How To Move a Dog to the United Kingdom from the USA

by Susanna Luck January 16, 2026

In October last year, after many years living in Oregon in the USA, I moved back to England, where I was born and grew up. I have a dog, Freja, who is three years old and bringing her with me was a non-negotiable. It was also, as it turned out, the most stressful, expensive and difficult process I have yet encountered - and that includes moving my life to the States when I was 19, going through the long process of getting a Green Card, running a business and many, many more of life's hurdles.

I'm going to describe my own experience first, but it is long - if you just want to jump to the advice, scroll down to the bullet points.

Let me first say that I totally own some of these mistakes. There are things I could have done differently that would have perhaps made this all less stressful but at the time, going up against this very complicated and intimidating task, I thought I was making all the appropriate decisions. No doubt it will be easy for someone to say "well you should have.." and I agree, I should, but as you'll see, some of this was hard to see without the benefit of hindsight.

Also, while this post is intended to help anyone trying to move with their dog from the US to the UK, it is specific to my own experience leaving Oregon. Many of the points apply to any state, but some - like airlines allowing pet travel - may be different in other parts of the country.

My intention with this post is to perhaps help someone else who might be attempting the same thing and to make it somewhat less stressful for them, if I can. There are so many things you need to know for the process to go smoothly and many of them, as I came to find out, are not always explained in the official literature.

If you can afford it, I would highly recommend using a well-reviewed pet travel company that provides door to door service. They will know every step that needs to be taken, and when, and it will save you a great deal of stress. If you can't and you need to manage by yourself, hopefully this post will help you sort through the many steps and hurdles ahead.

Let me also say for the record that although I am not rich by most standards, I am lucky enough to be able to afford this process and acknowledge that it's from a point of that privilege that I write this piece. Without any of the issues that arose for us, in the best case, it would have cost me around $3000 to bring Freja to the UK from the PNW coast of the USA this way (less for her but more for me by sea). Because of some things out of my control and some things I should have known but didn't, it ended up being closer to $5k. Of course it was worth every penny to have her with me again, but that still is a significant amount of money for most people. Reading my experience, I hope, may save someone from the same errors.

This is Freja, my three year old shepherd mix. When I decided it was time to move back to the UK there was no question that she would come with me - you might as well have asked if I intended to leave an arm behind - but the question of how felt enormous. My first instinct, since she is a somewhat nervous dog, was to try to find a way for her not to have to fly. The only option for that is to take the Queen Mary II - the world's last ocean liner - from New York to Southampton, which sounded like an elegant solution and maybe even a pleasant trip. The QM2, as I discovered, does allow pets to travel in some comfort, but they have a very limited kennel - I think it perhaps accommodates 20 animals on the entire ship - and because you can reserve a spot without paying a deposit for the animal, it books up months and months in advance (people book multiple possibilities at once and then often drop out at the 6 week before trip mark, which is when you have to pay the fee and when many folk make the decision about their best travel date that year). At the time I first looked - which was January, it was completely booked for the year but there was a small chance I could get her a crossing 18 months later. It would have cost around $4k for us both, with me in a nice but not huge cabin with a balcony. One thing that appealed to me about that option was that you can visit with and walk or play with your dog during the journey and the QM2 has a designated pet concierge, whose job is purely to care for the animals during the trip. There would of course have also been the matter of driving across the country to NY from Oregon in our case. The cost of that plus accommodation but at first this seemed like a fitting last adventure (I never did do the epic cross country road trip) and perhaps worth the expense when weighed against Freja's comfort. Initially I did in fact book that crossing, but changed my mind when it began to feel more urgent that we should leave the US as soon as possible.

Since I am not uber-rich and therefore didn't have access to private jets, or the new semi-private jets that specialise in pet travel (which charge around $10k and mostly seem to leave only from the East Coast of the US), the only other possibility was for her to fly in the cargo hold of a standard passenger plane. There are no standard passenger airlines flying into the UK that allow dogs in the cabin unless that dog is certified as a working animal and the rules are very strict; you can't just put a 'working dog' vest on, or claim that status and sashay down the runway. Freja is not a support animal and in fact I quite often joke that I am her emotional support animal. The only other possibility I could find that might allow me to take her on her own seat in the cabin of a plane was to fly into France. But in that case then we would have the extra steps of dealing with French AND British red tape on entry, and getting from Paris to Calais and then across the channel - which seemed more stressful for us both than one single, ten hour flight. So cargo hold it was.

This idea filled me with dread, mainly for her wellbeing and the stress it would put her through, but since there was no other option, other than to abandon her, it was the path we took. Let me say now, in case you also are dreading it, that although it was undoubtedly stressful for her (she peed her bed en-route, which she has never, ever done, not even when she was a puppy), she arrived in perfect shape and was almost instantly back to her usual happy self.

...

I tried to prepare as best I could, reading everything I could find, quizzing the companies that would be taking her on and off the flights, trawling through forums and visiting a local USDA-certified vet that I found through the government search months ahead of our journey, to try to assure we were well-prepared with plenty of time to spare. Frustratingly and because of the lack of experience of my vet, this last part proved to be wasted time but I still think it's a good idea for anyone else preparing to do the same - just make sure that the vet you choose is well-practiced in applying for animal travel papers, so that they know exactly what to check for. It's not enough that they appear on a sanctioned list; they need to have been through the process enough times that they're aware of possible pitfalls.

My own trip was hampered by the closure of the US government in October 2025, the month I was leaving, because the USDA office that issues pet travel paperwork was of course closed, or at least so reduced in staff that they were not answering the phone. In the end, Freja could not travel with me the day I left and she stayed with friends for three months whilst I tried to arrange for her travel.

In addition to that, our first problem was that Freja's health paperwork - since she had been adopted from a rather chaotic rescue - did not clearly show her very first rabies shot, years before. At the time I adopted her it didn't seem that important to me so long as she was healthy and kept up to date with health checks . The UK is very, very serious about rabies vaccinations (and if you grew up in the 80s, you probably remember the terrifying public service videos warning against the dangers of touching a rabid animal) There are very specific steps that need to be followed to demonstrate the animal is adequately vaccinated and in a particular order (see the bullet points below) If your vet is well-organised and experienced with this, it shouldn't be a problem, because they'll be on top of it well in advance of the trip. In our case, my vet - although well-meaning - really didn't know most of the process well enough to prepare us, so we were faced, at the last minute, with administering a new rabies shot, even though Freja didn't need one. That would have meant delaying Freja's travel even without a government shut down, because there's a waiting period after a new vaccination. Either way, she could not travel the day I did.

I was very lucky in that she could stay with good friends she knew and loved, on the beautiful flower farm where we had been living, so at least I did not have to find a long term kennel situation for her or worry that she was unhappy while I figured out how to get her to me.

But this is where it got more complicated.

There are two types of animal travel for cargo transport: Accompanied or 'Commerical', which is the designation if the animal doesn't travel within 5 days of you or a designated companion, arriving at the same airport. You don't need to be on the same plane, just named on the paperwork and arriving to the same airport within 5 days either side of the pet's arrival day. In the first case you have 10 days to file and receive the paperwork needed from the USDA office. In the second, if the animal travels alone, you only have 48 hours and there are more fees and steps associated with it.

The paperwork from the USDA is applied for by your vet through a web portal at USDA and they may then ask for clarification while checking and issuing the papers. Physical paperwork is then sent to you and must be in hand when you drop the dog at the airport for flight.

In addition to the paperwork arriving (hopefully) from the USDA, you must also present a certificate issued by your vet, proving that your dog has had a specific deworming treatment within 72 hours of their flight. This part also became a stress point for us, because I didn't realise how easily it could be left out of the packet.

So since I had already traveled and 48 hours seemed a ludicrously short amount of time to receive physical paperwork, I paid for a friend to travel with Freja at Christmas (when he could get time off).

Two things were very important for us in our plans here:

The only airport that caters to pet travel in the US PNW is Seattle and the only airline leaving from SEA and currently accepting pets is British Airways.
But! Crucially and not communicated to me before it was too late, not all BA flights accommodate pets at all.
You cannot make a pet booking until 13 days before the chosen flight day.

Not knowing part 2 - having only been told that it would have to be a BA flight out of Seattle - I booked my friend's flight for Dec 22nd with 6 weeks or so to go, thinking I had managed to find a way to get her to me without too much hassle - and, with the added advantage that my best friend would be getting a lovely Christmas holiday out of it! Thirteen days before the flight, I attempted to book Freja for that same day with IAG (the company that handles pet travel at SEATAC) That's when I discovered that the only BA plane on that day flying to London did not accept pets for cargo travel. I don't panic easily, but this was, let's say, not good news.

Cue spending hours online and on the phone with my friend's airline (shout out to Aer Lingus for being great here), trying to find a way to move his flight to one day later (a day that she could fly). It turned out to be possible but of course added a great deal to the cost in changing that ticket so soon before the flight and made his journey more arduous, because we had to add an extra layover to get him here to England the same day as Freja. I had had the foresight at least to buy a ticket that could be changed, but it still costs money to do so, and if all the seats are sold on the day you want to travel, you're just out of luck.

Waiting for the USDA paperwork was incredibly stressful. I don't understand the purpose of the very short timeline, since it adds so much uncertainty to an already difficult process for everyone - including, I should think, the bods at USDA doing the issuing. But that's just how it is. During the wait I foolishly googled about, looking for some comforting reports about how people receive it in time. Do not do this. Like googling a health concern, you are only going to find the most distressing news - most people who want to comment at all are the disgruntled ones. That being said, it does happen that sometimes (and especially around times of extra turmoil, like holidays or government strikes or shut downs) people do not receive it in time. So it's a good idea to have a plan B in place, just in case.

But the paperwork for us from the USDA arrived on the Saturday (they were flying on the following Tuesday). My friend took Freja for her last vet appointment to get the deworming pill and certificate that day. He and Freja left Portland on Monday with a motel booked near SEATAC for that night so that they wouldn't have a very early start possibly fighting morning traffic and a long drive the next day. (Side note: do not, whatever you do, book a stay at the Motel 6 near SEATAC. They had a terrible experience there - but that's another story.)

The next panic was the following morning. IAG had sent me several emails detailing what time Freja was to be presented, with her crate and paperwork, at their facility on the north east side of the airport. It stated that under no circumstances was that to happen before 4 hours ahead of the flight. 5 hours ahead of the flight, my friend received a stern phone call from them asking where she was, saying she was late and that she might not make the flight. Ugh. He rushed over there and in the stress of that situation - and because nobody at IAG asked, which they should have done when checking the paperwork, the deworming certificate was not added to the packet that was taped to her crate. It flew in his bag, with him. Freja also did not get the good long walk we'd planned ahead of her flight.

Freja in her crate at IAG, about to board the plane.

In England I was anxiously tracking her using an Apple tag I'd put on her collar. An hour after her flight left, the tag was still at SEATAC, so I had some more panicky moments trying to get ahold of IAG, to make sure that she was, in fact, on the plane. She was and at that point I was told that trackers are not allowed, so they had removed and kept it. Nowhere on their website or in their paperwork was that mentioned.

Ten hours later, she arrived at Heathrow and I received a message asking for her deworming treatment certificate. It was at this point that I realised that Animal Aircare - the company charged with getting her off the plane and processing her arrival - had actually failed us in a crucial way. They offer a 'pre-arrival check' of the required paperwork and although they cleared her for arrival, someone must have missed that that certificate was not with the packet sent. If I had been smarter about it, I would have asked my friend for a copy at the point that they got the certificate, but it just didn't occur to me at the time, and I was trusting everyone to do their job, so I spent some more panicky hours trying to get ahold of him during a brief layover, hoping but not knowing at that point if he would even be able to respond or if he had that certificate. It was the middle of the night and Xmas Eve in Oregon, so it was also impossible to get ahold of my vet.

If we had not been able to produce that proof, it would have been necessary to pay for a local mobile vet to go to the animal receiving facility at Heathrow, re-administer the pill and then Freja would have had to spend a further 24 hours there before she could be released. Why the UK is so adamant about worms, I could not tell you. But those are the rules and railing against them is pointless. It would have cost a further £300 for this process, plus a second long drive to get her, plus the extra stress for her, being in a strange metal box for another day. Because it was Christmas and the vet was about to go into an even more expensive 'after hours' call-out rate, we also had a very short time to provide the certificate or decide to get her the re-de-worming..

Freja, waiting impatiently for me to get to her at the Animal Aircare Ltd facility at Heathrow, terminal 4. Humans are dumb

But at the last moment, my friend was able to get my message while briefly in Dublin, sent me an image of the certificate and Freja was officially ready to be released with minutes to spare before the deadline we had to commit to the extra vet appointment, extra day and expense.

Phew!

The rest was relatively easy: Driving up to Heathrow Terminal 4 to get her. She was ecstatic, of course and then practically dragged me out of the door as if she was saying GET ME OUTTA HERE. We went to the nearest field I could find and she ran around in joy on the grass and pooped four times. Then picking up my friend, who arrived about the same time Freja was released - that involved a rather frantic few minutes, circling the airport roads, trying to find the parking entrance at terminal 5 (Google maps were not very helpful and Heathrow is a nightmare of an airport to navigate around at the best of times, but especially alone and unfamiliar with it and especially, especially when there is building work going on that's closed some entrances).

Freja: let's GO! Get me outta here!

I will admit that I ugly cried when my friend finally emerged at arrivals. The relief is impossible to describe. It was over. Freja was safely here (waiting in the car) and we could begin to relax into celebrating Christmas with my family - after the two hour drive back home, of course.

Relief and joy, finally. Note the little nose.

I hope very much that in posting this experience, I can help even just one person avoid some of the stress that comes along with traveling with an animal who must go in the hold of a plane. I know a lot of folk are considering or are in the process of moving out of the USA at the moment and my wish for you, if you're doing that, is that it goes smoothly and you find your place and the relief and happiness I have found now that I am back home again. This is not to say that there isn't a huge adjustment to be made, even when moving back to a place you know from childhood and where, if you're lucky, you also have loving friends and family waiting; I will write about that as well soon.

Here is the promised bullet-list of points it will be useful to know if you're undertaking the same process. As I mentioned at the top of this piece, some of this is universal to flying with pets, some of it is specific to flying into the UK from the USA.

You will need a USDA-registered vet to prepare and submit paperwork for your dog. You can find a list via Google. I would strongly suggest making sure that the vet you choose is not just on the list, but well-experienced at the process. Ask questions about how many times they've done it, what was the worst mistake made, what are the issues that might arise, so that you can be sure they're sufficiently experienced to avoid extra problems.
A three year rabies vaccination is considered valid only if it can be proved that the dog received their first shot before they were three months old. If that date was not met then the vaccination is only 'valid' for one year.
The rabies certificate must have your pet's chip number on it.
The dog must also receive a deworming treatment within 72 hours of their flight. A certificate is issued by your vet and must be included with the USDA packet traveling with the animal.
The shipping label for the USDA paperwork must have your own address as both the sender and receiver on the label. Usually you provide this to your vet ahead of their applying for the paperwork.
They must do that exactly 10 days before the date of travel, if the animal is traveling with you or within five days either side of your arrival date.
If the animal is traveling unaccompanied, this is considered a 'commercial' transaction and you have only 48 hours for your vet to digitally apply for and for you to receive the physical paperwork that must travel with the animal. There is also added paperwork and fees on the London end in this case.
You will need to use a pet travel agent to load the animal onto the plane. The only company doing this in the PNW at least is IAG Cargo. Be prepared that they may not tell you everything you need to know ahead of time. They are an immense company and pet travel is only one small part of their business.
You can only make the booking for the animal 13 days before the date of travel
You will receive a quote from IAG based on the journey, their size and weight and you must provide proof that they will travel in a proper, approved and well-sized kennel (for link, see below).
You make the payment for their travel at the point you present them on the day at the IAG office.
Make copies of every piece of paperwork and have them ready to present to the arrivals company at Heathrow. I used Animal Aircare ltd (there are a few to choose from) and they were largely good people and replied reasonably quickly to emails, but they did miss that that deworming certificate was absent in their 'pre flight check' and, crucially, that's something they should have caught at that point and which would have saved hours of super-stressful worry. There also was a certain amount of the left hand not talking to the right; make sure you CC everyone on their contact list - I did this but even so was asked for duplicates by another member of the team just before Freja landed.
Not all passenger planes of the airlines that do take pets can accommodate animals in the hold (there is a special, climate-controlled compartment for them). It's very important you double-check that the flight you want your pet on can in fact take them (this was not made clear to me in any paperwork or communication with IAG until it was too late, costing me extra thousands to make changes)
Your dog must travel in an airline-approved crate and it must be a specific size so that they have adequate room to stand and turn around inside it. I used this one by Petmate and initially was confused because Freja is only just 40lbs and the crate is intended for XL dogs. I couldn't believe how huge it was when it arrived - I could get in it with her! But after double checking, yes, that's the correct size. You can find details about sizing the crate for your animal here
It's a very good idea to get the crate months ahead of travel, so that you can get your dog comfy with being inside and associating the crate with safety.
The crate must have metal bolts fastening the top to the base.
You must also provide two bowls, attached to the inside of the crate door for food and water. IAG will put ice in the bowls so your dog has water for the trip. you must also provide baggies of food sufficient for any delays.
I found this video about how to prepare the crate for travel very helpful
It's important that your dog's chip be readable by UK standards. It seems this is usual with chips inserted as standard in the US and less common with some other countries but if for some reason the chip is not readable at the point of entry, your dog may have to be quarantined for weeks or months, even if you have presented all the correct paperwork proving they are vaccinated.
You must not administer any anti-anxiety meds to your dog ahead of the flight - not even natural options like CBD. If they think your dog is acting as if they are sedated, you could be denied service. This is because the animals are unaccompanied during the flight and if they get into any health trouble, there is no one to help them during the flight; the legal risk to AIG is too great.
Battery-powered tracking devices are not allowed.
IAG states in their communications that the animal must be presented not sooner than 4 hours before their flight but in our case they were annoyed that she wasn't there five hours ahead and threatened us with cancelation, so be prepared to get there much earlier than four hours and check in with them if you can on the time of arrival.
If all is in order when your dog arrives at Heathrow, you will be able to pick them up at a cargo building around 4 hours after their arrival.

And that's about it! I hope this has been helpful to you in some way. The last thing I want to say is that, stressful and expensive as this process is, you will get through it and one day, it'll all be behind you and you'll be living life with your fuzzy companion in a new home. You can do this.