Planning on taking dog to U.K. via Paris, Dieppe, Newhaven

Hello!

My wife and I will be officially applying for my visa at the end of September, so I'm trying to organize my travel to the U.K. so I can quickly get things together when the visa is approved.

I'm bringing my beloved 9-year-old English bulldog/Puggle mix with me (She is in excellent health and has enough beagle in her to have a longish snout, so breathing is not an issue for her). I've been dreading the ordeal of bringing her over since my wife and I first considered marriage. I've read a lot over the months, and, frankly, having her shipped directly to London via a pet travel company is beyond my means (I was quoted $3,700). Plus, I don't want her out of my sight for that long. I also checked with Cunard, and they're booked through the end of 2020. Sigh.

So, after much research, I believe my dog and I will be flying from New York to Paris on Icelandair. Once in Paris we will take a train to Dieppe and take the ferry to Newhaven as foot passengers (Dieppe to Newhaven is one of the only ferries to allow both pets and foot passengers). My wife will meet us there.

This will be a very long journey, and I'm worried about baby dog. However, she travels in the car with me all the time and just wants to be with me. I think she'll be fine once the plane part is over.

If I booked all this today, it would cost me around $575 for all travel, including my one-way airfare, her airfare, trains and ferry. (My dog's international health certificate, etc., is of course extra.)

Has anyone else gone this route? Is there any big hole in my plans that I'm not seeing?

Thanks for any input. I've been so worried about this.

Amy

We had a member recently take this route and they made it.  There was a lot of drama with the dog, but if I'm being perfectly honest...  I'd take that member's experience with a grain of salt.  I have reasons.  I wouldn't normally say that.

But yes, that route is a perfectly feasible route.  Would you have a layover in Iceland so that you could break the journey over two days and give your pup hugs and kisses overnight before continuing the journey?  Actually, I think someone else did exactly that recently.  And they had a positive experience.  I'll find the posts for you.

I was definitely so nervous when I brought my cats over, but once it's over, it's done.  And my cats didn't seem to bothered.

Here are the two recent experiences members posted:

https://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=93663.msg1231074#msg1231074

https://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=93856.0 

I've taken the Newhaven dipped ferry several times and it is fine. Although not with dog but I don't see any problems. 

If things don't work out with that plan, PM me and I might be persuaded to pick you up at the train station in Calais and take you through the tunnel in my car for expenses.  That's also a feasible route  AFAIK.  there's taxi companies that will do this as well.

Thank you both so much for your replies! You're amazingly kind!

I'm so happy to hear that its a feasible route. As if the whole visa application process wasn't stressful enough, trying to figure out how to safely and affordable relocate my dog along with me has been a major challenge. I'll be sure to update with my experiences as I go through the process in case anyone else wants to take a similar route.