Moving, how to I help our dog adjust?
 

Mr. Kipper and I bought a house, and we close on October 31. Cobaka tends to get very anxious when she sees the suitcases come out, and I think she's afraid that we're going to leave her and not come back. How do I help her adjust/deal with:

1. All of the boxes and everything getting packed?
2. The new house?
3. The neighbor's black lab? Although, I think they'll get along wonderfully!
4. The new yard? She has set places to go to the bathroom where we are now, and doesn't like not going there.

Thanks!

You could let Cobaka carry the check to the closing table... that way she feels like a part owner.... :D

A client asked me to look for some information on how to help her Cats adjust to a move so I found this article which may help Kipper's Dog from About.com:

http://moving.about.com/od/movingwit...oving_dogs.htm

Good luck with hte move and let us know how the cross country trip went. Maybe a trip report?

My dog didnt mind the packing as long as her bed, bowl etc remained the same. However she didnt like to see the items leaving my apartment. Maybe you could get someone to take care of the dog away from the house as the movers come.

I moved across the atlantic with my dog and she had no problem adjusting to a new yard with new places to go to the bathroom. I did give her more time to get things done at first because she was interested in finding just the right spot.

As far as the new place is concerned, again offer the familiar dog bed and bowls immediately so they feel like home. Let your dog explore the house. Dont make them go all over the house if they dont want to. They will show you their comfort level.

:D It will be a year on Sunday since we adopted her, and when I started discussing presents for her birthday, Mr. Kipper said, "She doesn't need any other presents! She's getting a house for her birthday!"
It's not cross country, just about 11 miles away. :) I've been trying to explain to her that the packing is because we're moving, but she's coming with us, and will have more of a yard, and a neighbor dog who is actually friendly as a playmate.
I figured we'd leave all of the interior doors open for her for a few days so she can explore. Thanks for the tip about familiar objects! She's crate trained, so we'll set-up her crate immediately, so she can have that for the familiarity.

I thought I'd give an update--she's adjusted wonderfully to the house, although she's still getting used to the hard wood floors, since the apartment had carpeting.

She did get very anxious when we started carrying boxes and such out of the apartment, but I think it helped that her grandparents came to help with the move. She's started just staying in our room while we're at work, rather than "her room" or her crate.

Mr. Kipper brought her to the walk-through on the 30th, and when we headed to the office for closing, she came with us in the car. Since it was cool, we left the windows down part of the way, and I was going to go out and check on her regularly. The president of the company was going to handle our closing, and when her assistant found out we had Cobaka in the car, she insisted that we bring her into the office and that she sit through closing with her. So, while Cobaka didn't have to do anything but look cute, she was at the closing table with us! :D

See, pets are so darn expensive. The dog doesn't even contribute to the down payment! :D

:D Her birthday was in the middle of the month, so Mr. Kipper joked that the house was her birthday present.