Summer plus road trip equals fun, right?
But when adding a huge puppy to the calculation it becomes more stressed than fun.
Like I insinuated in the last Throwback Picture Attack, we were traveling the last two weeks.
This was not a vacation per say. Arto was working the whole time, which left me on a puppysitting duty, which meant that I had no own time what so ever during daytime.
(we) actually thought that we had all the things figured out
We thought about getting a dog for a serious while and actually thought that we had all the things figured out. What we did not think about long enough was traveling (as simple trip as to my parents’ house). This would not be an issue, if our families were not allergic to dogs. We did not quite understand how much it takes to have a sleepover places for the puppy for a week.
Though, in our friends there are a lot of dog lovers. But a puppy that has not stayed with anyone else than us ever before and cannot be left alone for long periods of time, traveling becomes an issue.
Remu stayed in three different places during our stay in Helsinki. First night was okay, but I could tell the day after, that he got super careful and reserved when he with went to me to friends’ places, like he thought that I would just leave him in every new apartment that we went to. The second night at the same place Remu started realising that it was not just a one-night thing and started feeling insecure (I think) which showed by barking at every little noise.
In the other places, though he did not bark, Remu started to show that he is not happy staying away from us: biting everything. So thank you for all of you who took care of Remu and we are so sorry about the damage that he may have caused (bills can be sent to my email).
Finally, the night between Monday and Tuesday, we arrived back home. I have never seen Remu so happy.
Tips for the others traveling with a puppy:
- Hope that you can stay with your dog when traveling (if you can check this box no need to look further)
- Make sure your dogsitter knows that your dog is still a puppy and may cause some damage
- Make your dog feel at home in a place that he/she stays
- Let your dog get to know the sitter before leaving him/her alone with the sitter
- Hope that the sitter has time to play and stay with the dog before sleepover time
Cheers,
Saara
