This is for all dogs coming into the U.S., including service dogs, and dogs that are U.S. dogs, and returning to the U.S. It’s to prevent rabies.
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It’s completely asinine.
Instead of going after the “meat dog” rescues & retail rescue people, let’s punish everyone 
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It’s the first I’ve heard that dog rabies has been eliminated here. That’s good.
I notice the new law doesn’t go into effect until after Westminster.
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AFAIK Rabies is not species specific.
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Right? All that has to happen is a dog have the wrong contact with any infected mammal. It doesn’t matter where the dog comes from. I wouldn’t think imported dogs are a large source of rabies.
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I’m no vet, but there’s things that I think are a risk in addition to rabies. The rescues bringing in dogs from other places do concern me. I wish they’d require more testing, especially for things that there are not vaccinations or treatments for. Personally I think that importing rescue dogs by groups should be stopped.
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there is a dog specific viral variant in some countries.
these rules are not far removed from ones that already exist
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There is a petition
I’m fine with dogs needing to be vaccinated, microchipped, have a health cert.
I am absolutely NOT ok with all puppies needing to be 6 months or older to cross the border. That is completely ridiculous!
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Thank you for that info. Did not know it could be species specific.
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The regulations about puppies sounds like it will reduce people’s ability to show their double registered dogs/puppies in both the US and Canada.
Thank you for the information. I had no idea there was a species specific type of Rabies.
I have friends that show dogs across the border and it will be interesting to see how the Canadian border, for dogs that have strictly been in the US and Canada, will be handled since it’s unlikely they are one of the high risk countries and there is so much cross border traffic.
That still limits what people can do with puppies, right?
People show puppies.
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Yep. & having to wait until they are 6 months old, right when many are hitting a fear stage, will not be good for the puppy.
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Well, people show puppies, but not really. I think the much bigger issue is how it will impact imported purebred puppies (for show or other purebred sports) more than crossing borders for the purpose of showing. While there are puppy classes for dogs < 6 months, they don’t confer points and they are no where near as popular as actual regular puppy classes.
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This is what I was thinking. There’s a fair bit of cross border puppy shopping. People looking for specific breeds, specific lines. It’s one thing to ask a breeder to hold a puppy until they hit 12 or 16 weeks, but six months? Yikes, most probably wouldn’t want to do it, there’s costs associated with boarding/training for that amount of time, and the buyer would have to have a lot of trust that breeder will do a good job socializing and putting good foundations on that puppy.
I’m in Ontario, there’s a breeder who I quite like in Michigan. It’s still a couple years (hopefully) before I’ll be looking for a pup, but it seems the border between Canada and the USA is getting more complicated. I’ll probably just end up going with someone closer.
Facebook post from NAVHDA International
"The following is the letter that NAVHDA International sent to the CDC yesterday:
On behalf of the Executive Council of the North American Versatile Hunting Dog Association and NAVHDA’s members, I am writing to voice our concern and objection to the new regulations — Control of Communicable Diseases; Foreign Quarantine: Importation of Dogs Into the United States — starting August 1, 2024. NAVHDA has over 10,000 members in the United States and Canada. We strongly oppose the changes in dog importation rules.
Many of NAVHDA’s members travel between the U.S. and Canada with dogs under six months of age for veterinary care as well as training and testing. The new regulations would unfairly put a stop to these practices along with our general ability to travel with our dogs for recreational and business purposes.
The NAVHDA membership — as well as that of other sporting dog organizations — includes Canadian breeders who rely on sales to individual puppy buyers in the U.S. For reasons including health, socialization, and training, puppies should be placed in their new homes between 8-10 weeks of age. It is not only detrimental to wait to place a puppy in its home until it is 6 months of age, but it also puts a financial and logistical burden on the breeder.
The new regulations place further undue hardship on NAVHDA members by requiring the additional expense of micro-chipping as well as the excessive amount of documentation that will be required.
Canada is not a high risk rabies country. American and Canadian sporting dog owners have historically shared a respectful community founded in the responsible ownership, breeding, and health care of our dogs.
We are requesting a waiver for Canada of the new regulations with a continuance of the importation guidelines that are currently in place and have continued to serve U.S. and Canadian dog owners well."
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It’s the 6 month thing that I just don’t get. They seem pretty non-negotiable about that, too.
I think of all the people on the US/Canada border who are on the up and up and now have been cut off from a lot of their dog community. I have a friend who is regularly back and forth across the border for her breed organization.
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I’ve been following this with interest as I’m Canadian and travel to the US quite often with my dog (shes over 6 months). I follow a group on FB call For the Love of Purebred Dogs as they are actively showing from Canada into the US and are keeping up with the new rules. They do keep changing and modifying them but I need to cross into Ohio to WEC at the end of August with my dog in tow, so I will need to know what I have to do of course. I’m just waiting until it settles a bit before I have to go out and do anything. It sounds like they are pretty much making it like us doing what we already have to do for our horses when we cross into the US (coggins, temp 30 day heath papers filled out by my vet with address on where we are going in the US, then going to federal vet with copy of coggins and health papers to then be stamped by them - more 4$$, then giving a copy at the border to an agent for them to stamp and say when we entered the US - that way when we enter back into Canada they know we have come back within our 30 days).
Right now they are saying the rabies has to be administered in the US by a US vet, and if its done say in Canada, a note/paperwork needs to be filled out by my vet (seems quite absurd to me, Ontario is not a rabies positive province, but whatever). Then some paperwork has to be stamped and signed by the Federal Vet. Then when I’m in line at the border crossing, I have to have an app downloaded on my phone that has pictures of my dog from each side and front (just like my horse coggins) and fill it out saying where we are going. Dogs must be microchipped as well (no issue for me as my girl was done at her breeders as a pup).
They are trying to change the rabies for Canadians saying its not a 3rd world country and the rabies do not have to be administered in the US (having it done in Canada by one of our vets should be sufficient), but haven’t heard about that quite yet. That would be one less paperwork I would need to have filled out by my vet, which of course is going to cost me $$. I do have her rabies tag and a copy of my vet paperwork saying when she was given her rabies shot etc, I’m hoping that will be fine to use, but who knows.
I just crossed into MI last week for vacation with my dog, but I made sure I had a copy of her CKC paperwork as it shows me as owner and it has her microchip # on it, and as always, a copy of her rabies that was given last spring that is good for 3 years. No issues of course as these changes don’t come into effect until Aug. I suspect its going to be quite the *hit show at the border as no one will really know what to do at first. I’ve been crossing the border with my horses for over 20 years and they still don’t know the proper procedure for the paperwork. I’m always telling them what to do (nicely of course as they do get their nickers in a knot when I tell them where they have to stamp etc).
The other mysterious thing is that the new form/paperwork for Canadian vets to sign for proof of rabies as well as the app for border crossing are not available until mid July. Not a lot of time for people to get their ducks in a row or go over the new procedure.
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