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Sticking to a Schedule During the Move

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Great Pyrenees

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

A Stuck Great Pyrenees

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The struggles of a Great Pyrenees who just won't change his routine.Great Pyrenees are typically more routine-driven than other breeds, but I’m not sure exactly why. Maybe it helps when they are livestock guardians? It would be easier to be a good guard dog if you knew exactly when things were going to happen, where your livestock is supposed to be, and how the day is going to go.

Mauja and Atka both get upset if their routine is changed, but Atka just can’t seem to handle it. I have never seen a dog get so stuck in a routine!

Here are a few things that happened recently that really upset Atka:

  • I had to wash his favorite blanket so it wasn’t in it’s usual spot. Atka stood by his spot and looked at the floor, looked at me, looked at the floor, looked at me, looked at the floor and then laid down staring at the blanket spot. When it was finally done in the dryer, I put it down and he immediately got up, took a step forward, turned around, and settled in for a nap.
  • Normally, our SUV is parked along the sidewalk rather than in the driveway and it’s always in the same place. Someone had parked there, so I had to park up two spots. Atka ran to the car that was in our usual spot (not even close to the same size) and stood there waiting for me to open the back for him to get in. It took several minutes and luring him with treats to get him to walk to our car.
  • Speaking of getting into the SUV – it used to be parked in our garage. Getting Atka to go out the front door after saying, “Do you want to go for a ride?” proved to be quite challening. He still wanted to go to the garage door.
  • We also normally come in the front door when we are out. Recently, the front door was locked, but the garage was wide open. I eventually had to go inside through the garage myself, unlock the front door, and let Atka in that way.
  • Atka always sleeps in the same spot every night. I thought I would move the cooling pad to that spot to keep him cool overnight. He stood there and stared at the cooling pad until I moved it out of his spot.
  • We used to have Mauja and Atka’s feeding spots separated by a baby gate. Eventually, I wanted to rearrange that room so I removed it and changed the eating arrangement. Atka went from his bowl being on the door side to it being on the back wall. For several weeks, Atka sat facing away from me while I put his food down behind him. It’s been months and I only have him sitting sideways at this point! We’ll see how long until he turns the entire way around.
  • We got a new water bowl – he refuses to drink out of it.
  • When I get home after being gone awhile, we always greet at the same spot – on the ottoman. If I don’t immediately go sit on the ottoman, he goes there and waits for me to come there. He won’t greet me unless I’m there!

The struggles of a Great Pyrenees who just won't change his routine.I’m sure there are many other things I can’t think of at the moment, but there’s a few things that show how Atka likes routine. Such a sweet, goofy boy 🙂

Does your dog get upset if you change the routine?