Thousands of people move every year with their pets, yet
many people choose to drop their animals off at the local animal shelter
instead of taking them with them. Why? Most people in this situation are not
ready to handle the needs of a pet that is going through the moving process. We
aren't the only ones that feel stress during this event, but if you know what
to look for, and you know how to approach things, moving with your animal isn't
the problem that you might be expecting it to be. Here are some ways that you
can save yourself the heartache of having to give your animal up when you need
to relocate to a new home.
Plan Ahead
If you know you are moving, take a moment to plan ahead.
Contact your new neighborhood or city and find out what the laws are regarding
the pets that you have. Find out if your pets will need certain shots before
you bring them into the area. Look into vets that operate in the area and visit
your old vet to get a copy of all medical records that your pets may have.
Finally, consider how you will move them; by air, car, or specialty pet moving
service. If you will be hiring a company to help, start looking for that
company now so that you know it is taken care of when things start to get more
hectic.
Maintain a Schedule
Your pets thrive on the fact that you feed them at the same
time each day. They thrive on the exercise that you give them every afternoon.
They do well because they know what to expect. For this reason, it is important
that you stick to the schedule that you have set up throughout the moving
process. This can be difficult, especially as moving day gets closer, but the
closer you stick to normality for your pets, the less misbehavior you will have
to deal with.
Pets deal with stress differently than
humans because they cannot tell us that they are stressed or worried. They
might act up, regress to bad behavior you thought they had grown out of, or act
in ways you have not ever seen before. To avoid these behaviors as much as
possible, do what you can to maintain their daily schedule.
Give Them Love
Just like your kids, your pets will need some of your time
throughout this troubling event. It is a good idea to spend a bit of extra time
playing with them or simply petting them to ease their minds. Consider leaving
an old shirt with them if you will be shipping them by air or a specialty pet
moving company. This will help them connect with the most familiar part of
their lives; you. Don't let them get away with things because they are stressed
though; bad behavior might happen, but you should treat it just as you would
any other poor behavior. Sending them mixed signals and not paying them the
attention that they need and deserve will only serve to undermine all of the
training and work you've put into your lives together.
Moving Made Easy
Moving with your pets doesn't have to be an impossible to
overcome task. Ultimately, it will take a bit of extra time and effort to
accomplish a move with your animals, but if you approach it from the right
direction, with these things in mind, you will be able to make it through the
process without the stress or trouble that you might have originally been
expecting.
Moving can be difficult. With over twenty years of
experience, the author of this article, Missie Morrison, has worked hard to
gather resources and find consumers the best moving estimates no matter what kind of move
they are trying to complete.
