Dogs welcome?

[dazzlebabe]

I love dogs, but I have to admit that if they are not my dogs, I will always be wary of them.

Never been bitten (unintentionally) but I still have a fear when dogs approach me or when I am walking past them. It's the same fear as when I see a cockroach or lizard. (seriously I can do a 10feet hurdle if you place a cockroach in my path!)

So please don't judge me if I walk away from you when you are walking your dogs. People cannot help but have fears......Mine happened to be dogs, roaches, lizards and those HUGE moths (Seriously. what's up with that?)

[nksyd]

Wow - I'm nervous now. I am moving over to Singapore soon and will be bringing my BLACK labrador cross. She often has to wear a halti / gentle leader and here in Sydney I get plenty of people asking me if she is dangerous becuase she is wearing a muzzle so I have to explain it's not a muzzle but a device to stop pulling. Quite frankly the only thing she'd be capable of is licking someone to death

What are people going to think in Singapore if they think how they do of black dogs?! yikes

[lovebear]

I'm a Singaporean and too have my frustrations with locals on how they view dogs. (I have a cream miniature poodle and black schnauzer.) Its funny that many seem to think dogs should not be walked and should be kept home and that animals are dirty.

Some examples..
I get kids running near my dogs and raising their legs attempting to kick them! When I turned and and gave a killer stare, the kid run back to the parents, saying I scolded him! At times, when my dogs turned and they face the kids, I kids will cry, saying the dog wants to bite them! The ill bred parents will never tell their children or teach them right values. Instead, they will turn to me and my domestic help and try to pick up some quarrels, like I should muzzle my dogs in public, the dogs should only be allowed in dogs runs, etc..

One of my arse neigbours called the condo mgmt and the AVA (local pets licensing authorities), complaining that my dogs' bark almost frightened their daughter to death, when it was them who never fail to stamp their feet right outside my door, announcing their presence. They even ridiculously request that I have the dogs put to sleep, cos, my dogs frightened their child!

Cab drivers will almost never drive us, when they see us with dogs. When called for advance booking (of course, stating that we have leashed but caged and un-muzzle dogs), I get craps from the drivers that they are making "huge sacrifices" by accepting my booking. Because dogs will shed and drool. Thus, after I alight, they cannot pick up other passengers, as the seats would have been dirtied by us!

[Zimm erman]

Genuine concern for me now.

If the travel issue wasn't bad enough (putting our dog in the cargo hold)... it now seems that he wont be welcome when we get there anyway.

As we'll be renting (like I guess most people do).... are there any places that have a strict "no pets" policy? Will our options be adversely affected?

This is a MAJOR setback.

At the moment, we only have one dog... but was thinking of possibly getting a second dog (to keep the one we already have company on the flight). He's a very anxious dog, and we're feeling guilty about the flight arrangements.

Note: we do love dogs and would gladly have packs of them if we had the space, so this option wouldnt ONLY be for keeping our dog company.

He's a jack russell.... so a small dog really.

Few questions if anyone has experience;

a) will there be a large reduction in the properties available to rent (if we have 1 dog)
b) how big is the cage they are transported in?
c) how long is the dog in its cage for (from the point of check in to clearing immigration)? We'll be coming from the UK.
d) what does the dog do for the toilet?
e) if more than 1 dog are transported.... do/can they share a cage?

I genuinely feel sick right now

[woodsdevil]

Hi,

Just to answer your question.

I have 2 goldies. They travelled with us to HK first where we stayed for one yr before moving to Singapore.

We used petair in UK as they were very good with my dogs. I also noticed they were the only one who mentioned using DAP to keep the dogs calm.
Of coz it will not be easy for the dogs to fly over as the journey is tediously long. My older boy (4yr) pooed in the crate and was in a messy state. The HK pet relocation company had to wash him first b4 delivery him to us.
Amazingly both dogs settled in straight that night after they arrived, it is as if they have instantly forgotten about their horrendous journey.

1) It all depends on your budget. If it allows u to look for a landed property (a house with garden), then it usually is fine with 2 dogs. We didn't have a problem with that. We saw like 30 houses, all were fine with the fact we had 2 dogs and 3 cats!!!
2) the crates cannot be too big, only big enough for the dogs to turn around. Coz if they are too big, when there's turbulence, the dogs might be thrown around in the crate and get injured. It's looks terribly claustrophobic inside, but it's for their safety. The Vari kennel ones are very good which was what we used.
3) When my dogs went from UK, it was long. They were picked up the day b4 to be transported to pet air's kennels. Their flight to HK was the next morning at 1pm. So they needed to be at heathrow for around 11am, so they were in their crates 4-5 hours b4 to be driven to heathrow. The driver was very kind and texted me to let me know the dogs were all checked in.
The flight was 12 hours long. And on arrival, clearance in HK took around a couple of hours. In singapore they seem to be faster clearing the dogs (as when they flew from HK to SG, they told us to expect them at 7pm but they arrive 2 hours early)
4)Free for all in the crate. The thing is the dogs are not to be fed 24 hours before their flight. Only water. Imagine not feeding 2 goldies!! who are bottomless pit when it comes to food..... It's so that they don't throw up during the flight to prevent choking. So by right, they wouldn't have too much poo in their system. Pet air UK put vetbed in their crates for slightly more comfort, if that helps.
5) No they have to be in their individual crates

Hope I've answered your questions.

If you have any, pls feel free to ask.

[daytripper65]

Hi,

I don't have dogs, but I did take my two cats over here, and I regret it. Sadly, we have met nothing but resistance with them in two condos.

The first condo we owned. The cats usually only ventured onto the patio, but apparently one migrated up to a neighbor's balcony and set off a motion alarm. The neighbor complained directly to management and we were told we'd have to keep them in. There were plenty of other cats, both strays and pets roaming the facility, so it was quite annoying. Before we moved, one escaped during a delivery. She did not return for 10 days, and when she did, she had a broken tail and was emaciated.

The second time we were much more careful to screen for a pet friendly condo. We found a cluster home with several dogs and cats. Many cats roamed around freely and dogs could be heard barking throughout. A week after we moved in someone complained that our cat was nosing around their patio. Again, I never saw the cats stray from the entrance, though I believe they must have. Furthermore, I noticed that the locals behaved as if they were terrified of them (they are both black). Some would not even pass the house when the cat was lying on the patio (rolling on its back begging to be pet), and made emphatic gestures to shoo them away. A pair of girls threw a rock at them, as they were just LYING lazily on our patio. I was furious. The cats are so OVERLY friendly it's ridiculous. What the hell are people so afraid of?

Anyway, two weeks later management cracked down on the roaming of pets, saying that all cats were to be confined to the house.

I'm besides myself with shock and anger at the narrow minded mentality. The people are worse than the animals. We have a smoker nearby whose nicotine is always wafting in. Anything in the by-laws about this?

I love animals, and I have been driven to consider the options of re-locating for our beloved cats. Sadly, I would urge anyone to consider very carefully the attitude toward cats and dogs here, and the potentially restrictive environment you and they will both face.

[woodsdevil]

Yes I agree with the previous poster about the attitudes of people here.
Aye to the 2nd hand smoke, they totally should have by laws against people smoking and their smoke crossing to your boundary!!! Compared to that, the cats are harmless!!

My 3 cats along with the dogs relocated with us, we didn't want to leave them behind, as one had a behaviour issue, one is not in the best of health, so rehoming them weren't an option.

On our move here, we realised also the cats are not welcome, so we kept them in esp reading in the news that there was a cat killer on the loose in our area. People hated the cats in their gardens etc etc. Singaporeans are very pet-unfriendly sadly.
I guess for the safety of your cats, you just have to keep them indoors, but it's extremely sad for those cats who always had the freedom to roam

[ranji76]

people being scared o Labs to some extent i can understand as it is a relatively BIG dog, although very friendly(i love them) but i have seen people being scared of a Chihuahua!!!!! I was walking my friends Chihuahua and people were avoiding that small tiny little thing as if it was a killer.

[beenthere]

I wonder about my (my wife's) 95 pound OES (old english sheepdog). We are NOT giving her up. Big, furry and a bundle of love. Wo
rries anyone?

[AndyD]

Don’t worry, dogs love it here – it may need a wee haircut to be slightly cooler but my lab loves it when she has a trim. It will be on a lead a lot more than anywhere else, but there are dogs everywhere… Beach first thing Sunday morning is good to let them have a run around off lead…

[sundaymorningstaple]

Aye to the 2nd hand smoke, they totally should have by laws against people smoking and their smoke crossing to your boundary!!!

But.........

I bet you drive a hydrocarbon guzzling, carbon monoxide spewing, air polluting, smog contributing motor vehicle and aren't about to give it up. AND you probably don't mind driving past healthy, fresh air loving, bicyclists who are forced to share the road with these air polluting wheeled conveyances.

[x9200]

It is less about health hazard and more about annoyance. I am very sure smoking ppl would have something against if their own neighbours were excessively and smelly farting or sprinkling their side of the fence with rose or other intensive scent.

[sundaymorningstaple]

So we banish the guy living next door in the other thread because he cooks something the the poster in that thread finds offensive? Sounds like a slippery slope to me.

[x9200]

Depends. If this is only her/him who finds it offensive then rather not. With smoking the group of ppl who does not like it is huge and what also very important it is pretty black and white so typically you can tell easily if the smell is of cigarettes/pipe rather then something else. With food it is much more to individuals if the smell is ok or not. Same for intensity.
If we accept that there are already places where smoking or even durianing is prohibited by law then it is kind of logical that some ppl may not want to have it also in their homes esp. that they may have very limited possibilities to avoid it

[poodlek]

Getting back to the OP...

I recently moved here with my two cats and two dogs. We are living in a fairly ritzy condo development provided by my husband's employer, but we have had no problems really here with our pets, outside of the mild annoyance that there's no good place for the dogs to do their business, as every patch of grass on the property has a sign on it that says "no walking/sports/pets" on it. They've taken to peeing in the flower beds...lol. The attitude towards our pets has been better than I expected so far, perhaps because most of the people that live around me are expats. However, I try to be considerate of other people living in my neighbourhood and don't allow my pets to be annoyances--always leashed outside the home, always pick up after them and keep the barking to a minimum volume. This is no more than what I did back home when I lived in an apartment building. Even my property manager (a local woman), whom I was worried might be a little prejudiced against the pets, loved them.

There are other expats who work in the same company as my husband who have dogs in the HDB housing, and seem to be getting along well. I'm told the HDB housing is cheaper than the private condos, but they only allow one small breed dog and no cats per household. That may work for some of you.

Our cats were always indoor cats as my husband is paranoid about them getting hurt outside, and we live on the 8th floor so I'd hate to see them fall.

About the trip: we came from Canada. My pets flew with KLM Cargo, which has a very good reputation with handling live animal cargo. They flew from Toronto-Amsterdam (7 hr flight) with a 14 hour layover in a "pet hotel" and then Amsterdam-Singapore (13 hour flight). I'm sure it wasn't pleasant for them but they survived with no lasting injuries. My one dog had blood in his urine when he arrived and the vet suggested it was because he held his pee for too long and it stretched his bladder (poor guy!). I felt bad but he didn't seem sick or anything and he was over it in 24 hours. I guess it is up to you whether rehoming your pets is a better option for you. For us it wasn't an option--we love them too much. We'd rather have given up the opportunity to come here than break up our little family. It wasn't cheap to bring them here--all told it cost more than $7000. But I think it was worth it. The quarantine (SAQS) staff was absolutely wonderful, and our pets were well taken care of for their stay there (10 days only...look into this possible alternative to the 30 day stay on the AVA website).

Any more questions, feel free to PM me...this post is quite long enough!