Craziest Move Ever! (for a Dog too!)
My husband, son and I moved from New York City to Japan on January 1, 2015, and it was the craziest move ever. At least we thought so. And I am sure our dog couldn’t agree more. The Japanese Animal Quarantine Service has certain requirements and necessary procedures when moving animals or pets to Japan.
We had a dog named Harvey. My husband first met him in Dallas, TX. Back then, he was a college student and didn’t even want a pet. When his friend invited him to come see a puppy that was rescued, he instantly fell in love. Since then, the mix breed border collie had been his best friend and life partner. From what I hear, he was the cutest, most mischievous little pup, and quite a gourmet who ate my husband’s cell phone and couch. My husband trained this little furry guy in a-former-US Marine-way and the pup grew up to be the best mannered and handsomest border collie ever. I first met Harvey when I visited my husband (then boyfriend) at his Upper East Side apartment. He was so curious to check out this new friend, but was so gentle. No barking or jumping on me. He was a licking monster though! I knew it was an act of welcome even though I had never been a dog owner before. I was very comfortable with Harvey from day one.
Harvey was such a handsome dog with a beautiful posture. People used to talk to us and praised how handsome and well mannered he was as we walked him around the neighborhoods in New York City. His posture was almost like that of a race horse, with his noble way of walking that was almost a gallop. He loved greeting little dogs on the street but never liked encountering one as big as himself. My husband and I used to joke “big dogs probably tease him because he has Texas accent.” We also knew that Harvey thought he was a human. Whenever our friends came to visit, he joined us and listened to our conversations. Needless to say, his favorite was dinner time. He knew the guests would spoil him with food from the table.
We were fortunate enough to know a family who had moved back to Japan with their dog before. Our families were good friends. When we decided to move to Japan, they referred us to a great doctor who was experienced with the exact situation. We felt lucky that we were in good hands but were totally overwhelmed with the long list of requirements at the same time. First, a microchip needed to be implanted. Secondly, Harvey needed to have two rabies vaccinations, followed by a rabies antibody test… and so on. Then, we noticed there has a waiting period of 180 days before leaving the country. It was October when we started the process, and we were to move within 3 months! “If the waiting period is less than 180 days” the official documents stated, Harvey “will be subject to quarantine at a detention facility of the Animal Quarantine Service until the total time of the waiting period and the quarantine period reaches 180 days.” Oh no! Seriously, my husband and I couldn’t imagine our Harvey being kept at a detention facility for that. What would we do?! Well, my husband had met some really nice dog lovers and one of them agreed to happily keep Harvey with her own dog until the waiting period was over. She (and her dog) loved having Harvey and treated him so well. While we were grateful, my husband and I even worried he might not want to come back to us.
My husband planned to fly from Japan, back to New York, and pick up Harvey once the waiting period was over. But then, at some point, the friend who kept Harvey for few months offered bringing him to the airport and place him on the flight. We liked the idea and were about to make arrangements accordingly. However, I found something really interesting when I called the airline. Harvey would be treated as a cargo if flying on his own, the airline explained, and it would cost over US$3,000. Instead, if Harvey flies with a person, his portion of flight cost would be less than US$500. We decided that my Husband would pick up Harvey and fly back with him as originally planned.
Turned out, it was the best thing for my husband to come to New York anyways, reason being the rest of the hectic procedures. Harvey had to undergo one last clinical inspection by the vet and obtain certificates issued by the government agency before leaving the U.S. My husband said this was such a pain, so we were glad we didn’t have to have out friend go through all that.
Harvey survived the 14-hour flight in a cage in a pressurized baggage compartment of the airplane, and showed up for my husband at the gate, being escorted by the airline crew. What a brave, strong dog! I drove all the way to Narita Airport with my son to pick up the duo, and we were all so happy. The complete family reunited across the ocean, finally!
After the touching moment of family reunion, we faced one last problem - the huge cage Harvey was in. He was a 40-pound dog, and the cage was huge! There was no way we could carry it in our little Japanese car. We have no plan to move again (at least for quite a long time) and we didn’t need to keep it anyways. But what to do with it before leaving the airport? This was totally unexpected. Because I hate driving around Tokyo, I was thinking of using a transporting service for dogs at the beginning, and so I didn’t even think of the need to discard the cage at the airport. I asked the airport crew member for advice. He was nice enough to make a couple of calls and made an exceptional arrangement so we could leave it with them.
The family of four happily drove back home and when the registration was done at Yaizu City Hall, Harvey became an official resident of Japan - hooray! My husband and I are not sure if big dogs here teased him for his American accent, but Harvey seemed to adjust well and enjoyed living in Yaizu. At least he never complained about living with us after leaving our friend’s New York apartment where he was treated like a prince. He then had a one-year-old human boy to play with, and although this little boy pulled his tail and tried to ride on his back sometimes, they were good friends.
Sadly, Harvey went up to heaven and became one of the stars (that’s what I told my then-4-year-old son) in early 2018. Harvey was 15 years old. He truly is our star who had a great life adventure with us, traveling from Texas to New York and then to Japan.
Now without Harvey, I'm looking for an alternative way to encourage my husband to go out and take a walk. “We love you but don't love your hair balls!” we used to tell Harvey while vacuuming the floor. Now, each time we find one tiny Harvey hair that’s been hiding, we remember the good times we spent with him and miss him so much.
A good thing to have when you live with a hairy monster like Harvey. ☟