Moving to Dubai with our dog

Which is why our 'get out of Dubai' fund has enough in to cover the cost of shipping our pets out with us.

Why would any dog lover leave them on the streets? Because when you lose your job in Dubai you have to leave within a certain time frame. Some people are in financial difficulty and do not realise the difficulty and expense involved in exporting their dog. Dubai has little in the way of rescue centres for dogs and leaving them with the municipality means certain death. Otherwise they may leave them with a friend who promises to look after them then changes their mind, there are a variety of reasons why some dogs (and even more cats) in Dubai end up on the streets. edited by RuthM on 24/04/2014 Well judging by the comments on the other dog thread running at the moment for animal lovers dogs are just as important as people, would you leave your kids behind if you suddenly had to leave in a rush and wanted to save the cost of shipping them back with you?

We have a villa for the exact same reason, our dogs tend to bark at the slightest thing, not for an extended period just 30s - 1m but long enough that with the wrong neighbours in Dubai we could have problems we would simply rather not have. We're lucky enough to be in the ranches but it is getting pricey now. I had a friend with a lab in JVT, the villas seem very nice, gardens are spacious, [b'>they said the only downside is lack of facilities and the road layout changes every day! [/b'> I also don't know what the prices in Victory Heights and Silicon Oasis are like now but they were cheaper than the ranches for a while (may have caught up). You should also look at DEWA (electricity/water) costs with villas which can be quite high especially if you have a lawn which I recommend avoiding if you can! You could consider an apartment or villa apartment, it is possible in an apartment block your dog may bark less as the noise he hears will be more frequent so may desensitise him. Part of the problem for us is we lived in the countryside in the UK (us and a farm) so any outside noise was infrequent and now in the ranches it is also very quiet but I think maybe if there was noise all day the dogs would get bored of it. As rents are going up and our dogs are now very old we are considering an apartment or a townhouse. I don't drive either and use Careem too, it's a great service. I also use another car service called Uber. Careem is good for booking in advance, I find Uber is often better for getting cars immediately (they don't take advance bookings). Someone has already given you a link to Careem but here is a link to Uber: https://uber.com/invite/cxpg3 You may also be aware the price for importing/exporting a dog has gone up recently. Please ensure you have funds available and keep your dogs vaccinations up to date so he can return home with you when/if you leave. So many people here arrive with dogs and their circumstances change suddenly. They are then forced to leave them behind due to finances or logistical reasons with quarantine. The dogs often end up on the streets, where they suffer terribly or eventually if they are lucky with a local charity who may be able to rehome them or if they are unlucky with the municipality where they are destroyed. Good luck and hope you can find a suitable home for you all. edited by RuthM on 24/04/2014 JVT is now much improved. Road layouts are fine, we have one shop and a couple more just about to open :) We have left half of our garden as pure sand just for the dogs to run around on. Saves on the DEWA and saved having the grass ruined by them weeing on it. A two bed villa is now going for between 130 and 160k

Why would any dog lover leave them on the streets? Because when you lose your job in Dubai you have to leave within a certain time frame. Some people are in financial difficulty and do not realise the difficulty and expense involved in exporting their dog. Dubai has little in the way of rescue centres for dogs and leaving them with the municipality means certain death. Otherwise they may leave them with a friend who promises to look after them then changes their mind, there are a variety of reasons why some dogs (and even more cats) in Dubai end up on the streets. <em>edited by RuthM on 24/04/2014</em>

Why would any dog lover leave them on the streets?

We have a villa for the exact same reason, our dogs tend to bark at the slightest thing, not for an extended period just 30s - 1m but long enough that with the wrong neighbours in Dubai we could have problems we would simply rather not have. We're lucky enough to be in the ranches but it is getting pricey now. I had a friend with a lab in JVT, the villas seem very nice, gardens are spacious, they said the only downside is lack of facilities and the road layout changes every day! I also don't know what the prices in Victory Heights and Silicon Oasis are like now but they were cheaper than the ranches for a while (may have caught up). You should also look at DEWA (electricity/water) costs with villas which can be quite high especially if you have a lawn which I recommend avoiding if you can! You could consider an apartment or villa apartment, it is possible in an apartment block your dog may bark less as the noise he hears will be more frequent so may desensitise him. Part of the problem for us is we lived in the countryside in the UK (us and a farm) so any outside noise was infrequent and now in the ranches it is also very quiet but I think maybe if there was noise all day the dogs would get bored of it. As rents are going up and our dogs are now very old we are considering an apartment or a townhouse. I don't drive either and use Careem too, it's a great service. I also use another car service called Uber. Careem is good for booking in advance, I find Uber is often better for getting cars immediately (they don't take advance bookings). Someone has already given you a link to Careem but here is a link to Uber: https://uber.com/invite/cxpg3 You may also be aware the price for importing/exporting a dog has gone up recently. Please ensure you have funds available and keep your dogs vaccinations up to date so he can return home with you when/if you leave. So many people here arrive with dogs and their circumstances change suddenly. They are then forced to leave them behind due to finances or logistical reasons with quarantine. The dogs often end up on the streets, where they suffer terribly or eventually if they are lucky with a local charity who may be able to rehome them or if they are unlucky with the municipality where they are destroyed. Good luck and hope you can find a suitable home for you all. <em>edited by RuthM on 24/04/2014</em>

I brought my 3 year old lab over in September last year. She has managed fine with the transition. I live in an apartment in Tecom (right beside the greens). My dog grew up in a flat back in the uk so was no big change for her. As long as they get the exercise they are fine. Sleeping on the floor of an apartment and sleeping on the floor of a villa......what's the difference. Get in touch with me when you arrive and I'm havppy to set up play dates for the dogs as this is the best and most enjoyable way to exercise them! All the best with the move

Hi well I have a short haired dog - very active large breed like the labs and we chose not to live in a house. For about 5 months the dog cannot go out into the garden, and then if it is obviously a breed (as opposed to a poor shaggy looking local mix) it will probably get stolen if left outside. Also, the idea of keeping a lovely green lush garden depends on whether you are prepared to lash out the moneys to pay for water and electricity to keep it so. So really, it is a choice. You can hire a company to show you around - my hubby's firm use Nutwood, and I am not sure how much they charge but I reckon it would be worth it. The Greens is another great area for pets and lots and lots more westerners are moving back here with their pets - which is important because if you are a minority of pet owners the community can cause havoc here…if there are a lot of people from nationalities that hate dogs. The Greens is a mix of older and newer buildings (some maisonettes but mostly flats), very close to public transport, and a 25 min drive to the area where your hubby will move to. Also it is in my opinion very hard to get proper pet care for a large dog, I recommend to new comers to find another family immediately with a dog of a similar energy level and offer an 'exchange' - you look after their and they look after yours. Unless your dog is very happy to go to a kennel and they accept me and you are happy to pay rather exorbitant fees. Alas I would pay the fees but my dog frets in kennels.. Best of luck with your move; one thing I would add is please be cautious when setting yourself up in year one, I would go for the more modest expenditure options (rents etc). This is because the cost of living here is very high - compared to western Europe and even expensive countries like Australia - and once you commit to a high rent you are kind of stuck with it for a year. Always good to be cautious and then upgrade in year two. PS dogs cope very well in flats if they are trained properly and walked regularly. all the best with the move

Thank you Madge Gustard and Geordie expat for the prompt replies. Looking online it appears there are 2 beds in the Springs for around 135k - are things really looking so bad for renters in the near future? Thank you, Geordie, for the recommendation of Jumeirah Village Triangle, we'll try to have a look at that - is it a gated/secure area and, if not, do you feel safe there? Would be lovely to live somewhere with plenty of other dog owners and a garden large enough to play in. Will also look into Careem cars and Golden Wave Properties :0) JVT isn't gated - yet..... but they are saying we will be by the end of this year!!!!! We feel safe there, just as we would anywhere with two dogs in the house. All I will say, and I'm not putting the Springs down in any way, but when we looked at the 2 beds there, we both felt that there wan't enough indoor room for us and the pets and we felt we'd always be falling over one of them. The ground floor layout of JVT was much better for us.

Hi, I live in Springs (2 B/R - type 4 E with a massive garden) with two super active Labs, as someone has pointed out your biggest problem will be the budget if you move 2-3 months from now. Currently the rents are 135k and increasing for a two bed room. Arabian Ranches are more pricey. Springs is a lovely area to live with pets, lots of dogs and cats, every spring has a lake where you can walk your Lab. The taxi drivers are familiar with the area and commuting will not be a hassle.

Looking online it appears there are 2 beds in the Springs for around 135k - are things really looking so bad for renters in the near future? Unfortunately, yes. Quite apart from the rumours that LLs will shortly be free to demand whatever rent they like, unconstrained by the rental calculator that kept increases affordable, it's common for villas to be advertised with attractive rents just to draw responses. Then you get told "Sorry, that one just went, but I've got more here at a higher rent..." It's quite possible that 150k will become the absolute bottom end of the market for villas with gardens, meaning you will have very little choice. If you want to have your pick of places to live, give serious consideration to increasing your budget to 200k, preferably more.

This is the link for Careem - http://careem.com/signup/6GPKRBWKRE

You could try Jumeirah Village Triangle. There are no facilities within walking distance apart from one shop, but more are promised. The taxis are getting to know the area better, but if we need to be somewhere on time we always use Careem, a private car company. The villas are 2 beds with huge gardens, great for dogs and you'll find a lot of us have at least one. Try Mazz Ali at Golden Wave Properties as he deals with the area.

All the popular villa areas have street numbers and taxi drivers are familiar with them, so no real issues there. Unfortunately, I'd say your biggest problem will be your housing budget. The way things are going here, and with rumours of a removal of the rental calculator system that would result in a free-for-all, 150K may not get you a house with a garden by the time you get here, at least not in any of the popular/desirable areas. To be sure of getting a variety of options to choose from, you really need to increase that to 200-250K, and have the full amount available so you can pay upfront in one cheque. And remember to account for the likelihood of a significant rental increase in your second year. <em>edited by Madge_Gustard on 22/04/2014</em>