Nearly all your dog’s medical records are recorded in his passport.

The passports do vary slightly depending on which part of Spain the dog is from, however they all contain important information for you and your vet. The passports are all in English as well as Spanish, so it’s worth having a sit down and a good nosey at it. 

SECTION I: OWNER

This is for your details, you can now add them to your dog’s passport

SECTION II: DESCRIPTION OF ANIMAL

Your dog’s details including (estimated) date of birth

SECTION III: MARKING OF ANIMAL

Details of your dogs’s microchip no.

You must put the microchip into your name as soon as the dog arrives. You can do this using the kennel club link here

when you visit the vet it is good to ask him to check the microchip is reading ok, although remember the change to your details can take up to two weeks.

SECTION V: VACCINATION AGAINST RABIES

This will only be needed subsequently if you travel abroad with your dog.

SECTION VII: ANTI-ECHINOCOCCUS TREATMENT

Worming– the dogs will all have had worming medication and this often includes flea and tick medication too. Please do check what your dog has had before medicating again.

SECTION VIII: OTHER ANTI-PARASITE TREATMENTS

Flea, Ticks– The dogs will all have had some treatment, but it’s not a requirement for it to be in their passport, so if it isn’t, then do ask us and we can check with their rescuers and let you know. Again please do check what your dog has had before treating again, some adopters choose not to medicate their dogs for flea and tick all year round, maybe just late spring, or maybe not at all, but they do keep a close watch. There are also natural alternatives which many prefer. Of course this choice is individual and will depend where you live, where the dog walks and the ease of checking your dog regularly.

SECTION IX: OTHER VACCINATIONS

General Inoculations– These are listed in this section of the passport, often you will see initial ones and boosters with dates and details.

Please do go through these in detail with your vet as understanding exactly what the dog has already had can prevent unnecessary over medication of duplicate vaccines which is not good for the dog.

Kennel cough

The shelters we work with in Spain are usually using general vaccinations that include kennel cough, so if you need to prove they have been vaccinated for kennel cough, do check by googling the name of the vaccination they have been given or ask us for help to confirm.

SECTION XI: OTHERS or pdf file sent to you before the dog arrives.

Disease checks-Depending on the shelter, these are sometimes recorded in the passport (often Urano test) and sometimes as a separate pdf file which is sent to you usually before you receive the dog. Please print the pdf and keep it with the passport. Some times these results can also be handwritten in the passport.

The dogs all have negative test results (if not we will have been in touch and discussed it with you) but remember that Leish can give a negative result in the incubation period, so although rare it remains a possibility. You can read more about Leish here.

Some shelters/vets will also list the date the dogs have been neutered in this section.

Weight

Many dogs come across looking very skinny and seem very hungry, so it is tempting to feed them up. However it is quite easy to go just too far and then have to try to reduce their weight. A good way to avoid this is to weigh the dog at the first vet visit and ask the vet for a target weight (which may be what they are or possibly slightly more) then try to stick to this with regular weight checks. Read more here

First Vet Visit

  • Bring the passport and disease test results (if separate)
  • Check dog over
  • Check microchip is working and in your name
  • Discuss what inoculations and worming/flea the dog has had before agreeing to more
  • Check weight and agree target weight

Please remember that the passport can be used as a continual medical record for your dog with your vet adding inoculations as given over his lifetime.