[Bonnie33]

Hello everyone

My parents have a senior labrador (11 yrs old) named Bonnie who we got when I was a teenager and she has always sort of been "my" dog but since I moved out into a town house I was never able to take her with me and she has stayed with them. Bonnie grew up with their other dog who is also very old now.

I am now moving about 12 hours away to a place that is suitable for dogs and wondering if I should bring her with me or get a puppy instead. The only problem is I'm wondering if it would be too stressful for a dog her age, particularly since I have 2 cats and she's not used to them, nor is she used to being the only dog.

On the plus side if I do take her with me she'll get more attention than she does now and more walks (she's quite over weight at the moment). Also my parents are planning on moving and I get the feeling she's an irritant to them as she wanders off at times (no fenced yard).

Any thoughts? Thanks

 

[PoppyKenna]

Normally I'd say it's best to leave her somewhere familiar, but if your parents are moving too it might be the same difference to her.

 

[jagger]

There's only one way to find out...

Introduce her to your cats and see if that goes over first - it might stress the cats out having a dog around and cause issues. If that goes over well, and you take her, will you have the option of your parents taking her back if it doesn't go well?

 

[Bonnie33]

ok Thanks for your replies

 

[bugz]

In November I moved with 8 dogs, ranging from 2-15 years old. They were all completely fine. I find dogs to be very resilient.

It sounds like she may be better off with you anyway. If she is overweight that means they aren't exercising her. She is an old dog and cannot handle the extra weight. It would be really good for her to get back to a healthy weight.

Introduce her to your cats and see how they all do. If it doesn't go well right away, that's okay. They need time to adjust. We have 8 dogs and 3 cats. They all get along but don't all like each other.

One of our cats hates when we bring a new dog home, but she gets use to it after a few days to a few weeks depending on the dog. It's very important that the cats have somewhere they can escape to, preferably things to jump up onto like shelving. That lets them observe from a safe place.

Of course, if they absolutely will not get along then she would be better with your parents. Even if they move. But you may want to see if they can get her walking more, either doing it themselves or hiring someone.

If you do not take her, I'd personally look at shelters and rescues for a dog. Even adult dogs are great because you have a good idea of their personality. All of my dogs have been from the SPCA or a rescue.

 

[RockApChamp]

The shih tzu my parents have, moved with me in college to my various apartments, since he was "my dog" and he was 8-9 at the time, he did remarkably well. The only reason I didn't move him with me to my current home is that he is allergic to our grass and when he came to visit, it gave him an itchy rash and his hair started falling out. Oddly, the only dog I've ever had who had issue with moving was around a year. But the older dogs we've had took things like that in stride and handled it really well. I would think she should be fine.


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[Bonnie33]

Yes she's a pretty laid back gal and although she's not used to cats she doesn't have a strong prey drive so hopefully they'd all learn to get a long. One of the cats is scared of everything and gets stressed easily tho so he might have a fairly long adjustment period poor guy