surprised if you could convince anyone to do that....I also totally agree that you need to go over there and see whats there...

We just sent 3 pups overseas to countries who have docked tails....it is now illegal to dock tails in Australia and all pups were docked by their respective owners upon arrival ... one to USA, one to Croatia and one to Poland.... thats just the way it will be from now on!

congrats on your new 'Flair' Kate, I hope you do well with her...


narelle

[arielskennels]

I am a USA breeder and I have a male from Britfeld Weimaraners out of Australia. He has a docked tail and his grandmother is from Mimmitrix Kennels in Sweden and she has a full tail. To me, docking a just a hassel and an expense that I feel does not "need" to be done. I know some breeders here that do not dock the tails, but do remove the dew claws. I am getting ready to have another litter from my Australian male and I would be willing to leave a tail undocked if asked. I also breed GSPs (Deutsch Kurzhaars) and I have been asked before not to dock a tail. To me that is the choice of the purchaser. If not requested, I will comply with the American breed standard and dock all tails except longhaired Weim puppies. I have considered leaving an entire litter of tails undocked. As it seems to me that the USA is just one step behind everyone else, I feel that in due time, the USA will cease to dock the weim tails. I have imported into the USA and exported to Canada, but not everseas. I know that the little female GSP pup that I had brought in from Romania came at 10 weeks old and was not required to have any type of quarantine. I have also checked into exporting to Germany and KLM (the airline) told me that if I export before the pup is 10-11 weeks old, then there is no quarantine issues, but if I wait after 11 weeks, then the pup would need to have a rabies vaccine and then wait until he/she was 3-4 months old. That is just my opinion and experience.
Melissa
www.arielskennels.com