Moving On

In a few weeks time there will be some big changes. We are making the move to the big city from the farm and I cant help but wonder how this is going to affect the every day life of Salvador. He has been living on the farm his whole life now and all the open space has turned him into a very active little guy. Having his friend Henry about and the luxury of lots of neighbors that adore him and take him for runs will be a thing of the past and unfortunately moving closer to the city means a much smaller area for him to play around in, but what are the alternatives? I can't even think of them so we are just going to take this head on and figure it out as we go along!

Many a dog has been abandoned or given to new owners because of moving issues. I think often one thinks it's cruel to take a farm dog into a new space that can be very confined, but I can't help but wonder if the stress of an owner leaving you behind is way worse than living in a smaller space.

Before I got Salvador, our previous neighbors moved form the farm into a much smaller place in the suburbs. Their two dogs stayed with us for 3 months while they were making the transition and those two went through some very traumatic times. The one started nipping and was extremely nervous all the time and the other appeared to be totally depressed (he was a young Jack Russel and was usually over excited about just everything) refusing to go for walks and ignoring games time, which he previously adored. Fortunately they went back to their owners after a few months.

In some cases leaving your dog with a reliable new owner for the sake of him/her staying in a big enough space to meet their needs is obviously the way to go. One can hardly take Scooby Doo or Beethoven to spend the rest of their days cramped into a tiny city apartment, especially if there's going to be no one at home most of the day!

I'm fortunate enough to only work half days and on some of those days Salvador can come to work with me. My boyfriend also works from home so on the alternative days someone will be home. My fitness regime will have to be bumped up as a lot more walks will be needed to expend the massive amount of energy packed into this small dog and we have already scouted the area to make sure there are dog friendly parks around for some free running and interaction with other dogs and people. With a little bit of extra effort I'm sure we are going to be just fine!