How can I make a long separation from me a bit easier for my dog?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

As some of you may remember, I am planning on spending a little over a month in Spain this summer. There’s just one major problem (despite trying to fit all my clothes and shoes into the suitcases :smiley: )- My dog and I are very, very attached. Every morning, she lies in wait (sometimes for hours) outside my bedroom door, straining her ears for the slightest sound that might indicate that I am awake. That’s just one of the many examples of her devotion, and I am equally devoted to her. This dog misses me when I go to school; what will happen when I’m gone for a month? :frowning:

I can’t really explain to her that I will be back. She’s seen suitcases before, and knows that after seeing them, we go away and come back, but none of us has ever been gone for this long before. I was thinking of maybe starting to wear a light perfume that she can associate with me, and leaving it behind for my parents to spritz about the house while I am gone, and sleeping with some old towels during the few weeks before I leave so as to get my scent on them for her.

I’ve started asking this now so that if I need some time for her to be able to associate something new with me, we’ll have months. Do you all have any ideas of what I can do to make the parting a bit easier for her? :confused:

~ monica

#2

Gosh, I don’t think anything will help. Wouldn’t spreading scent simply make them doubt their noses? Sorry for your pup! But only a month… wow, sure will be a happy reunion!

#3

I have the same type of relationship with my dog. And I do a lot of traveling–sometimes for extended periods.

I haven’t found any good way of easing the transition. The only thing which I think helps is when I leave him with my mom (which I do for trips over four or five days) instead of dropping him off at the kennel. He’s used to her and her house so there’s no kennel-shock for me to worry about. Another thing I do whenever I leave is to slather him with love so that he (hopefully) knows that me leaving isn’t a punishment.

#4

Heh. I nearly cried this summer when I went away for five weeks, when I had to say goodbye to my dog. She sleeps on the foot of my bed (in theory, she stays on the foot of my bed, that is…) and she’s the cutest doggie ever. If I’m leaving and the family will be home, I shower her with utter love for about a week before, and instruct the fam to leave my door open and give the NinjaPooch free access to my room.

If no one’s going to be home, and we need to leave her in a kennel (sob!) I’ll usually send her with an old T-shirt of mine. Wear it around the house for a day or two, DON’T wash it, and pack it with some of her favorite chew toys. Don’t know if it really helps that much, but it at least slightly lessens the guilt for me.

#5

Aw, that’s so sad…

#6

I went to a house yesterday where the owners were on vacation for a month & left their small poodle with a house sitter. Well, it barked for 20 minutes at me so I found its little box of treats & gave it some treats & it stopped barking & started being all friendly. So, be sure their favorite box of treats is available with the pet sitter.

#7

A blanket that you can play with and she can sleep on is a good one.

It takes a couple of days for a dog to get acclimated to their owners being gone. Our dog cannot go to a kennel because she barks non stop and ends up getting sick which becomes more money in vet bills that the kennel stay costs.

so our neighbors ( with three dogs that are my dogs best friends) watch Murph for us. She usually is clingy the first day and after than, settles into a routine.

#8

start beating the dog about a week before you leave. She’ll be glad to see you go. Just kidding. Go out the bedroom window on your way to the airport. She’ll be outside the bedroom door when you get back. Just kidding. Enjoy Spain. She’ll forget about you after a day until she sees you again.start beating thedog

#9

Moderator’s note:

Knock it off, ant. What you posted was not only stupid but geared toward getting a negative reaction. We consider that trolling, and it’s a bannable offense.

You got a reaction, all right. Consider this a formal warning, ant. Make one more wrong move and you’re outta here.

TVeblen,
for the SDMB

#10

I had a situation like this with my parrot last summer-- I was going away from 7 weeks and the bird’s really bonded. Adaptable animal, he switched loyalty over to my husband after about 4 days, and then back when I returned, after throwing a hissy fit at me.