Relocating with pets; which approach to take?

Moving is definitely one time and energy-consuming process. The level of difficulty that awaits you depends on many factors. For example. whether you have children, how many items you have, do you have antique and fragile items, and, very often, if you have pets. Since items are items, but children and animals are living beings that are your responsibility and not of your professional movers, relocating with pets represents a big problem sometimes. Why? Well, because you never know how your pet might react to the entire moving process if you do not pay attention. Because of this, it is important to know what are the possibilities and what to do in order to make everything easier for both of you. Here is the approach you should take.

Why can relocating with pets be so demanding and difficult?

This is not something that is a rule. Your pet, be it a cat, dog, parrot, or any other animal, might react just fine. You can be lucky and have no problem at all. If you have a turtle, rabbit, a small bird, or fish, you probably will not have any difficulties besides making sure that your pet does not break loose. On the other hand, puppies and cats usually react one way or another. Therefore, we will be giving you advice regarding them. Make sure that you read this guide properly and while paying attention. Keep in mind the following behaviors and situations that are very common for pets. 

Every dog lover knows the difference between a puppy and a kitty. The same goes for cat lovers. If you do not have experience with either of these animals, this guide is necessary for you. Dogs are very rarely, almost never aggressive when they react to a relocation or a new environment. They might be curious, cautious, even scared, or throw tantrums. Cats, on the other hand, can be tricky. It is not rare to see a cat hissing your way or even scratching its way out of danger. Therefore, first, you must know these animals and their tendencies before you decide to act. 

Their tendencies, and their safety

Dogs are mostly friendly animals and, depending on the breed, or mix, they can have certain specific traits. An aggressive dog is usually the product of a bad owner and, therefore, that kind of behavior is not something you can expect from your puppy. If something similar to aggression does happen, ask yourself how you may have triggered it and which one of your mistakes in training has led to this point. As previously mentioned, they are mostly friendly but you should know that, just like any animal, even a human, if a dog feels threatened, it will growl and, possibly, bite. On the other hand, cats like to have their space and are prone to aggressive behaviors when they feel as if someone is entering their personal space without reason. Therefore, if you are relying on packing services, your movers might want to leave your cat’s things alone.

Unless your dog is used to having people around and will find the moving process exciting, avoid scaring it with heavy objects being carried all around its space. The same applies to cats. For example, your piano movers will need space to work and you should keep your pets somewhere away from the entire process. Also, it is much safer for your animals to be somewhere else. Heavy objects can always fall and the safety of your dog and cat is your responsibility. Keep this in mind and do not leave things to chance. Cats like to jump from one thing to another so keeping them somewhere else is wise. All in all, it is much better to keep your sweetheart away from the commotion.

How might they react to the new environment?

Dogs can have various behaviors in their new home and cats are not much different. They might accept it right away but they can also have some very unpleasant new moments that you might want to look out for or even prevent. Here is what can always happen:

• Your pup might be obviously sad, scared, uncommonly unfriendly, or show other emotions. Try and keep your pup happy. Cats can be very curious and extremely cautious in the beginning.
• Peeing around the new house can often occur as both a tantrum or a way of accepting it and marking the territory. You should not allow it either way.
• Your dog might even ask for more attention or bark more often. Cats can go both ways.
• WHen relocating with pets, pretty much any behavior that is different from the usual one is something you should watch out for.

What can you do?

Regardless of whether you have a cat or a dog, you should try and spend more time with your pet inside of your new home. They will need time to adjust and you should give it to them. They need to feel safe and understand that this will be their new home from now on. With your help, they just might. Keeping old habits is the golden rule you should follow. Still, adding some new ones would only be in the spirit of the new home so try that as well. For cats, you should give them their space at first, let them explore the new grounds. Puppies, not so much, you should be with them almost always until they get used to the new rooms and smells. All in all, enough attention but keep your ground and attitude. You do not want to encourage any unacceptable behaviors.

When relocating with pets, you will want to consider all of this

As you can see, relocating with pets is not something that has strict rules you should follow. The only ones that are mandatory, and logical, are the ones that keep your pets physically safe. When it comes to their behaviors and similar, you will have to rely on patterns, experiences others may have had, and yourself. Calling the right movers will help you out a lot because you will not have to handle everything on your own. All in all, be cautious and love your pets even more than before. We wish you good luck.