...and it's gonna be fun, almost. We're almost set: we're packing things up and getting things planned for a May move. The future Mrs. Oliver has a great plan of attack for the move, and has everything in order, so that it's a seamless transition.
But therein lies the problem.
Our "kid"...a beautiful two year old Sheltie, Bailey.
Her entire life has been in this house; she knows its tastes, its smells, and everything. We've found a nice apartment that allows dogs, and one that has a great park nearby for her to run around...but what about in the meanwhile? She'll pick up on the boxes being packed and things being moved around, the smell of paint on the walls, and everything. While a child can be sat down with and reasoned and reassured concerning a move...I'm not sure about a dog. I mean...how does someone acclimatize a dog to a new place or what have you? How does someone comfort a dog when they're stressing out and try to keep them calm during a time of change like this?
I could easily Google this question, but in many things, I often rely on the life experiences and advice from the W continuum...so, yeah.
Yeah, what he said. We have two dogs and they were absolutely fine when we moved. Matter of fact, one of them who had been giving us some trouble with 'accidents' actually hasn't had one in our new house (going on 3+ years now). It's been great 'cause they have more room to run around now.
"As you may have read in Robert Parker's Wine Newsletter, 'Donaghy Estates tastes like the urine of Satan, after a hefty portion of asparagus.'" Jack Donaghy, 30 Rock
I've had a cat with me through 5 moves in about 7 years. Never had any problems.
(edited by samoflange on 31.1.09 1723) Lloyd: When I met Mary, I got that old fashioned romantic feeling, where I'd do anything to bone her. Harry: That's a special feeling.
Yeah, just show the dog lots of love and involve the dog in the move (maybe bring the dog with you on a trip over or two).
It'll be nothing like the drama of moving my cats last year, one of whom has had a lot of trauma and (perceived) abandonment in her short life. She wasn't right for a good month.
We moved with a cat once. We took him to the new place and he proceeded to walk around the entire perimeter of the house. Once he was done checking the place out, he was fine.
Originally posted by Mr Heel IIYeah, just show the dog lots of love and involve the dog in the move (maybe bring the dog with you on a trip over or two).
It'll be nothing like the drama of moving my cats last year, one of whom has had a lot of trauma and (perceived) abandonment in her short life. She wasn't right for a good month.
That's one thing I'm afraid of: Bailey is used to having someone around at all times, whereas when we move, we're cutting the household by half: her aunt and niece (who are our roommates) are moving in with the aunt's mother, and we're getting our own place. Couple being in a new place, new smells, everything...with having less people around, that could be quite weird for a dog.
If anything, I work midnights and Michelle works days, so someone's almost always around.
Shelties are a different breed. If you have properly gotten her out and about to socialize her and she isn't one of the uber high strung, you'll be fine. If not, she will have a pretty stiff adjustment period.
We have had several shelties and we would never have another kind of purebred dog but they can be a little strange.
I've moved twice with my dog, and I've taken her on trips a couple times. She seems to enjoy traveling, and it doesn't take her very long at all to acclimatize to a new environment. Spending time by itself might be weird for the dog, but I'd cross that bridge when and if you get to it. A simple Google search could probably give you some ideas on how to keep a dog occupied while you're out of the house, though.
The only thing I remember about moving with dogs from all those behavior books is that you're supposed to take them on a nice long walk when you actually move them from the old house to the new house, to help them understand that the pack migrated, and so they won't be a big ball of energy with all the unpacking and moving stress.
Chances are everything will be fine. If she ends up having problems after everything has settled down at the new place, then I'd worry. I don't think there's anything you can do between now and then that will really help if she gets bored or lonely after the move, which sounds like your main concern.
Thank you all for the information. We decided to take Bailey out on an apartment scavenger hunt, and have an appointment to view a pet-friendly place. In fact, Bailey was invited to visit, too.
I've always gotten the vibe that Dave likes Conan. He's had him on the show once or twice and has been on his show at least once. I've got the Conan show with Dave on it on tape somewhere . . . Funniest line from that segment: Dave: