Howling Wolves

I was away for 6 weeks overseas , first time Ralph and I had been apart.

Ralph went from having me home majority of the day , to only seeing my husband in the morning and night , and then a lunch time outing 3-4 times a week with 2 trainer friends of mine.

He handled it all very well.

During this time Darren started packing our house up.

I arrive back , and within 4 days of having me back , we are on our way down to our new home.

The trip itself had a a few stressful moments for Ralph , but he got through them well and we started settling into our new home.

I tried to leave him at home alone in our new house last week after being there for just under a week and he howled and barked the house down. I had only gone a few houses down , so I drove back.

He wasn’t ready.

I took that reaction as information, that he needed more time to adjust to his new home.

Today , I trialed leaving him again , this time straight after an adventure walk , and he was fine.

Life changes for dogs can affect them in different ways.

A baby being born.

Moving to a new house.

Going away on holiday.

Adding a new dog into your home .

It can make us feel like we have gone back to square one with things , when in reality , they may just need more time to adjust or they may need certain needs met which we may not be realising.

I have had to go back in steps in terms of using a more confined safe space for him. I use this when I notice he isn’t settling around the house , or if visitors arrive or while I shoot out somewhere.

He isn’t being a bad dog.

He hasn’t forgotten everything he had learnt.

He is a dog that is working through 2 months of changes , and starting to adjust to his new home. While he is working it out , I’m here to give him a helping hand.