Having a sister who married a solider for the United States Army and lived in Germany during the mid 1990's afforded me the first opportunity to experience pet ownership differences between America and Germany.

I was invited to visit my sister for the first time, for an eight-week stay, during the early winter of 1995 with my 9-month-old boxer Shamrock; this was during the beginning of my dog-training career. My sister and her Husband were members of the towns local dog-training club Kafertal Hundeverrein.

Being American and joining a German dog-training club at this time and today is almost unheard of, but thanks to one German local national and Dog club board member Christa Scipio, she made the transition fairly easy, Christa spoke very good English and was able to help translate what was being said. As a curtsey to my Sister and to Christa, the Dog Club Training Director Alloise along with the president of the club allowed me a temporary/ honorary membership to participate during group class training with my boxer Shamrock and to attend club functions. Alloise made the biggest impact on myself in the way of training dogs, as he was one of the "old style trainers" that believed humans were "pack members and leaders" along with the dogs they owned and still had the original idea of what a True protection trained dog should really be, A dog that was taught to protect it's handler/ owner at no cost if the situation arises, also a dog that was social and steady in public situations, a dog that could go anywhere, taking wares for sale to market tending livestock and working for the owner in general. Arrival with pets at the Airport is where the first differences are noticed. If your dog has an accident after 9 to 10 hours of flying, Do of course offer to clean up the mess and ask for some absorbent material, but the man at the cargo unloading area will inform you a clean up crew will come out and mop up as soon as you take the boxes apart and vacate the over sized Items pick up area, then off to retrieve the rest of your luggage. The next real big difference is on your way out of the airport. Where are all those symbols on the sliding doors? You know the ones, a dog inside a red circle, with a red line crossing it out? There are none. Many people bring their dog to the airport to pick up in coming loved ones. I go a step further and use the escalators and "people movers" to proof my dogs to ride on things that feel strange to their feet. How will I know if my dog is not welcome? Places dogs are not welcome will have a similar symbol as America or the dog symbol with another sticker placed in the window a hand held straight up in a stop motion, I myself always go to an employee and ask if I may bring my dog inside or are dogs allowed, if no visible signs are present. A simple rule of thumb also applies, castles, Grocery stores that sell packaged foods, dogs are not allowed, Furniture stores, also not allowed, we would not want the Fido jumping on the sofa and taking a nap while we shop or leg lifting to mark the furniture as theirs, now would we? Dogs' are welcome in many unexpected places all across Europe, most Hotels, pensions (with no extra cost), restaurants, markets and seasonal fests, public transportation: Busses, streetcars, and trains. How much does it cost to ride on public transportation with your dog? The price of a child's ticket, usually half the price of an adult ticket for each dog. But there are rules one must follow when visiting and using public places and transportation, your dog must not impede the flow or walking path of fellow travelers or food servers. When dining in restaurants it is best to position your dog under the table and When using public transportation you should place your dog with it's hind quarters under your seat, ideally on trains and street cars that accepts bicycles for transport and equipped for handicapped passengers it is best for you to ride in that car as there is more room for your dog to move around and maneuver and lay comfortably. Dogs are even welcome in out of doors tourist attractions for the same payment as a child ticket (except for the concentration camps, Dachau to name just one). Also when hiking in and around the German forests and nature preserve areas, as you enter, signs stating that Rabies can be transmitted to your pet and to please leash your pets are at every entry way into the hiking areas. However, here also the rules are and can be bent a little, if you know your dog does not run off and has a very good recall then off leash time is allowed, but if one sees another person with or with out dog it is customary to leash your pet well enough in-advance and until such person has passed you by. The next subject on pet ownership, I am sorry to say has witnessed a changed over the past few years. Respect, courtesy and responsibility, given and received from other owners had declined. I have witnessed and experienced this first hand, Dog's owners believing just because they owned a small dog, the same rules do not apply to them, having the dog learn manners or partake in formal training. This is thinking not as prevalent with owners of large dogs as it is with small dogs.

I find this very sad, as there are affordable dog training clubs in every town of large enough size. Of course price for membership varies by region and club but expect to pay between 25.00 euros a year to 75.00 euros a year, for yearly membership fees you can attend and learn to train your dog a minimal of 2 times a week. The level of appreciation from non- pet owning people that have fear of a dog differs greatly, when they notice your dog is under control and trained they show a much greater gratitude then in people with dog fears in America. Some bad dog behaviors are not accepted at all such as excessive barking due to separation anxiety as all German towns have "quiet times" times of the day between 12:00 noon and 3:00 afternoon the quiet times also include all day Sunday. You will be told (not asked) to get rid of or re-home your dog if these behaviors are not changed. The Crate training Idea is also very different In Germany It is illegal to keep your pet in airline crate for housing purposes but may be used for transportation in cars. Listed Below is the housing/ kenneling requirements by law and the web site that provided the information. *Please note the size in cm is height of the dog. Regarding the size and condition of the premises, safety devices, light and air supply as well as enclosures of the dog attitudes are numerous defaults to consider (§ § 4 - 7). Like that the minimum size is fixed for kennels for dogs depending upon Widerristhoehe of up to 50 cm to 6m 2.

Graduated: to 50cm: 6 m2 over 50-65cm: 8 m2 over it: 10 m2 http://66.218.71.231/language/translation/translatedPage.php?lp=de_en&text=http%3a%2f%2fwww.tierschutzakademie.de%2f00831.html Other huge differences are, the price to register your dog with the town if you are lucky to live with the locals and dog insurance to cover sickness and damage done by your dog to personal property. The price for dog registration is not set by neutered or intact males or females as with many American towns, but is determined by how many dogs living in your residence. This price also varies from region to region; the price in the state of Bayern, for example, smaller towns charge 30.00 euros a year per dog and the state of Baden wurtemberg charge up to 108.00 euros a year per dog. This charge the town claims this price covers the plastic bags in the poop stations and of course emptying those poop stations of collected material. Dog insurance is a must in Europe. This will cover not only unexpected sickness and surgeries but also the case of your dog running through a planted field and damage to a farmers' crops, jumping and scratching a car and things of that nature. Food prices to feed your dog also is very expensive, a 20- pound bag of Nutro max natural will cost you 52.00 Euros or 72.99 US Dollars (depending on exchange rates) Price of dog toys have a tendency to be expensive while training equipment, such as leashes, collars, for the use of dog sports are not. Veterinary care is my last subject for this writing, lack of communication put aside between the language barrier difficulties. Europe requires the issuance of a pet passport, contained within this passport (similar to one a human must carry for travel) supplies all documentation, Photo of pet, date of birth, Microchip number and location of implantation on the dog, vaccines, tick and flea protection, serological tests for rabies and an area for veterinary clinical health exams for travel in and out of the country. I personally would like to see America adopt this form of pet documentation for pets that travel within the continental America. Veterinary care concerning the practice of spaying and neutering and teeth cleaning is viewed as unnecessary and 100% elective and thus the cost for such procedures are very expensive starting at 250.00 Euros or $350.93 US Dollars even for the smallest pet. Medical Treatment for your pet by a German Veterinarian also can differ vastly if you are American citizen living overseas, many (But certainly not all) German vet clinics will over medicate and miss diagnose your pet just to receive more money for unneeded blood tests, treatments and surgeries. Explanations as to what the given medications are and side effects are not often discussed with American pet owners, instead the answers you will receive is your dog needs this medication to be healthy. I have experienced this first hand when my husbands' ferret fell from a window 3 floors to the ground, the first attending vet clinic wanted to surgically pin his broken hip together, I opted instead to take the X- rays and visit the next day to the vet clinic my German friend takes her animals to, the doctor quickly explained that the ferret would not survive such a surgery and to date there are no metal pins small enough to fit ferret bones.

I have and had Business clients and friends report the same miss or over treatment to me about care their pets receive when seen by German Veterinary practices that have many dealings with Americans living in this country. © 2007 by Suzi Jones, (submitted to Dogproblems.com and published with permission on September 20th, 2007)

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