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Bringing a dog from Ireland to the United Kingdom
Step-by-step checklist
| Step | What to do | When |
|---|---|---|
| Microchip | ISO 11784/11785 microchip, implanted before or at the same time as the rabies vaccination — a vaccination given before the chip does not count and must be repeated. If the chip is not ISO standard, travel with your own reader; an unreadable chip can mean refusal or quarantine. A clearly legible tattoo applied on or before 3 July 2011, with rabies vaccination after tattooing, is the only alternative. Irish guidance requires original paperwork throughout — photocopies are not accepted. | Before vaccination |
| Rabies vaccination | At 12 weeks of age or older, with an inactivated or recombinant vaccine approved in Ireland. After a first (primary) vaccination you must wait at least 21 full days before travel — day 1 is the day after vaccination, and some vaccines take longer to become valid, so check the datasheet with your vet. Boosters given in date need no new wait; a missed booster restarts the primary course. | ≥21 days before travel |
| No titer test | Ireland is an EU country, and Great Britain only requires a rabies blood test for departures from countries that are neither in the EU nor listed. No blood sample, no 0.5 IU/ml result and no 3-month wait apply on this route. | — |
| EU pet passport | Your dog's EU pet passport, issued in Ireland by your local vet, is the normal travel document for entry to Great Britain — Ireland is an EU country for this purpose, so the passport is required even though no approved route is. Only a vet in a country that can issue pet passports may enter rabies vaccination details in it. If your dog has no EU pet passport, the alternative is a Great Britain pet health certificate signed, stamped and dated by an official veterinarian — your dog must then enter Great Britain within 10 days of it being issued, and Irish guidance advises contacting your Regional Veterinary Office well in advance (it says at least 2 months) if a government-stamped health certificate is needed. Do not confuse Ireland with Northern Ireland: pets from Northern Ireland need no passport or health certificate at all to enter Great Britain, but pets from Ireland (the Republic) do. | Before travel |
| No approved route needed | Unlike almost every other departure country, you do not have to use an approved route or an authorised carrier to enter Great Britain from Ireland — GOV.UK states the exception expressly, for both the route rule and the carrier rule. Ireland is also one of only two origins (with Northern Ireland) from which a pet may enter Great Britain by private boat. Your carrier will still check the chip and documents, and airlines set their own rules on how dogs travel. | Booking stage |
| No tapeworm treatment (dogs from Ireland are exempt) | Dogs travelling directly to Great Britain from Ireland do not need Echinococcus tapeworm treatment — GOV.UK lists Ireland alongside Finland, Northern Ireland, Malta and Norway as exempt. The exemption is for direct travel from Ireland: a dog whose journey starts elsewhere and merely passes through Ireland should not rely on it. Cats and dogs from Germany or France get no such exemption. | — |
| Declaration & the 5-pet limit | This page covers non-commercial travel: you sign a declaration that your dog is not for sale or transfer of ownership, your dog travels with you or with a person you have authorised in writing, arriving within 5 days of you, and you bring no more than 5 pets unless you have written evidence of attending or training for a competition, show or sporting event. Anything else follows the extra (Balai / commercial) rules. Irish guidance makes the same 5-day point: a pet arriving more than 5 days from its owner is not travelling under pet travel rules. | Travel day |
Your preparation timeline
- 1Any time — Microchip (or check the existing chip reads and is ISO), then rabies vaccination
- 2≥21 days out — The 21-day wait after a primary rabies vaccination runs — no wait after an in-date booster
- 3Before travel — Check the EU pet passport is complete and correctly filled in — no approved route to book, but check your carrier accepts the dog
- 4Final days — No tapeworm appointment needed — the Ireland exemption removes the 24–120 hour step entirely
- 5Only if using a GB pet health certificate — Certificate issued by an official veterinarian — enter Great Britain within 10 days of issue; allow for Regional Veterinary Office stamping time
- 6Arrival — Chip and documents are checked; compliant dogs go straight through with no quarantine
Costs you can plan for
Neither GOV.UK nor Ireland's Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) publishes a government fee for this route in the guidance checked: there is no British charge for entering on an EU pet passport, and no official fee schedule for the passport itself. Your real costs are your Irish vet's charges for the passport and vaccination, plus your carrier's fare. There is no tapeworm treatment to pay for. The expensive scenario is non-compliance — quarantine for up to 4 months is at your expense.
Questions people ask about this route
Does my dog really not need tapeworm treatment from Ireland?
Correct — for direct travel. GOV.UK states you do not need to treat your dog for tapeworm if you are coming directly to Great Britain from Finland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Malta or Norway. It is the journey's starting point that counts, not where the dog was born.
Can I sail my own boat from Ireland to Great Britain with my dog?
Yes. Great Britain only allows pets to arrive by private boat from Ireland or Northern Ireland. From any other country you must use an approved route and carrier — and from Ireland you are exempt from that approved-route rule altogether.
Are any dog breeds banned?
Yes — it is illegal to own Pit Bull Terrier, Japanese Tosa, Dogo Argentino, Fila Brasileiro and XL Bully types in the UK, and a banned type cannot be brought in unless it already has a valid Certificate of Exemption. 'Type' is judged by appearance, not by the breed name on the paperwork.
What if the paperwork is wrong?
Your dog can be quarantined for up to 4 months at your expense, or refused entry if it arrived by sea. On this route the failures are usually documentary — a missing passport, a vaccination recorded before the chip, or a lapsed booster — not the tapeworm or route rules that catch travellers from other countries.
Related guides
- Bringing a cat from Ireland to the United Kingdom
- Rabies titer tests (FAVN / RNATT): validity and waiting periods by country
- How many days before travel do you need a pet health certificate?
- Pet quarantine by country: how long, where, and how to avoid it
- Microchip before or after rabies vaccination?
- How far in advance should you start preparing?
Official sources for this page
- GOV.UK — Bringing your pet dog, cat or ferret to Great Britain
- GOV.UK — Pet travel: checks on pets by transport carriers (Ireland route exception, Part 1 listed documents)
- GOV.UK — Great Britain pet health certificate
- Ireland DAFM (gov.ie) — Pet Travel
- EUR-Lex — Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2026/131 on non-commercial movement of pet animals (replaced Regulation (EU) No 576/2013 from 22 April 2026)
- European Commission — Travelling with a pet within the EU
We check each rule against the exporting country's official page and the destination country's official page. If the two disagree, we show the disagreement instead of guessing.
Want a professional to run this route for you?
Licensed pet relocation companies handle permits, vet paperwork and flights daily. We are adding vetted partners for this route — check back soon.