Moving with an anxious dog
Walter has SEVERE anxiety. The car is going to be a nightmare, getting him to the vet to update his shots is going to be a nightmare, but we are mostly worried about getting him acclimated to his new surroundings. It's a lovely house with a nice deck that he will really enjoy... but we need to convince him of that. Any suggestions for making the transition a bit easier? |
|
|
With Sassy, we always had to transport her in a crate in the car that was covered by a sheet. That helped a lot. She got so nervous she'd soil herself so crating was mandatory.   In the new house, try going back to basics with Walter and crate or gate him in one small room with things from the old house, like a favorite chair that smells familiar and comforting. Let him slowly get accustomed to one room at a time over the course of several days to keep him from becoming overwhelmed. Hopefully, this is stressing you out worse than it is Walter and it will actually be an easy transition.  Good luck and let us know how it goes. |
| Hi Heather. Are your parents moving far? We moved from Gurnee to Libertyville, just a few miles as the crow flies.  Oscar has anxiety issues as well, so I will share what we tried with him. While we packed, we made sure to move the boxes to a "staging area" in the house, all in one place, so Oscar's main environment remained the same until we actually moved. We also kept to his routines, for feeding times, walks, etc. When the actual move was taking place, we gated Oscar in the kitchen, completely out of the way, and never left him alone. If my hubby was at the new house, I stayed at the old one. While the closing took place, my dad came and stayed with Oscar. (If we had ever crated Oscar, it would have come in handy for moving day.) Once all of the furniture was placed at the new house, we brought Oscar in, on a leash, and took him from room to room, letting him smell everything and get acclimated. We gated off the upstairs and closed the basement door, so we could keep an eye on him. (It's REALLY hard to find a deaf dog in a disorganized house, even one as big as Oscar.  ) We showed him his food bowl, toy box, and his dog beds, etc., so he knew where to find his stuff. Again, we kept to his routine of feeding times and walks. We followed the same bedtime routine, and locked him into the master with us, and he promptly found his spot on the a/c vent on the tile in the master bath. For the first few days, we made sure that one of us was home. It didn't take long for him to adjust to the new place, and he did not have an IBD flare-up.  We have also taken Oscar on a couple of driving trips to Florida in the winter. It takes us two days of driving, and we stay overnight, in a hotel in the Atlanta area, before arriving at our destination. I used the same rule of thumb about Oscar's routine on these trips as well, and it seems to help. Also, after our arrival in Florida, I stick around our house for the first few days, so that Oscar is really used to it before I leave him alone. (Hubby is out on the golf course, so I take one for the team. ) Oscar has never had an accident or chewed a thing in any rental, so our set-up has worked well for us. Hope this info is helpful. Laurie and Oscar |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|