Find out how to help your dog feel more at home and relaxed in a new property with easy tips and tricks.
It is true that dogs tend to cope better than a lot of pets when it comes to settling into a new property. They aren’t territorial in the same way that cats are, so it’s less of a challenge getting them to adapt to a new environment.
However, it is important to remember that any animal can get stressed just like we can get stressed. Making the effort to give them a smooth house move transition is important if you want to avoid them getting anxious, and even having accidents during the move. Some dogs can even change temperament for a time if they find a house particularly stressful.
For your dog’s sake, and your family’s sake, it really is worth putting the time and effort into keeping your dog happy when you move home.
To help you help your favourite pooch adapt to your house move, we’ve got some handy tips and tricks for you. Here’s had to keep your pup calm and happy in your new property:
The Bit Before You Move Matters
Everything that happens before the move is an important contributory factor to your dogs well-being. A manic and stressful preparation period can be the starting point for pooch anxiety, so you’ll need to start thinking about your dog’s well-being as soon as you know you are moving.
If you can, try to keep any stressful conversations away from the dog in the same way that you would keep them away from the children. Even though your words might not be understood, your tones are an indicator of how you’re feeling and if your animal senses you feeling stressed and anxious then he will respond to that.
You will also want to be particularly aware of your dog when you are dealing with the items in the home. Every item in your home your dog has sniffed out and gotten used to it. Those items provide him with comfort. So if those items are quickly disappearing and being moved around he’s going to probably find that a bit stressful. Using a cheap self storage unit from to slowly move items out of a home is really helpful if your dog is prone to stress. Rather than everything disappearing at once, it slowly gets placed in cheap self storage so it isn’t such a shock for your pet.
What you can also do is provide him with his own safe space where nothing will change until it has to. This will give him the security he needs to know that there is at least one area of security for him.
Lastly, do keep your dogs schedule exactly the same regardless of what is going on throughout the move. That will help him feel more secure and less out of sorts.
Keep Pooch In Mind On Moving Day
On the day that you move it is important to keep your dogs emotions in mind. He is likely to be happy as long as your family is happy and will adapt to any new space easily. However, if you know it will be particularly manic on the day of moving it could be worth leaving him in a kennel for a couple of days, or with a trusted family friend.
Make Him Secure At His New Home
As soon as you get to your new home you should be able to get the dogs toys, blankets, and other accessories straight out so that there are ‘safe’ items in this unfamiliar space.
Let your dog know where they will be sleeping and going to the toilet so that they can quickly settle in. It is also important to allow them time to adjust.
When it comes to your local area, if you normally walk your dog without a lead then it is worth keeping them on a lead whilst you show them around the new area. Slowly walk them on different streets and give them different views to ensure that they have time to get to know all the new sights. This is especially important if there are any dogs living on your road and your pet is particularly nervous or aware of other animals. It only takes one bad experience with a dog locally and you could have a much bigger issue on your hands.
Your Dog Will Love His New Home With You
Dogs are naturally attached to people rather than spaces so adapting them to a new area and property is going to be less challenging than with other types of animals like cats. However you do still need to keep their needs in mind and be patient with them. This is a big change for them to and with the right consideration you can all be one big happy family together in your new house.
