How to Export a Dog from China ***Edited***

Because you know, this is a topic that I think you will all find useful someday.

1. Perseverance. When they say no ... Start asking for options.
2. When they say there are no options, start suggesting options.
3. When they say no to all your options, look around the room. There are likely other foreigners there who have experienced and bypassed a similar problem.
4. If there are no foreigners who have experienced your problem, wait half an hour. Undoubtedly, one will come.
5. When securities guards laugh because you're back for the 5th time, give them a good humored smile. Even if you're annoyed, they will be able to bump you up in the line.
6. Enjoy it when your taxi driver hums, whistles and sings, when he sees that you're stressed. And remember how sweet he is when he follows it up with a belch or other bodily noises.
7. Even if you feel like a burden on others (friends, locals), always accept any help. You're going to need it.

And for the actual list of things you need to do. I'm actually considering sending what I write to the airlines and animal hospitals. This seems to be the standard procedure from all the other hospital visitors in Shanghai, but for some reason it's not all written down in one place, so just when I thought I had done everything, I kept getting new surprises. And when China makes you wait to do most things until 7 days before you fly, it can become quite stressful to get everything done!

1 year - 1 month before you fly

1. Check with health and immigration websites about the country you are flying into. Make sure you comply with their standards too!
2. Complete initial health check. First call authorities and find out what pet hospitals will be approved by immigration. For flying out of Shanghai, the only approved hospital for immigration paperwork is ShenPu Pet Hospital. If possible, have all medical-ness done with them.
3. Get your dog vaccinated for Rabies. If possible, also have him micro-chipped at the same time. (If you live in a rural town like me, the microchip was not possible at the same time and had to be done in Shanghai).
4. If you did not get your vaccination at the "approved state run hospital" make sure you have a transfer document that says that an approved hospital has looked over the documentation. Always have a red stamp on it when you're in China!

***If your dog does not get the rabies vaccination at least 30 days before you fly (but within a year of your flying date) you will have to wait a month.

7 days before you fly:

1. Take your pet to the ShenPu Pet Hospital in Shanghai (or whichever ONE hospital is approved for doing immigration paperwork.)
2. Specify if your dog will be flying as carryon, baggage, or cargo (there might be different paperwork).
3. If you have all the right documents (blue pet passport book, rabies vaccination with a red stamp and any transfer documents necessary) the pet hospital will fill out all paperwork the for the Animal Healthy Certificate.
4. This was also the time when I got my dog micro-chipped since it wasn't available at the rural hospitals.
5. Ask about any natural anti-anxiety medicine that your dog can take for the day of flight.

5 days before you fly:
1. Pick up Animal Health Certificate at immigration and customs office.
2. Bring it back to the Pet Hospital.
3. With the health certificate, the pet hospital will fill out all necessary immigration documents.
4. Because I shipped by dog through Air Cargo, I had to bring all the original paperwork to the Air Cargo office.
5. Ask about day-of procedure at the airport.

Day you fly.
1. Hopefully all goes well!! If your dog is baggage or cargo, confirm at the gate that a pet has been loaded onto the plane. If your dog is to anxious, he might not get loaded. And it would be awful to get on the plane and fly to your destination, only to find out that your dog is still in China.

Weekend of Awesomeness!

Just to give you an idea of how exhaustingly awesome this weekend was ... by Sunday afternoon.

1. I took a nap in my bed.
2. I was woken up and then took another nap in my bed.
3. I had dinner and then slept on the bus to Ningbo.
4. I slept during the Chinese ballet performance.
5. I slept on the bus back from Ningbo.
6. I went straight to bed and for the first time in many weeks, my alarm clock actually woke me up.
Not only that but when it did wake me up, I looked over at Jett and he actually avoided my eye contact. He wasn't even ready to get up either!

These are the signs of an awesome weekend that actually started on Thursday.

Thursday:

We had a competitive league game with refs and linesmen and everything. I actually took a guy out with a tackle that left my entire right shin bruised. Not a peep from him. But anytime he comes into any kind of contact with one of the guys from my team, he is flopping on the ground like a fish gasping for air, only he's not gasping, he's yowling in "pain". Grrrrr. I hate it when they act. The Chinese watch too much European football. Either way, after the game we may have bar hopped a little. Foosball is quite popular so each bar has a table.

Game 1: Bobo annilated me.
Game 2: I was up 5-0 and somehow Bobo still came back to win it.
Game 3: It was back and forth, 5-5 then 6-5, then 6-6, and then 7-7 ... all the way to the end. Each time I got scored on, some Chinese dude literally tried to shove me off the handles and indicated to himself as if he could do it better. More GRRRRRRR. So I shoved him back each time. And in the end I actually beat Bobo 10-9. Victory!!!!!!! That Chinese guys was so impressed, he no longer wanted to play Bobo, but challenged me instead. There was no way I was saying yes. Dingbat.

Friday:

Good bye dinner for myself, Lara, Dana, Erich, Dodo, Matt, Julie and twins. Basically those of us leaving from our friend group. It was lovely, but a late night.

Saturday:

We went to the Hepe property for some camping! Hepe is a German toy company that makes toys out of bamboo, so naturally they have their workshop in the bamboo forest. Many of the stalks that you see are actually only 3 weeks old or younger. Bamboo grows FAST!! So the joke is, be careful where you pitch your tent if you don't want to be impaled by morning. Here's setting up camp and getting the fire started.



 

Shortly after setting up the tents, some Chinese ladies came wandering through the forest and actually picked up one of the tents out of curiousity. Lara and Kate swiftly went over to take our tent back and started miming sleeping. That really cracked them up.

 



 

 

 

And then getting the camping creature comforts ready ...

Hamock

Fire

Food!

 

 

Lara made some collages. All of the ladies wearing our Decathalon tank tops. Singing around the fire. And lots of insects!



 

The next morning in all our gloriousness.

 



Morning hike at the lake with Jett.

I think he's going to love the Pacific Northwest.

 

Sunday:

 

After we arrived home, Lara and I went straight to bed.

Around 3 pm Shelley and Alice arrived to make Shelley's birthday dinner. They took one glance at the two of us and sent us straight back to bed. We woke up to this Chinese feast:

 

 

And afterwards we attended this Chinese modern ballet about traditional marraige. This was particularly interesting to Lara because Alice was translating for her. Alice is engaged so she was able to compare the traditions that will happen at her own wedding. Shelley was translating for me ... until I fell asleep on her shoulder about 30 minutes. If you know me, you know that when I'm tired, there is just no chance of me staying awake. Sleeping Beauty!

 



 

 

And some videos if you're truly interested:

 

 

 

 

Twas an awesome weekend. Thus is the nature of the last few weeks of school. We're all exhausted but there's just too many "lasts" to experience ...