Friday, March 7, 2008

In Which Fergus Goes to France



Fergus has grown a little as you can see. In the photo on the left, Nancy is trying to convince the eight-week-old Fergus that there is a stick in the water that needs to be fetched and he's not buying it. In the photo taken last week, eight-month-old Fergus is giving his mom some love. He's gained around 40 pounds and doubled in height. He's still got a little time for growth remaining.
In a few months Fergus will be making a trip to France, that is assuming Nancy can get the American, French and Canadian bureaucracies in line. The Canadians are involved because we fly out of and back to, Montreal, Canada. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is involved because we'd like to bring him back home to Utah at the end of the summer. The French are involved for obvious reasons.
We had to have a micro-chip inserted under Fergus' skin, which was 15 digits as required by the European Union, or France, I'm not sure. We couldn't get it done in Moab, or Grand Junction, Colorado, which could only do the nine digit chip. So we had it done while in Arizona. Lucky we were already headed that way or we would have been forced to make a trip to Salt Lake, Denver or Phoenix. He had to get another certified rabies shot after the micro-chip was implanted, a long, bilingual health certificate certified by the USDA, and another international health certificate, and his kennel must meet very specific size requirements relating to his size and weight to get aboard the plane. Whose brainchild was this, taking a dog to France?
I find myself wondering how the village cat, Old One Eye is doing these days. How will he and Fergus get along? You can rest assured you will get another report on the saga of "Fergus Goes to France".

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you Fergus for not leaving any remnants in our home! Also, thanks for not eating our cat.

Anonymous said...

Nancy;

I left a comment yesterday, but it didn't register??? I had some questions for you...When do you go back to France? What did you do with your truck in Leran while you were back in the states? Will you proceed on your rooftop garden plan that you told us about several months ago?

We now have a new kitty to replace Bunner. Bunner was 19 and had developed cancer of the mouth. Last june we took him to the vet to "part company"...it was too sad. After 4 months without a cat, we went to the Humane Society to find a replacement. Mia is 8 months-old with tortice-shell coloring and very playful. Judy

Anonymous said...

Judy, To answer your questions:
Today's plan is to head to France mid-June until mid-September, staying the maximum 90 days allowed without getting an extended stay Visa in San Francisco. Old Smokey is being well taken care of by friends in Leran, Billy & Sally, and taken on weekly dump runs in Mirepoix for other renovating folks. With regard to the roof terrace, we believe Doug has a "working model" but we've got to wait til we get there to double-check dimensions and start the paperwork process. And, sorry about Bunner--good long life with you guys; but welcome to the world Mia. Hope I answered all. Nancy