Kennels on the ferrys

[Julie]

Hi

I am looking at traveling back to Adra on the ferry, as I am taking my 2 parrots and my tiny yorkie with me I can not use a pet friendly cabin for the 3 of them,but Brittany ferries have said I can take the 2 parrots in the cabin (cap fin) and put the yorkie in a kennel, as she is only a kilo and a half and a bit timid I am a little concerned, my question is, I thought the kennels had runs, but it appears they are just a crate ( better for my little mutt ) and you can visit as much as you like to feed/toilet them, so can anyone tell me if its like a mad house with dogs constantly barking and folk coming and going ? or is it reasonable quite, since we lost our last dog we have been traveling on the Pont avon with the parrots left in the veichle in the hold, but we can't do that on the cap fin as the parrots are not allowed , due to there being no ventilation in the hold on that ferry, so do I drive through France, so as I am not worrying about my dog, or do you people who have used the kennels think she would be ok in a kennel, there being a lot less on the cap fin, sorry for waffling lol !

[scouser]

Hi

My only experience of ferry kennels is on the Pont - Aven.

This was very stressful for our collie. We were able to visit her as often as we liked and there was a deck for exercising but the weather was dreadful when we sailed and it wasn't safe to spend too much time on the deck with the dog. Very wet and blowing a gale.

If the weather hadn't been so bad I would have stayed with her all the time. There was a bench inside to sit but the temperature was baltic.

The kennels were extremely cold stainless steel so you need to take a blanket. There is a trough for water and food. Water is available from a tap.

Whenever we went to check on her the dogs were barking mad but that may be because we were there and we were just disturbing them all the time. I'm guessing there was the same reaction whenever anyone went to check on their dog.

The smaller kennels were above the larger ones so, if you have a smaller dog, you need to be able to reach the overhead kennels. I'm 5ft tall and wouldn't have been able to lift my dog to put her in one of the overhead kennels. If you have a tiny yorkie this may not be such a problem.

If you have a cat box or something like that, your dog might be better and more cosy in this and then put that inside the metal kennel for better warmth and comfort.

Any travelling with a nervous dog is going to be hard. Looking back, she would have been better flying because it would have been quicker. I don't think I would do the ferry journey like this again unless it was the height of summer and I could stay with her all the time. It took her months to get over the separation anxiety

You have to balance the difficulty of a dog being stuck on the back seat of a hot car surrounded by suit cases etc. But at least you will be able to stop when you want, where you want and your dog will always know you are there.

We had a long journey from the ferry to our final destination so we had the worst of all worlds.

You will need to make sure you have a motel planned on route that will take dogs. We had to stop overnight between Santander and Malaga. We booked into a motel that said they would take the dog but when we walked in with her on the lead they said she had to stay in the car.

I told them they could stick that so after a row they let us take her in the room but I was on edge all the time in case she left hairs anywhere or peed.

Good luck.

[Julie]

Thanks Scouser, I appreciate you taking the time to reply to me It Is as I thought, we do travel on the Pont avon regularly, but I have never visited the kennels as my parrots stay in the veichle, I think I will have to start doing the France run again using the tunnel, I have done it half a dozen times before,(when my dogs were still alive ) but I find it so boring, I used to plug in a fan to the cig lighter for the dogs and they always travelled ok, but its only a 10 hour drive anyway from Santander.
And to be honest I have never been refused a hotel room, even with 2 dogs and 2 parrots, I usually only stay over night on my way back to the UK, maybe I have just been lucky ! Thanks again

[Enrique]

Hi Julie,
Did you put the right weight for your Yorkie, is that's very small, would have thought you would have trouble keeping it in the kennel . Last time I saw a dog that got out through the bars the owner just took it down to their cabin .
Not very many Kennels on the Cap Finistère so reasonable quite.
Usually find the dogs only bark when owners go up there.
Guess I'm very luck with my lot as they just chill out, put two in a large kennel. Mine are crate trained so this helps.

Have a good trip, I've got one coming up soon on the Pont Avon

[ValL]

On the Pont Aven when we travelled with our small dog, the cause of all the barking seemed to be the owners in and out all the time, some stayed in the kennels, one man IN the large cage with his dog. Some camped outside with their dogs in shelters. One thing with really small dogs was the owners brought small gauge mesh and fixings to attach to the door,small dog could escape (one did frequently)

We took our dogs house bed which fitted inside the cage, my husband had found the measurements of cages. She had no problems the whole return trip.

[Julie]

Thanks for the replys

Think I will have to sneak her in the cabin is there nobody around to realise that one of the kennels are empty ? Also do they get booked up quickly, I usually only book a day or 2 before hand, Thanks.

[ValL]

Small dogs kennel spaces used to go quickly. It has been a few years since I did the trip but think it may still be the case.

[Enrique]

Hi Julie,
Thought you had booked on your first post

The Cap Finistère has only a few kennels and 14 Pet friendly cabins so you need to book early.
The Pont Avon has loads of kennels so is not usually a problem.
No problem if the dog isn't in a kennel, I have to book 4 kennels(4 dogs) but only use 2 kennels as they bunk up together. That's my one grip with the On-line booking.............should be able to book the number of dogs and then specify how many kennels you require.

[ValL]

Sorry I have to disagree about not usually a problem, unless the situation has changed dramatically. We had to change our dates twice when booking with our dog, no small kennels left. Also when my husband was ill and we tried to change the dates for return there were no small dog spaces for a month ! They were also saying you had to book the right size of kennel for the size of your dog.

[Enrique]

Hi,
Guess its the the time of year too, tried to book in January for a March trip but no Kennels.
Never seen the Pont Avon small kennels all full and I do up to five trips a year.
The Cap Finistère can be a problem as there are very few Kennels to start with
Cap Finistère 4 Large kennels, 8 Small + 14 Pet friendly Cabins
Pont-Avon 24 large kennels, 42 small

[ValL]

Your information is obviously more up to date than mine and you travel much more than we did. I cannot travel back with my dog now as they do not allow walk on passengers with dog.