Getting a puppy from Denmark – are you crazy?
By now (2018), several Stabyhoun puppies have made the journey from Denmark to the UK – England and Scotland to be precise. Here, some of those owners share their thoughts on the whole experience…
Nicky Michal, owner of Bottas
- What were your initial thoughts when you were offered a Stabyhoun puppy… from Denmark!?
The day we got the news that we had been chosen by the breeder to have a boy puppy – I will never forget. Because my husband is a school teacher we were keen to have a pup in the summer holidays and so we felt very honoured to be chosen for this special Danish puppy. It is quite a long way to drive to Denmark, but this was just an extra aspect to the adventure. We went at Easter to meet the puppies and to test the journey (with a bonus extra trip to meet Christina, her family, Jeske and her pups who were about to depart to UK) We kept in contact with the breeder by Facebook. learning how to recognise the different pups by their spots. The breeder chose our puppy – and kindly gave us the very best of the litter (as shown by the puppy assessment day in 2018 when we returned to Denmark in 2018 to see all the litter together for the Danish Breeders Day).
- Did you have to prepare anything special ahead of the journey/their arrival?
Our puppy preparation was the standard we would do for any new arrival – improving the dog-proofing of our garden, checking out unsuitable plants, and getting his “bedroom” ready. We had a dog before so it was just adjusting what we had in place. When we visited at Easter we left our car crate with the breeder, so the pup was used to it and it smelt of home. The breeder asked us to send a t-shirt that we had each worn to her, in the week before our “gotcha” day. We also booked a dog-friendly holiday house for a day before we took the pup home. On that day we all met up and played at the house, then the pups went home and we got some much-needed rest ready for the drive home.
The breeder did A LOT of work with our pup and his sister – with a fantastic programme of socialisation. She asked us what sort of things we would like him exposed to, and took him on several long car journeys as well as a full variety of different experiences and noises. He is a very laid back dog with excellent “dog manners”.
- How did the puppy get from the land of the Vikings to where you live?
The breeder kindly came with us on the first part of the journey by ferry as this was close to her home, then we drove back through Germany Netherlands Belgium and France to Calais for the Eurotunnel, and then home. We did it in one drive with a couple of comfort breaks, 14 hours in all. We have a large dog crate which fits on the back seat of our saloon car. Sometimes I sat beside the crate and sometimes in the front. The pup took it all in his stride, he did not seem especially concerned or frightened. We brought picnic supplies with us and the breeder gave us the food we needed for the first few weeks as well as his familiar bowls, harness etc.
- What was it like when they were finally at home with you, and the weeks that followed?
The pup settled in really well, he did not seem to miss his family. He did not want to settle at night unless we were nearby so we had a mattress near his bedroom and a baby alarm for once he had settled. (We kept this up for easily 6 months and he does settle just fine in his own room, however it seems he now sleeps on our bed, but that is our choice!). He never once messed in the house nor has he chewed stuff. We gradually introduced a variety of dog training classes, starting with the Dogs Trust. We also introduced him with short sessions at doggy day care which he routinely goes to now for a couple of days each week. He’s still not very reliable off lead so we have a long lead for unfamiliar walks.
- The big question: Would you recommend it to others?
ABSOLUTELY! The two downsides are 1) the cost (the breeder will charge for keeping the pup from 8 to 16 weeks, plus the passport and travel costs) – we just made it our holiday for the year and enjoyed every moment of the adventure. and 2) having an older puppy – but we love having a “professionally socialised” dog – having a tiny puppy will have to wait till we have retired! The brilliant advantage is to make fantastic friends in Denmark and to have the opportunity to own one of the totally beautiful dogs.
Justin Howarth, owner of Keesje
- What were your initial thoughts when you were offered a Stabyhoun puppy… from Denmark!?
We thought that it was great that we were getting a puppy. I knew there was a ferry to Denmark as I’d taken it years before so I thought it would be a reasonable journey. Sadly that ferry had stopped running two years before…
- Did you have to prepare anything special ahead of the journey/their arrival?
We had never had a dog before so had to get everything doggy related that you can think of. Keesje was a relatively easy puppy but the one thing we didn’t expect was her raptor like tendency to test every fence in our garden for weaknesses. She’s found loads over the years and exploited each one to the maximum. Wondering where the dog you let out into the back garden has gone and finding them literally covered in mud at the front door is an interesting experience.
- How did the puppy get from the land of the Vikings to where you live?
We took the Eurostar to France then drove through Germany to Denmark on the way there. Had a nice stop over in Germany and with the breeder in Denmark on the way there. Did the return leg of 10 or 11 hours to Calais in one go. The dogs didn’t care at all. Slept most of it. We should have split the journey into two really. It would have been easier on us but we were anxious to get home.
- What was it like when they were finally at home with you, and the weeks that followed?
Keesje fitted right into our life. I don’t remember any major problems with her at all really. Apart from the ‘hot cross bun incident’. A neighbour had left hot cross buns out for the birds. Keesje managed to scoff one. With the raisins in it we couldn’t take the chance so had her to the vets. On a Sunday. At six in the morning. For £350 worth of vomit inducing injections. She looked so sorry for herself afterwards. Guarantee she would still eat an entire pack if she got a chance though.
- The big question: Would you recommend it to others?
Definitely. A couple of days of driving is well worth getting a Stabyhoun. We live in Kent though so it was a little easier for us. If we lived in Wales the journey might have been a little more taxing.
Sylvia Buckley, owner of Apollo
1. What were your initial thoughts when you were offered a Stabyhoun puppy… from Denmark!?
Apollo was a different prospect to most puppies as he had already been placed with a family in Denmark, for personal reasons this placement did not work out. To be honest it probably wasn’t a good time for us to make a rational decision, we had recently lost a close relative and were feeling pretty raw and vulnerable. Having four dogs already it wasn’t the most sensible thing to be thinking about at all, that said we talked long and hard about it and were pretty rational about how it would affect us as a family and what additional burdens it would place upon our time, we also knew we were being a bit selfish wanting another dog so wanted to be confident that we made the right decision for Apollo, after all he had already been settled and uprooted once!
2. Did you have to prepare anything special ahead of the journey/their arrival?
No planning necessary when you already have a full nest!
3. How did the puppy get from the land of the Vikings to where you live?
Oh dear that was a long one, drove to Hull, overnight ferry to Rotterdam, we then drove through Holland, Germany and into Denmark, thankfully our very helpful breeders drove a little way down to make it less painful. The weather was absolutely atrocious, we were meant to be sharing the driving but I reneged and left the full 16 hour drive to Steve (eeek). We picked Apollo up in a forest just over the Danish border, it was really obvious from the offset that this was a different beast to our beautiful meek and gentle Blijke (thankfully we thought that through as well). We immediately about turned and went to the Novotel Hotel in Belgium, arriving there at midnight, Apollo after suffering with a little car sickness despite having been given medication from the vets (that took about 18 months to recover from) promptly set himself at Steve’s side and slept the night through, phew!
The next morning we travelled on to the Euro Tunnel where thankfully we had the good sense to get a fast track ticket, best decision we made! We finally arrived home around 1pm the following day.
It was a long trip and certainly we could have broken it down into smaller chunks but non-the-less it really was a bit of an adventure for us, while I didn’t do any of the driving I can assure you sleeping wasn’t an option as I had to make sure Steve was awake and alert all the way, come to think of it I may have had the harder task!
4. What was it like when they were finally at home with you, and the weeks that followed?
This is where we realised that we had thought it all through properly, he was an extremely challenging puppy, after having Blijke who was quite frankly a dream dog, it was a culture shock but an expected one! We haven’t been awake that much in the night since we had babies of our own! he wasn’t intentionally disruptive just boisterous and full of personality, he was a nightmare but in a good way. We knew we had a dog that we were going to absolutely adore, I can tell you now that is exactly what we got. On a practical note he was quite well house trained, the breeders had tried very hard to socialise him and really his only problem was that cars seemed to terrify him, it took us a long while to get him used to traffic, we suspect there wasn’t that much traffic where he came from to socialise him with.
He is still a pretty boisterous and highly social boy but quietly starting to settle down now that he is heading towards two, although recall which is generally good can be guaranteed to go ‘AWOL’ whenever you have somewhere else you need to be!
Cathy Hawes, owner of Emo and Ebbe
1. What were your initial thoughts when you were offered a Stabyhoun puppy… from Denmark!?
Our first staby came from the UK. He’s absolutely fabulous and it was wonderful having him from 8 weeks. He was my first ever dog and between him and all the wonderful folk in the UK Stabyhoun Association, I’ve learned so much about dogs in general and the staby in particular. One thing I knew for sure was that I wanted another staby in the family – it just felt right to have a second dog and, having fallen in love with the breed, it absolutely had to be a staby. I preferred the idea of an 8 week puppy because I wanted to be able to socialise him from a young age with the rest of the household – chickens, cats, child etc … but I had no particular timescale or plans. Then I saw a post on the UK facebook group site – a photo of the sweetest little boy who was needing a new home due to unforeseen circumstances with his family. He was 10 months old and living near Copenhagen, but my heart went out to the wee man. I showed the picture to my son (8 years) and he looked at me with wide eyes and said “we have to have him!”. So then my brain started racing – what if he’s the wrong character to settle properly with Emo (our boy of 3 years), how would two entire males get along together, what would he be like with the rest of the animals in the household, how would he be with my son, ben… etc. It was only after thinking through all these issues and getting advice from a lot of really kind and helpful people from the Staby group that my attention turned to the practicalities of traveling to Denmark to get him. Ben’s response: “fantastic – a road trip!!! Yay!”. I was sold! (it turned out that the trip over to Calais to get him was such an adventure for Ben that the fact we were there to pick up a new family member almost became secondary to the opportunity to explore somewhere new).
2. Did you have to prepare anything special ahead of the journey/their arrival?
We were so lucky. Ebbe (our new pup) went back to his breeder before coming to us, and she is the most amazing person – she dealt with everything for us – all the paper work and organising his passport and getting his rabies jab done. She even offered to drive all the way to Calais with him so we could meet there which was about half way between us in Scotland and them near Copenhagen. I paid for their travel costs and accommodation of course, and we met in a wonderful dog friendly hotel near Calais (thanks to Pam from the UK Association for the recommendation – we’ll certainly be back!) If I had gone to get him on my own, I wouldn’t have needed to prepare anything at all. However, there was no way I was leaving my son and dog behind, so they both needed a passport to go through the channel tunnel and Emo needed a rabies vaccination. Getting passports and vaccinations delayed things for a week, and I was so grateful to Ebbe’s breeder for being so patient and for organising everything so efficiently. She sent us updates and photos of him every day while we were waiting.
3. How did the puppy get from the land of the Vikings to where you live?
Having sorted out passports for Ben and Emo and rabies jabs for Emo so that he could come with us, we drove the 500 miles down though the uk, through the tunnel to Calais and met with Ebbe’s breeder in a hotel just outside Calais. She and her dad had driven all the way there from Copenhagen with Ebbe and his mum and sister and we all met (5 dogs and 3 humans) for a walk on the beach to get to know each other. We stayed over night at the hotel, and went for another walk after breakfast so that Emo and Ebbe could spend a bit of time together before the journey home. The journey was long but very easy. We stopped at a couple of service stations on the way back up north but I managed the whole distance in a day. We could have stopped over at friends or a hotel on the way back, but Ebbe, being 10 months, was a bit anxious and our Emo wasn’t at all sure about this strange dog in his car, so I decided it was best just to get straight home and get them settled together as quickly as possible. The wee Viking invaded and settled immediately with no troubles at all. Within minutes of our return home, he was crashed out on the sofa with Emo sleeping at our feet.
4. What was it like when they were finally at home with you, and the weeks that followed?
Ebbe settled with us immediately, bonded instantly with Ben and was on total best behaviour for the first couple of weeks. He and Emo had a few arguments initially, but they sorted themselves out with Emo as confirmed top dog within a couple of days. Just as Ebbe’s breeder sent us daily updates before we went to get him, we did the same back so she could see how well he was doing. The community in Denmark has been as supportive and positive as the UK group and they’re always happy to see updates with how he’s getting on in his new home. His breeder is wonderful and just wanting the absolute best for her dogs. I’m so privileged to have had the opportunity to give Ebbe a forever home, and so grateful to his breeder for organising everything and making the whole process so easy.
5. The big question: Would you recommend it to others?
Absolutely! Our situation maybe slightly different to others because Ebbe was a bit older and had already been homed, and I was very lucky that the breeder was so kind to offer to bring him all the way down to Calais to meet us, but even if she hadn’t, we would have managed a road trip to go get him (and would probably have hired a campervan for the job!). We’ve made such a lot of really good friends since joining the staby community with Emo and now Ebbe. I’m sure we’ll venture south through the UK and north through Europe to go visit sometime and we’re looking forward to welcoming his breeder and her family to Scotland next year!
