ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
by jennifer

I have a 20month female Malt. I am about to move house not far from my current residence and I am worried how Emma will cope. She loves going to new places but within about 1/2 hr wants to come home. Should I do anything special and should I take time off work (1 week?) to help her adjust. Any suggestions would be very welcome!

DISCUSSION:

Hi Jen!!! I moved Harlee & Travis twice within a matter of months and they seemed to adjust to the moves extremely well. I think, the fact that ALL of their toys and things and also, all of mommies things were there, put their minds at ease. When we made our final move, it was hard for them to find the "perfect" window to look out of, and one day silly mommy forgot to pull open the blinds so they could see out, and they went from window to window and tore the blinds to shreads. Boy did that cost me a lot of money $$ !! But it was my fault for forgetting! Otherwise, they did fantastic with the move. Talk to ya later.
-Karen Kalamaras

I have moved 3 times with both my dogs and they do just fine. Before moving in, we would bring the dogs with us to sniff around a bit. But, once all our stuff was there, it took them about 1 day or so and everything was back to normal. It will work out fine.
-Teri

Snowball has moved many times over the 12 years of his life. I have found, however, the best thing for me, is not to pack boxes and move in front of him. He gets upset just seeing a suitcase. I made that mistake only once. Each other time, I'd bring the little guy to spend the day at my Mom's house while I packed/moved. Then when everthing was moved to the new location, I would go and get Snowball. He'd just be happy to be back with me and all his toys, bed, etc. And he never had to go through the trauma of watching the actual moving. He adjusted to each new place in no time. Good luck!! I know how stressful moving can be. Joanne
-Joanne

When we moved, I took her to the groomer while the movers loaded the truck. I picked her up from the groomer & headed out of town. First we went to her "grandparents" house for a couple days which seemed pretty normal to her. Then we drove the rest of the way to the new residence. I made sure her bed, toys, etc. went with us in the car so she would have everything as close to normal as possible (unlike me who went without for a couple days!) She adjusted just fine--loved having a new house to check out, a huge back yard to play in. Wish I had adapted as quickly as she did! Having all our regular stuff in the house really helped her realize this was home--and it was just fine with her. We moved in on her 2nd birthday, I told her this is what mommy got her for her birthday! She took me serious and now acts like SHE owns this place and just allows me to live here (although she didn't get a party that year.)
-Debbie

Gesso watched everything being packed and became upset, hiding under tables, behind toilets etc. It took him several weeks to adjust to the new house. He is fine now. He is six years old and has never moved before.
-barbara