For all the dogs who've touched our hearts

8 Tips to help your dog with change

Change is messy, difficult, and can be fun but is often challenging for our dogs. Here are 8 tips to help your dog deal with change.

We've moved!

In the last blog I was busy packing boxes while dreaming of a more relaxed life with Merlin and Bonnie, now we’re in and very happy with our new home. The change has been wonderful, we're so relaxed.

The move wasn’t however, without trouble and even though I did my best to plan, things still went wrong. I had to remind myself of tip number 7 - don’t expect perfection!

Different dogs, different capacity

All dogs are different. Breed, age, health, personality, experience, and socialisation impact on your dog’s capacity to deal with change.

Some dogs are ready to take on all manner of things, while others balk at the slightest change. If you have the first kind of dog - yay! - but if your's is more the "What the HECK!" variety don't despair, with planning and know-how you can get through it.

Understanding your own dog is key to effective change management, it'll help you anticipate the support they need.

Snuffy picks fights

Learning to speak and listen to “dog” is the most important skill to learn.

Years ago my husband and I went camping with our dog Snuffy. We spent two blissful weeks in the Australian forest, hiking, canoeing, swimming and when we returned to city life, Snuffy became depressed. He hid under the bed all day and picked fights with every large dog he met. Snuffy was a brilliant canine communicator, able to calm any dog, so this was really strange behaviour.

Pay attention to your dog's behaviour

Dogs will always show signs they aren’t faring well, starting with subtle signals like being a bit clingy to larger stuff like Snuffy's unexpected aggression. Take time to learn what anxiety and fear look like and support your dog if you see any changes in behaviour.

Happily Snuffy became his charming self again, all it took was time, space, love and attention. He needed reassurance that his normal life was good and we were still there for him. Don’t however, hesitate to talk to your vet or consult a professional dog trainer if you feel your dog’s response is prolonged or excessive.

You can find some resources on speaking dog at the bottom of this blog.

My Snuffy!

8 Tips to help your dogs with change

Here are 8 tips to make change easier for your dog, BUT remember it's always an individual experience.

1. Assess the change

Make a list of things that'll change for your dog and try to anticipate what'll be difficult.

For Merlin and Bonnie some things were: new smells, different house sounds, room layout, slippery floors, cows, horses and new birdlife with their own unique sounds.

Not everything will be difficult, some changes are for the better, so make a list of these too and see how they can make the change easier and perhaps even fun. For us it was walking around the property, fewer stairs (very helpful for Merlin’s back), a big shed for training, the large open grassed area, and an extra quiet neighbourhood.

2. Reduce the size of change

What can you do to break the change into smaller parts? This is dog training 101 – reduce your criteria!

We didn't have to move in straight away, so I brought Merlin and Bonnie over to visit. We walked around the property and hung out in the house. They loved sticking their noses in all the places, and at the end of the day they returned to the familiarity of their old home.

If you can’t get into the new house early, you can visit the neighbourhood. Go for a drive, take them for a walk, this is an easy way of introducing some experience of the coming change. We did this before we took ownership of the house.

The impact of other kinds of change can be reduced with the same approach. For example, if expecting a baby, prepare the nursery and get your dog used to any new furniture, routines or expectations before the baby arrives.

A note on leaving your dog alone in a new home

Allow some time in the new place with your dog before you leave them. Even if they were fine being left before, don't assume they will be now. It may take a bit of time and gradual exposure to you leaving, for your dog to relearn it's safe.

3. Create positive experiences

Give your dog lots of fun things while the change is happening. Bonnie and Merlin got to run, play and explore; they were fed, talked to and cuddled all while visiting the new place.

Snuffy came from the dog shelter with a “Not with kids” warning, but he was still around when we had our son Lachie. One of the things that turned him from a kid hater to a kid lover (apart from EXCELLENT supervision) was scavenging Lachie’s food scraps from under his highchair and going for extra-long walks with the pram.

Good experiences build good associations. Use your list of good changes, and other things your dog loves, to build these.

Exploring our new place together

4. Add familiar things

When things change, having something familiar to anchor you is a godsend. For me it was our oversized comfy sofa, for Merlin and Bonnie it was their beds, toys, food bowls and, of course, us.

During the pre-move visits, I brought beds and toys for Merlin and Bonnie to settle with while I was cleaning. If your dogs love their crates, a crate can be handy too.

Of course, a much-loved friend is a wonderful familiar thing! If you have human or doggy friends who are beloved by your pooches, invite them over.

5. Helping hands and other aids

It’s amazing the difference a helping hand can make, so if someone offers to help say yes! They may look after your dog, help unpack boxes or simply lend moral support. Reducing your workload, whatever the change, lets you spend more time with your dog and they'll need that during a big change.

My mother and her partner John came to help, they were wonderful and made the change fun, plus my dogs love them.

Natural calming aids

Calming aids can be useful for many dogs. My vet swears by Adaptil, a synthetic pheromone released by mother dog after giving birth to puppies. Research shows it has a calming effect on many dogs.

There's a range of potentially helpful calming aids on the market, but before you buy one do some research, talk to your vet and try it on your dog before the change to gauge the effect. Here’s a useful article to get you started.

Prescription calming aids

If your dog is very nervous or has serious behavioural issues, consider talking to your vet about prescription medicine. There's a variety of medicines that your dog can take on a temporary or longer-term basis.

Once again start the process early, many of these medications take months to work effectively and often require fine-tuning to find the right dosage.

Mum and John laughing when Merlin stole my husband's spot on the sofa!

6. Management and training

A week after we moved in Bonnie became very sick. She developed haemorrhagic gastro-enteritis and was nearly hospitalised. There was a heart-stopping moment when I found pellets of rat bait at the back of a cupboard, but thankfully she didn’t have the terrible symptoms associated with the poison. I thought the cupboard had been checked, but unfortunately these few pellets were missed during cleaning.

When your life is changing what are the potential hazards for a dog? Think about toxic plants, dangerous foods, things they can jump or fall off, floors that are too slippery or that can catch their claws. Can gates be left open? Is the fencing adequate? Are there snakes, spiders or other dangerous creatures? Are there things lying around that a dog may eat? Are there sounds that'll scare your dog? All of these and more are potential hazards to your dog.

Use management to ensure your dog is safe during times of change. Baby gates, play pens, temporary fencing and leads all help to keep a dog secure. It’s best to err on the side of safety than trust your dog will behave in their usual way.

7. Don't expect perfection

As much as you might try you can’t plan for everything, things will go wrong, expecting perfection will cause extra stress. Try to be adaptable and forgive yourself any errors.

Keeping your own stress as low as possible is very important for your dog. They rely on you to set the tone of their world and need you to be their guide and anchor. Look after yourself. You are important for your dog.

Merlin snuggled in his bed while I cleaned the new house. Familiar things can help a dog cope with change.

8. Patience

Change, even delightful ones, throw us off centre. Your dog may not behave in their normal way, they may begin to growl at other dogs like Snuffy did, be extra clingy or are simply not themselves. Use the above tips to reduce the impact of the change but sometimes they'll need a little time to learn their world is safe.

Contact a positive reinforcement-based dog trainer for help if you think it’s needed.