Silk Road travel with dogs Q&A

[steven]

Please post your questions and reports on Silk Road travel with dogs below. Find out more at Silk Road travel with pets.

[baikalsprinter]

Hello, we are a german couple and are planning a trip to the stan-countries this year. Our dog loves traveling in our campingcar, so she will come with us. About traveling with dogs in middle asia I found nearly nothing. In Russia and Mongolia we had no problems.
Did somebody made a journey with a dog and could give some advice (border controls...)?

[roro]

Hi,
I've travelled with my dog and my car in 2015 across Central Asia without any problem.
Just be sured about vaccines for your dog (check that with your veterinary, especially for your return in your country).
RR.

[orca6]

Hi there

I am planing to travel the silkroad early 2021.
Means of transport will be my Mercedes Benz 771d custom built RV (no 4x4) that I completly trust.

I would like to take the dog on the trip, while I love it and second while I deem it as a safety measure.
The answer to the related questions might have also influence on the route as there may be countries which do not allow or foresee rules that imply quarantine periods.

What are your thoughts about this idea?

Thx and best regards!

Martin

[roro]

Hi,
I've done this trip with my car 2 times, first Iran then Central Asia the second time to Mongolia: no problem of quarantine in any country.
Just check that all vaccines ans paper work are in order for your dog, ask your vet.

RR.

[amy385]

Hey!

I am looking to hitch from Georgia to Bishkek with my dog but, as time is running short, it would be useful to take trains at some points, especially through Uzbekistan.

Does anyone know if it is possible to take a dog on trains through central Asia?

Thanks,
Amy

[Milad]

I don't know. The easiest way to find out would be asking at the station - I'm curious what you found out.
In Russia (and usually CIS railways have similar rules) you can carry pets on a train only in specific carriages (marked with Ж in the online schedule). Maybe the same applies in Uzbekistan.

[TerryCan]

Hey guys,

We're a couple travelling with our car from Belgium along the silk road with our two dogs. Before we started this trip we almost found no information on crossing the border with dogs/pets in general. So I'll update this topic for people who are interested.

Some basic information about the dogs. They're both born in the EU and have EU passports and are microchipped. Their vaccinations are up to date (rabies being the biggest one). They are also too big and our car too small for the border officers not to notice

Onto the countries:

Russia
What did we find out before: Rabies vaccination no closer than 30 days before travel. Health certificate by a veterinary no older than 5 days before entering. EU passport needed.

What happened in reality: the officer asked if they were going to stay with us for the whole trip. And took a look at the EU passport. He just checked the name of the owner, which is us. We were free to go after that. He didn't ask for the health certificate or check the Rabies vaccination.


Kazakhstan:
What did we find out before: Rabies no closer than 30 days before travel. Health certificate no older than 10 days.

What happened in reality: the officer didn't check anything. Not even passport.


Kyrgystan:
We passed the border from KZ to KY in the far east. The small border
What did we find out before: Health certificate, not specified. Heard some rumors that a veterinary will check them out. Need a rabiës vaccination.

What happened in reality: The border guard was the first one to really check out the EU passport. Not only did he check the name, owners name, details. But also expiration from the vaccinations. All of them. He was really nice though, no bribe asked and let us through after 5 minutes.

Tadzykystan: tbd
Uzbekistan: tbd
Azerbaijan: tbd
Georgia: tbd
Turkey: tbd

[timster]

We are also travelling with dog (at the moment including 6 puppies) and many people ask us about the border crossing.

To give an update to your post:

Tajkistan:
They checked the passport and we had to pay something like 3-4$ for the dog. Funny thing was that our friend, travelling without a dog had to pay the same fee for "desinfection of the car". So i guess it was just random.

Kyrgyzstan nothing at all. Russia and Kazakhstan we had the same expierence like you.

We entered Turkey a few times and one time we had to wait for a Vet to come and check the dog. This was just a joke. Someone came, looked at the passport (we alos have a EU Passport with chip and vaccination) and paid around 20$ for that.

Entering Iraqi Kurdistan they also checked the passport.
Actually only Turkey (one out of 4-5 times) and Kurdistan they really checked.
Georgia, Armenia, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan (if it would not be the dog they would have asked for a different reason) was nothing.

[teendrama]

Thank you so much for this thread!! Me and my girlfriend have been looking for information on how to take the dog we adopted while living in China with us when we return back to Europe over land (China - Mongolia - Russia - EU) next year, and so far we haven't been able to find any first hand information on the land borders at all...

We briefly looked into doing the trip by car but funnily enough we're in the exact opposite situation of so many others: while most people seem to be despairing about Chinese bureaucracy we have all that (residence permit, drivers license) sorted, but can't seem to find any information on how far it is possible to drive a car with Chinese license plate into other countries or what insurance/carnet one would need for that...

Either way it currently looks more likely that we'll do the return trip on the Trans-Mongolian branch of the Trans-Siberian Railway, so I was wondering if anyone knows any other (pet) travel forums where we could find people with experience crossing those railway borders with a dog? Your what happened in reality experiences make us hopeful and we know it's possible to bring dogs on the main Trans-Siberian line (you can keep it loose if you book a 2 person compartment) but that doesn't involve any border crossings, so we're not even sure if they would let us board with a dog or under what conditions... (We have her full medical records but obviously no EU pet passport yet, so that will be its own piece of fun...)