When my husband first got the offer to move to Italy on an expat assignment we were beyond excited. We couldn't believe our luck, we were ecstatic to have the opportunity to enjoy Italy's beauty, culture, historical richness and, of course, amazing food!!
The move happened a lot quicker than either of us could have expected -- in a matter of two to three months we were pretty much set to go. It was a hectic, confusing and at times frustrating experience to tackle so many things that needed to be done in such a short period of time.
One of our biggest concerns was being able to move our German Shepherd, Chanta, in a safe, comfortable and timely manner. Luckily for us, PetRelocation had our backs every step of the way! We worked with our first agent, Keith, to prepare all the necessary documentation and have it all ready to go. Both my husband and I were pleasantly surprised at how easy it all felt and how smooth it went.
My husband made the move first, and I stayed in Michigan with both Chanta and my father-in-law to settle some of our other affairs before joining him. As our travel date grew closer, we encountered a series of delays in my father-in-law's immigration paperwork and were sad to find out that he would not be able to move to Italy with us until these matters had been settled.
We were then faced with the difficult decision of having to leave our Chanta with my father-in-law, since we didn't want him to stay behind on his own. It was a very difficult choice, but we knew that Chanta would be vital in keeping my husband's father happy and busy while he waited for his paperwork.
We, of course, had to push back Chanta's travel date, something that we were relieved to find out was quite easy thanks to PetRelocation, who was incredibly helpful and understanding of our family's situation. They kept in constant communication with us, checking in on the status of my father-in-law's paperwork and making sure we would have everything ready to move Chanta as soon as it was all approved.
What we initially thought would take just a few months turned into a year. During this period of time we flew back and forth a few times to visit, but other than that were forced to remain apart. The absence of our Chanta's companionship was quite hard on us, to the point were we eventually ended up getting a second dog in Italy. It made the whole waiting process a little easier on all of us, but we were still very anxious to be reunited.
When my father-in-law's paperwork was finally approved, PeRelocation went above and beyond all our expectations and was able to arrange Chanta's trip in a matter of just a couple of weeks. I was simply amazed at how fast they had managed to arrange everything for us, in spite of the EU's new policy on importing pets. They took care of every little last detail, leaving us absolutely nothing to worry about or stress over.
Chanta was very happy to be reunited with her family and was super excited to meet her "brother" Balto. The two of them get along really well and spend their days playing and napping together.
I can honestly say that PetRelocation made Chanta's moving process a lot easier than we could've ever hoped or anticipated, their level of patience, understanding and helpfulness was beyond everything we encountered in our entire relocation experience, and we couldn't be any more grateful.
Pet Travel Details:
Name: Daniela
Company: Whirlpool
Pet's Name: Chanta
From: Saint Joseph, Michigan
To: Varese, Italy