Moving home: Helping your pet get used to new surroundings

They say that moving home is one of the most stressful things we can do. For our pets, it must be a confusing time as they may not understand what’s happening.

There’s lots of advice available online, much of it tends to focus around offering a dedicated safe space with familiar smells - maybe a blanket. With a little patience they will get used to their new surroundings and explore on their own.

Much like people, all pets are different, my son’s dog went to the new house, spent a few minutes having a sniff around the house, had a poo in the back garden, and that was it, he was home. :rofl:

From personal experience, I would add, (if you can) avoid taking your pet to the new house on moving day. The last thing you want whilst carrying boxes upstairs is an inquisitive Bichon getting under your feet.

  • When you last moved, how did your pet handle it?
  • Do you recommend anything in particular to support our furry friends?

Finally, a quick reminder for Pet Parents to update your listing and Welcome Guide with the details of your new property - we also recommend mentioning that you’ve moved as old reviews may describe your previous property.

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When I bought another house my two cats were 9 years old and it was 8 hours from my first house. I was lucky that I didn’t need to sell my first home first so I owned two houses for a few months. I set up the new house to have the same tall cat tress that were in the first house by a window that opens because they loved smelling the outside. I set up bird feeders in front of the windows. I had an enclosed outside area called a cat enclosure in my first house. My 2nd house had more land so I had one built outside that was even larger. When everything was ready for them I moved them in. Still an adjustment for them but I tried to make it as comfortable as it could be. They eventually came to love all the new space.

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When we’ve moved locally before, we took our dog through the new house as soon as the real estate agent gave us the keys. We let him run around and explore, and each time we went to get internet hooked up and otherwise prep the house, we brought him over, so he could get used to it.

When we moved across country, we packed up his doughnut bed, toys and such with us in our RV, so we were able to unpack them as soon as we arrived. That way, he could start feeling at home right away. And of course, we explored the neighborhood with him.

He adapts quickly anyway — he enjoys road trips and especially loves hotels — as soon as we get to one, he’s excited to run in and sniff all over our room. He does that and then quickly claims the best spot, whether there’s a view, a fireplace or whatever. That actually makes us laugh. He might have been a bon vivant in a previous life. :joy: He’s been across the country a bunch of times, has been more of a tourist than many people.

Below, he was exploring one of our homes when we first got the keys. He loved running laps on the double entry staircase and we let him relax on the deck.

BTW, we have movers bring our stuff. One of us stays with him in our RV while they’re unloading and/or we keep one room free for our dog to stay in. When the room has glass doors, we’ve found that covering them up helps to limit his barking, because he can’t see people moving back and forth. We keep him in with his doughnut, toys and water bowl. And one of us tends to stay with him, which works when you’re a telecommuter anyway.

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@SeniorSitter1 It’s so lovely you were able to do that. No wonder they loved it. :heart:

@Maggie8K I love that blurred photo.

I can almost hear him excitedly thinking “what’s up here!!”
…and, what a beautiful garden too! I bet he still loves to run laps of that too.

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When we moved the last time, our dog did have somewhat of an separation anxiety, it seemed like she was afraid that we would dump here there when we were going out. Luckily it was just before Christmas, so we were home a lot the first time.

I had been quite negative to sprays/ diffusers like Adaptil, Feliway etc (synthetic feromones, I think it is supposed to mimick the feromones of the mum). I was more like «yeah, it will at least calm down the owner». :grin:. But as I went with a friend to bring home a puppy with quite a distance, I had seen that it seemed to work. So I got a diffuser at the pet store. It seemed to work well with our dog. We got a second one as the first was all used, and after that it was just fine. So for some that could be an option to consider. It will probably not work on behavioral issues, but could ease some moving stress. You should be aware, though, that my friend thought that she too was kind of sleepy when they used it in their home. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

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Along similar lines, maybe get some CBD oil or pills to help a dog relax during a move?

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