who put up the fence before the furniture got unloaded!Arrive in the new home with the major stuff (furniture)
Question:
The canine guys in my life will be so thrilled soon. Right now we live in a townhouse with a 20X20 fenced backyard. We are moving to a house on three acres of landscaped land in two weeks. It isn't fenced, so the boys will need to be tied but we plan to put up a clothesline just for the dogs. That will give them about a 100 ft run. Angus has lived in this house since he was born and Luke since he was a young pup, is there anything I can do that would ease the transition? I can't take them out there to visit the new house before the move. They are renovating it now and we don't get the keys until the evening before the move.
Answer:
Congratulations on your new house. To repeat what other people have said,
please get a fence up. It will make your life much easier. The cheapest
type, which I have put up, is one made of stock fence (square mesh) and
metal posts. Two people can put one of these types of fences up easily.
One person can do it, I have, but it is more difficult. When your finances
recover from buying the house, you can put in a more solid wood fence. I am
not suggesting fencing the whole yard, just a place for the dogs. My
Staceydog had to put up with a little dog run on the side of the house for 8
months, until we could afford a wood fence in the back. The dog run was 4'
chainlink, with 3' stock fence wired to the top rail, because she is a great
fence jumper. It kept her in and safe. Looked like hell, but we were able
to put it up in an afternoon. For your permanent fenced area, consider
whichever part of your lot is away from the road. This way the dogs will
have less to bark at, and passerby can't bother them.
The first thing you need to do is get some ID tags for them with their new
address and a valid phone number. I know it takes a while to get a phone;
maybe their new tags could have the # of a friend or relative, or a yuppie
phone. These tags might just be temporary, until you get a permanent home
phone. Make sure their vaccinations (especially rabies) are up to date, and
their licenses FOR THE AREA YOU WILL BE LIVING IN are current. If you can
show people you are trying to be responsible for your dogs, you will receive
more help if they go missing.
Your dogs will adjust better than you will. I was a wreck for 2 months when
we bought our house. When you get there, start a routine of walking the
dogs everyday. Helps them learn the neighborhood, helps the neighbors
recognize them and will reduce your stress. If your dogs are friendly,
bring little doggie treats and have the people you meet on your walks give
them treats. I practice most of what I preach: I walk Stacey every day, and
get up at 4:45 AM on workdays to do so. I don't let her talk to other
people because she is fearful on leash. She also has 4 types of ID tags on
her: shelter tag, rabies, license, our home and phone, and she is chipped.
I would try to not have the dogs present when things are being
delivered. That is an extremely stressful activity. It involves
lots of noise, strangers and commotion. If there is ever
a likely time for a dog bite, this is it. The very best
situation for your dogs, if possible, is for them to arrive
in the new home with the major stuff (furniture) already in
place and for you to have nothing immediate to worry about.
That will allow you to have the relaxed and casual attitude
that will make the move as easy on your dogs as it can be.
If you have friends or relatives the dogs have stayed with
before and are comfortable with that would be ideal. Let
them stay in a stable familiar setting and avoid the most
stressful and disruptive activities. Sorry, but the best
thing for your dogs is for you to have to suffer the
stresses and worries of moving in without them .
-Shadow got to see the movers pack up our old house, then he drove with me
across the country. We got to the new house that he'd never seen before (and
that I had a hard time finding in the dark) and that was pretty much barren
of furniture, and I let him loose. My husband was sleeping, but he left the
door unlocked for us, since I had called and told him that I didn't want to
spend another night in a hotel.
Shadow found my husband, woke him up, and all was right with the world
again. He did fine dealing with the movers, and seemed excited when he saw
the old furniture moving into the new house. He was absolutely overjoyed at
having a larger house and a larger yard, and the change in altitude affected
me a lot more than it did him. The change of place didn't bother him nearly
as much as when my husband disappeared for those three months.
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