I have fallen very behind on updating this blog and one of the main reasons is that we just moved to Raleigh, North Carolina about two weeks ago. The last month or so have been very stressful but I am glad that we are settled now and don’t have to worry about packing/unpacking/donating endless amounts of items to Goodwill!
The last time we moved, Zara was about 8 months old. I remember being worried that she would be thrown off by the change in location and take a while to adjust, but she barely seemed to skip a beat. That move, from a townhouse to a single family home with a yard, was a definite upgrade for her. We moved into a house where she could go outside any time she wanted and run around and chase squirrels. The neighborhood also had lots of dogs and we often went across the street to the neighbors’ yard so she could play with their Bassett hounds.
This time, she did seemed stressed by the move. This was a much more drawn-out process, and we started packing several weeks in advance. The weekend before we moved, we packed up almost all of our belongings and moved them into storage pods so they could be shipped to Raleigh. That meant we were staying in our house for almost a week with no furniture. Zara seemed very annoyed about this, because her favorite spots to sit (the couch in front of the front window) and our bed were gone. We were sleeping on an air mattress and she did not seemed pleased by the noises it made or the squishiness. A few times, when we left the house, we actually put her crate in front of the window and put her bed on top of it, so she could still see out the window. That seemed to help.
The drive from DC to Raleigh wasn’t too bad – only about 4.5 hours with one stop. We are renting a two-bedroom apartment here, so this is now a downgrade for Zara. Unfortunately, she has no yard. We do have a large balcony that she can go out on by herself and she often does want to go out there to check things out. But the first couple of days, she seemed confused about why she couldn’t go out whenever she wanted and run around. To make matters worse, right behind our apartment is a lush, grassy area. I’ve been very tempted to let her off-leash to run around there, but it is surrounded by a lot of apartments and just doesn’t seem appropriate.
Thankfully, the complex has its own (small) dog park. I’ve been taking Zara there during lunch time and she runs around and chases bugs and birds. We’ve also been going to the large dog park nearby at least once a day. It’s much larger than the ones we went to in Arlington and Alexandria, but there’s also more dogs there, and often, more fighting. We try to stay on the edges and throw balls for her. We’ve also been checking out the running trails and went hiking yesterday. There’s also several dog-friendly stores here, and I added them to the list on my Dog Friendly page.
She has a nice perch here too – a chair by the window so she can look out.
We set up a bunch of pillows in our study in a sunny place for her to sleep like a princess.
The local dog park has a few pieces of agility equipment.
Checking out a nice field.
Our first hike in Raleigh!
Post- hike – taking a snooze!
I think she is starting to adjust. Chris and I are both working at home full-time now, so she is not alone as much. Hopefully in a year or so, we will buy a house and she will have a nice, big yard again.
