A Dog's Point of View: Moving is Stressful!

Woof! Woof! There’s something going on around here and I wish I knew what it was! I’ve heard my human parents talking about ‘moving’, and another house they like. They said “It’s got a lovely big garden for Bertie” (that’s me!).

What does that mean? Am I going for a walk? Are we visiting someone? I hope they take me with them - that big garden sounds good!

I DON’T LIKE DISRUPTION!

I like things just the way they are; I know where things are in my home, where my bed is and what it smells like and we have a nice routine at the moment; but it looks as if things are going to change. Everyone is very busy sorting out cupboards and packing things into boxes, but fortunately my things are still in the same place and haven’t been moved yet.

When I’m not sure what’s happening or what to do, I like to go and sit in my bed. It’s my safe space! It smells of me and makes me feel comfortable - and I’ve got it nice and comfortable to snuggle into! I’ve also got all my toys around me - no-one’s putting my toys in a box, I’m keeping them with me!

SOMETHING’S CHANGING!

I know something’s happening! My human has taken me on some different adventures to a new park recently. It’s really lovely there with lots of different smells and there are a lot of trees where I can leave my scent - and I met loads of different, new dogs too. I was a little nervous to start with when that huge German Shepherd came bouncing up to me, but he really was good fun and we had a good sniff off each other and we chased each other while our humans had a chat. They seemed to get along very well too and we’ve met up with them quite a lot recently. Looks like we’ve got some new friends!

My humans seem to be very organized and they must have got some tips about moving home with a dog and they must be thinking of me, as they’ve plugged in an ADAPTIL Calm diffuser close to my bed. It really does make me feel very relaxed.  

As far as I’m concerned, nothing much has changed at the moment (apart from all the boxes everywhere, and there are no curtains on the windows any more). I still get to go on my walks every day, my humans still go to work, and we still have our playtime in the garden when they come home. My food is the same and my bed hasn’t been washed, which is great because I like to have my own scent around when things are changing.

HERE WE GO!

WOW! That’s a big truck parked right outside our house - and there are some strange men knocking at the door. They look very strong!

They’ve already started moving some of our furniture out, but my room and all my things are still right here beside me and they’ve kept the door shut all the time too - I expect they don’t want me under their feet or escaping out of the door! They’ve also left me with some treats inside my crate and my favourite Kong toy to play with - it’s normally got some more treats inside but it keeps me busy trying to get to them.

Ah! There’s that lady we met in that new park; recently, she has been taking me out for lovely walks with her German Shepherd, so we are now really good doggie friends.  I’ve stayed over at their place a few times too, so I’m used to spending a lot of time with them.  I hope I’m going to spend some time with them today - it’s a good way for me to get away from all this disruption.

Woof! Yes, here we go - I’m off to the park with my new mate! I hope those men keep all my things safe!

I KNEW IT!

I’ve had a lovely day with my new doggie pal; we chased each other around that new park and I had a sniff at all those trees again. Then we went back to my pooch pal’s house; I’m quite used to visiting them, and I have a little spot where I usually lie down for a nap. It’s not quite like my own bed but I’m used to it now and we both really need a snooze after all that chasing.

Here’s my human coming to the door - I can recognize that car noise anywhere! I know they’ll make a lot of fuss over me because I haven’t seen them since yesterday. I had a sleepover with my doggie pal last night and that was fine because somehow my favourite bed came here too, so I felt quite comfortable.

There’s a lot of chat going on and my human seems very excited but looks quite tired - I expect they’ve been busy. I wonder why we’re going in the car? I used to be quite nervous travelling in a car but my humans were very patient with me and taught me not to be anxious.  I see they’ve brought an ADAPTIL collar with them - I expect that’s for me, because they know it helps me to feel relaxed when there’s something different happening.

Here we go! Bye-bye doggie pal - thank you for having me, and see you soon in the park!

Hang on - that’s not my normal house, but I do recognize those curtains - and that’s the sofa I have a quick nap on when no-one’s around (I know I’m not supposed to!). And there’s my bed, and my bowl, and my toys - and WOW look at that garden, it’s HUGE! I’m going to have a great time out there and I know my humans will already have checked it out for any broken fences or open gates - just in case I try to get out.

My humans have let me have a sniff around so that I can explore our new home. It’s not bad, in fact I can see that all of our furniture has come too, but it's just in a different place now. The best thing is that I still feel quite relaxed; I’m still wearing my ADAPTIL on-the-go-collar and I noticed that my human has plugged the diffuser in my new room too - I think I’ll be OK here!

I’m really looking forward to exploring all the new walks around our new home. Us dogs can find moving quite stressful, but as long as we have all our things around us, everything smells the same and as long as our routine stays the same, I’ll be fine.

Note to human: have you remembered to register me with a new vet and registered my new address on my chip? If we’re moving, make sure you don’t forget!