Moving with elderly dog

[WorriedDogFriend]

Hello everyone!

My beautiful, smart and bossy border collie mix (rescue) is 12 years old. We adopted her when she was 7 months old and, since then, we've moved once and had children. We've also travelled a lot and stayed in multiple family and friend's houses. This is to say that she's been pretty resilient and has adapted pretty well to all the changes during these years.

For the first year with us, she had bad anxiety issues but we tackled them with the help of the rescue people and the vets, and she overcame them eventually.

The issue: we're moving to our new home in the next month. Hopefully we won't be moving again after this one! It's literally a 2 min walk from our current house, so same area and familiar to her. But I can't stop worrying that she will suffer with the change, at her age.

Has anyone of you moved house with an elderly dog? What has been your experience? What can I do to soften the change for her? What should I expect, in terms of changing behaviours, etc? When to worry?

Sorry, a lot of questions, I know. It's just that I love her very much and I want to make this easy for her.
TIA 🙏

I moved with a springer spaniel aged 13 from England to Wales. He was absolutely fine and I didn't do anything different. Springers are pretty much bomb proof though! I can see you are very sensitive to your dog's needs and I'm sure you and your lovely dog will be fine.

Aw, thank you very much for your words @Freysimo ! It's reassuring to know your experience: a part of me thinks my friend is tougher than me, so she'll adapt faster too!
I see her very settled in her routines and, for now, she's kept really healthy and want her to stay the same!
She is the same age that my childhood dog was when she passed, so there may be projection something about it too in my worries...
Thanks again!

I could almost have written this OP! We’ve got an 11 year old Norfolk terrier with a huge personality, but who has always been quite a needy little girl. We’re moving to another place we’ve been doing up for a while now. It’s about a mile away, slightly smaller but still with a garden. I sometimes get her a sedative from the vets for long journeys and I’m thinking I might get her some for the moving day and first night…. I don’t like doing it, but I’m hoping this and her regular routine will help her settle.

@Grandmaatthecottage thank you for your reply! I wish you a happy move🙏

You know what? I've considered sedatives a couple of times before, but never needed them in the end: this time, however, I might ask the vet about them! How do they affect them?
I don't know to deal with the moving day itself, with all the people going in and out, packing and all that: she'll be crazy!

My dog also has a huge personality but inside is a little sweet buddy. Aren't they lovely?
I smile thinking how we humans have ended bonding so much with this nicer and chatty version of our once worst enemy 😅

I have collies and I would not worry about it. Home is where you are, not the house. Try and keep feed/walk routine the same following the move.

Maybe take her on a regular walk over the next few weeks to the area of the new house,if it is 2 mins away make a change to your routine. Let her have a sniff around the road and the garden gate ( if that’s not too weird for you or you think the vendors will think you are a stalker 😁) - the doggie newspaper my neighbour calls it - so it becomes familiar. On the day of moving could you take her to a family member for the day and just bring her back towards to end of moving to sniff around the house and say a doggie farewell to all the doggie smells and places?
that’s what I would do anyway - hope the move goes well !

It’s easier if you can get them to be elsewhere at the very least for moving day and preferably the day after as well, the stressful bit for them is everything being moved really.

The last time I moved I had a foster dog with me, we did get the chance to take him for a couple of visits while we were doing things and that seemed to help a little bit.

But mostly they kind of go, you’re here, all the stuff is here, ok, we stay here now, without any real issues.

W@WorriedDogFriend Dogs are generally happy where their people are!
Don’t worry too much as dogs take lead from owner. ( If owner is stressy then dog thinks there is something to worry about)
Stay chilled :)

I used sedation as a last resort to make long journeys better as she doesn’t travel well, but actually loves holidays when we arrive. I was very tentative the first time but the vet assured me she would be fine. She just gets sleepy for a few hours which lets us get to a Welsh or Cornish campsite for holidays in our campervan. I only use a sedative once or maybe twice a year at the most. She’s had no ill effects all and she does have some health issues so I think it’s probably okay. Is there anyone you could leave your friend with for the moving day itself? I plan to pack mine a bag as if we were going overnight so I’ve got all her things ready even if we’re in complete chaos! Which we will be!!

Thank you all for your replies! Feeling very encouraged by them 🙏

@Sprig1 she thrives when we keep her routines, as a matter of fact, so thank you for your tip: obviously a great idea! Thanks to this lady I now will always have a soft spot for collies 😙

@Paperthin : you know what? I've been doing this - changing our route to pass by the new house - but I literally thought the other day "what are neighbours going to think, if they see me, several times a day, getting a dog to sniff the gates of this house, then turn back and go?" 🤣 But yep: that's what I've been doing! We're definitely going to sort out what to do on D day, because unfortunately, we have no family nearby. Yes to come back to say goodbye to the empty house 🥲

@tabulahrasa I certainly can see her with this attittude: "well, here's my bed, there my water and food bowls, my sheep humans, okay then, back to sleep" 😁

@oakleaffy you are very right, thank you, you've given me some perspective 😊

@Grandmaatthecottage thank you for the info about sedatives, apreciate it! Good idea the bag of essentials 😉 I wish us both a quick and easy moving day 🙏🍀

Hey everyone: we did it, we moved! It's very chaotic right now and my dear friend is a bit quiet... She hasn't been nervous or scared. She just seems tired... I hope that once we regain our routines, she will cheer up again. For now, we're living among boxes.

@Grandmaatthecottage how about you? Did you move already? Good luck!