Back in January, Sean and I put in an offer on a house just across town from our apartment — and it got accepted! The next months were a complete whirlwind of waiting for the closing, getting engaged, having the closing moved and almost canceled (let’s not relive that part), getting the keys to start a bunch of renovations, and finally moving in.
Here are all the details of how we helped Scout through the stress of the move!
We really did enjoy apartment life
First things first: Apartment life was good for us in many ways. I mean it! We’ve previously talked about how we handled a cattle dog in an apartment in this blog. Here were some positive side effects of starting out that way:
- All of Scout’s bathroom breaks were on leash. So many built-in opportunities to hone our leash manners!
- She learned to drag a leash or long line during play without being bothered by it. I’m really happy she can both have fun and relax in any of her gear, and that she doesn’t act differently when naked vs wearing a tool.
- Every time she was outside, I was with her. I could always gauge how she responded to various stimuli, give feedback on her behavior, and help her through challenging moments.
- It pushed me to be intentional about our outings. (It also got me outside more, which was a bonus.)
- I could track every time she used the bathroom and easily stay on top of her health.
But the idea of a house — and yard! — was exciting too
Even though we enjoyed apartment life, we were still pretty psyched to have a house of our own. So many more opportunities for easy outdoor time and fulfilling play!
We had the privilege of getting access to our house a few months before we officially had to move. This was perfect for two reasons:
- The house needed a lot of work before we felt it would be comfortably livable for us.
- The extended timeline allowed us to ease Scout into the new space.
How we prepared our dog before move-in day
We took full advantage of the time between closing on our house and actually having to leave our apartment. Here’s what that looked like in terms of setting Scout up for success!
- The first time we brought her to the new house, we hid food throughout the rooms for her to find. She was able to explore at her own pace and have an initial good experience.
- We also played right away, as soon as she was comfortable after an initial walkthrough of the environment.
- We often spent weekends at the house doing work. Scout would come with us and just hang out for extended periods of time — the perfect settling practice. We brought her travel dog mat with us in case we needed to fall back on her place command, but we mostly just let her make decisions and gave feedback if necessary.
- We supervised her time in the yard to ensure her safety and see how she’d handle being off leash in the space.
- She got to meet a few neighbors — and we took the early opportunity to explain that she is uncomfortale around new dogs to make future walks easier.
- Did I mention we played a lot?
- We also made sure she got a lot of rest (usually in dedicated crate time) throughout these weeks. With the added stress, it was extra important she slept enough!
Ultimately, we brought her with us as much as we could to let her adjust to the new space — and we tried to be thoughtful about making her early experiences good ones.
How we handled the chaos on move-in day
When move-in day finally arrived, we kept Scout in our apartment as long as possible. She watched while we finished packing and loaded everything into our moving truck — and then she got to head on over with us! Sean drove the U-Haul while I brought Scout in my car so we didn’t add an unfamiliar vehicle experience on top of everything else.
Once we arrived at the house, we let Scout hang out as we unpacked. We monitored her closely in case she needed help diffusing anxiety or making good decisions, which would have been completely normal. I had her crate set up right away in case she needed to go away to her safe space.
To our surprise and pleasure, our cattle dog was actually able to handle liberty the whole time! She was definitely a little antsy and on edge — but taking breaks to play (and ensuring she had quiet places to go rest if she wanted) made a huge difference.
How we approached the first few days after moving
The first few weeks of living in our new house were almost as chaotic as the ones we spent preparing to move. Many things still weren’t done — none of the rooms had doors, we still had painting to finish, etc. — and neither Sean nor I were feeling completely comfortable.
Given the situation, we were prepared for Scout’s behavior to regress in some ways. I expected that she might struggle more when being left alone (something we worked through when we first adopted her), alert bark with greater frequency, and feel less confident overall.
To be proactive about the stress we knew the move was causing her, we:
- Gave her lots of rest time in a dark, quiet covered crate.
- Prioritized extra biological fulfillment and play! We utilized enrichment feeders, gave her raw bones, and made full use of the yard for fetch.
- Didn’t leave the house right away and instead allowed her to decompress on her own property before exploring a bunch of other areas.
- Made sure we humans were on the same page to address any issues.
- Were prepared to provide extra structure (additional crate time, place command, etc.) if it seemed like Scout needed it.
All in all, I wanted to make sure that our dog was 1) physically healthy and 2) getting what she needed to feel fulfilled. Everything else would fall into place — no need to rush things!
How we started exploring our new neighborhood
Once we had settled into the house itself more, we started venturing into our neighborhood. Since Scout’s dog reactivity started after getting attacked on a walk, I’ve been extra conscious of the risk of off-leash dogs in new areas. Here’s how we played it safe in the beginning:
- I went on a few walks by myself — without Scout — to get a read on what the neighborhood was like.
- Sean and I took Scout on her first few walks together so it would be easier to advocate for her. This was a good call — on our very first morning walk an off-leash dog ran out of its yard at us, and it was much less stressful to keep it away with an extra set of hands.
- As time went on and we got to know the houses and general patterns better, we both felt comfortable taking Scout out on our own.
We also realized that Scout might be overwhelmed in the new area. Confidence in unfamiliar environments is something she’s struggled with since we adopted her. To help her adjust, we:
- Kept our first walks short and sweet, paying attention to if she seemed overwhelmed.
- Had her on her harness, which she is allowed to pull into. We didn’t worry about leash manners — we just wanted her to get used to the neighborhood!
- Didn’t ask for any obedience from her and let her take things at her own pace.
- Initiated play out and about as much as possible.
How we knew our dog was comfortable in her new space
As time went on, “the house” started to feel like “home”. Scout honestly settled in more quickly than I was expecting — and I’m glad we prioritized making it easier on her.
I felt confident that she was comfortable in her our new space when she:
- Settled easily at liberty
- Rarely alert barked at noises from outside
- Stayed quiet in her crate while we left and returned home
- Started sniffing on walks and engaging with the environment
- Regularly initiated play on her own!
Life changes can be stressful — but so worth it
Nothing is ever a fully smooth process. Big life events inherently carry some stress! But when we come through them as a team, take steps to set everyone up for success, and get to dive into a new chapter — together — it’s so worth it.
Plus, moving from our apartment into our house was a lot less chaotic than moving from Wisconsin to Florida in the first place… so I have no complaints 😂
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