Sticking to a Schedule During the Move

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As you well know, things have been absolutely crazy for us recently. We just moved to Washington and almost immediately after getting the keys to our new home, we hit the road for BlogPaws.

In the past month, Mauja and Atka have been in 8 different hotels/homes. Talk about a lot! I can’t even begin to tell you how proud of them I’ve been. While they’re stressed and a bit clingy, we haven’t had any issues. No random snarkiness, no destruction, and no throwing up from stress (Mauja has done that a few times).

Atka still won’t let us leave him alone, but after we get our household goods and settle in for a week or two, we’ll begin to work on that. Their life has been far too hectic recently for me to expect him to be okay with us leaving. For now, Nick and I just take turns going places or the fluffies travel with us. Their schedule is completely thrown off!

Atka likes a schedule. He is the most routine-driven dog I have ever met. He clings to a schedule and gets visibly upset and confused when you attempt to change it on him. Moving his blanket five feet to the left from its normal spot is a huge no-no!

Being in 8 different ‘homes’, we really haven’t been able to give him the routine he prefers. However, we have tried to keep their overall schedule the same. I think this has really helped Mauja as well.

They still eat at the same times, we go outside at the same times, and they get their daily walk like they’re used to. Keeping all of these things the same has definitely helped them from going absolutely insane during all this travel!

While initially I was more worried about Mauja’s anxiety during the move, Atka has had the tougher time. Mauja is clingy and wants to be where we are, but we can leave the house without any issues. For the most part, she just sleeps all day.

Atka, however, has been much more stressed. He’s not quite as clingy when we’re home (although he does try to make sure he can always see us), but he absolutely will not let us leave him. Before we got the house keys, we were just hanging out in the backyard to pass time. I went out of the gate to grab something from the car and Atka lost it – barking, crying, and pawing at the gate. He was not a happy camper!

Moving and traveling with two giant breed dogs definitely hasn’t been easy, but I wouldn’t have it any other way <3