Our expat adventures have been dominated by discussions about dogs.
When we made the decision to begin this craziness, one of the hardest decisions was whether to take our dog, Mackinaw. At the time, she was a lady of a certain age, with a heart condition and dodgy hips. We had just begun to think about what life might be like after she’d gone. Moving to a country where the winter temperature was far below what any of us was used to and a shortage of dog friendly housing and landlords posed a real dilemma for us.
Fortunately my long suffering parents suggested that she move in with them. And Mack proceeded to demonstrate what we had all long suspected which was that she really did like my dad more than us. Grandparents are always more fun – all the beach walks and none of the going off to work every morning. Although we hated to leave her and missed her very much, we are pretty confident that she had some of the best years of her life without us, rearranging my dad’s flower beds and generally behaving like a puppy rather than a dog in her twilight years.
Now I have to confess that I am not a person who does well without a dog in my home. I blame the aforementioned, long suffering father who brought our first family dog home when I was only a year old and has kept us in dogs ever since.
And so the debate began. Could we be expats and have a dog? Would it be irresponsible? Was having a dog something that we would have to sacrifice as part of our expat adventure? We met some people who traveled with their dogs but could we do it?
By the time we got to Texas, we were swinging between resigning ourselves to never having a dog again and moments of total optimism about how we could manage it. I became a shelter volunteer to get my dog ‘fix’, hoping that it would bridge the gap and the big space in our home.
We were just beginning to think that maybe, just maybe, we could make it work. We met great people in Houston who had moved successfully with their two larger dogs. We were starting to allow ourselves to look just a little more at those adoption websites when the whole discussion became moot.
Three years ago, I went to the shelter for my weekly kennel cleaning shift, the best part of which was giving the dogs their breakfast. Most of the dogs are much more interested in their food than in me but then I got to one of the last kennels.
And the whole world changed.
Sitting in this kennel was a skinny looking, scared black and white mutt. She was shaking and she couldn’t take her eyes off me. When I put her breakfast down, she just shuffled over and put her head in my lap.
We brought her home that afternoon. There was just something about her that made us decide that whatever the obstacles, we would overcome them. At the time, we told ourselves that she needed us. It actually turned out that I probably needed her more than she needed me but that’s a whole other story for another day.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some serious obstacles – she can’t fly when the air temperature is too high in Houston; she can’t fly for too long; we may have to consider breed restrictions in some locations and then, seriously, her air fare might cost more than mine and no, that’s not covered in the employee’s moving expenses. And then we have to find accommodation, a fenced in yard, places to walk. All of these things and more keep me awake at night when we start to think about the next move.
It can and will all be done. There isn’t really any other option. We’re in this now.
We are still not sure how or when we decided that two dogs was a good idea but that really is a whole other story.
In the meantime, we’re celebrating the third anniversary of Freya’s ‘adoptiversary’ and looking forward to many more adventures together.
Have you traveled with your four-legged friend? What would you be prepared to do to keep them with you? Or have you stayed at home but changed a rescue pet’s life?
Ok, you really do not need my whole saga, but! We brought two cats to Norway at great cost. They had a great time, and we never, ever, ever regretted it. One cat breathed her last, at the ripe old age of 18, there, and we bought her a special Viking container and left her ashes on a tiny island in Hafrsfjord. We adopted a special little kitty, Liesel, from the shelter there and relocated two cats back to Houston (very cheaply). Sadly Liesel is now missing …hopped over the fence…and we doubt we will see her again. She was great fun, with a curly tail and a “baby” meow. Couldn’t have made it without our pets…
One of the things I have learned from my adventures as a shelter volunteer is that sometimes miracles do happen. Maybe Liesel will find her way home or maybe she is just living it up Texas style for a bit with another family. I love that you left your last cat’s ashes on a little Norwegian island – that’s lovely and very special.
I dug my heels in, when my (fairly young then) kids started asking for a dog. Like you, as an expat who had grown up with dogs, I knew what keeping a dog meant. Always thinking of their needs. Weekends away, holidays (and yes his flight to Ireland in the summer cost twice as much as my flight and the 3 kids combined), the daily walks plus all the playing a puppy needs and that’s just the start! We warned the kids that he was THEIR dog and they needed to look after him (who am I kidding – he’s MINE!) and they have stepped up! Early morning walks, feeding, grooming, playing – they do as much as they can. They have learned so much about being responsible for another living thing and they will take him out together (2 teens and a preteen – no mean feat!!). It is tough but I now wonder why we waited so long to have him – should have done it years ago – he’s gorgeous and we love him to bits!
I’m still waiting for a photo of him! Loki is a lucky pup and I’ll bet he loved his time in Ireland this summer. We hope that one day Freya and Ceili will get to run on the beach in Donegal…..
Great read! It’s amazing what our furry friends bring into our lives! Sharing our lives and adding little touches of support – the coming up and sitting nearer to you when you’re not sure how you feel the boys seem to say cuddle me cos I need it but you need it more. Funny little balls of fluff! The kids away from home miss the fellas more than I could ever have imagined – possibly more than US!!! When we go and visit friends a regular question of are you bringing the fellas or more a case of will you. You bring these little souls into your life with no idea of the impact they make- Stephen calls them our anti- depressants. From the few moves we have made the fellas help us make connections and help daily to chat to other people and hear their stories. All for looking after them, food- Alfie more food, treats and oz more cuddles but together their combo have eased us over a few bumps in the road and long may it last! Keep the blogs coming my sweet!
Thank you! And yes, we miss Oz and Alfie too but not as much as you. Honest!
We started our expat live in Kuwait and had to leave two old cats behind in Canada which was very, very hard. But we found a wonderful kitten there that new friends had rescued and she needed a home. But she needed a friend and we found her one from the many kittens on the streets and they became great friends. Then two kittens wandered into our yard and stole our hearts so we let them into the house and they all became friends. Then when we returned to Canada British Airways helped us get all the paperwork done and flew them home to Calgary, at great expense but well worth it. Preparing to take three of the four cats to Norway we found a ladyin Calgary who ran a business shipping pets all over the world and she was awesome. She told us there are many people like her running similar businesses around the world. She even reported to us on the arrival in Amsterdam for overnight before heading to Stavanger. We joke they traveled more than most people.
They are very well traveled cats! I love that these cats and kittens seem to keep finding you Eileen. They obviously know a great home when they see it. I am glad you have a good experience with a pet relocation company – its definitely something we will be looking into when it comes to our next move.
I can absolutely relate! It’s amazing the things we’ll go through to keep our furry companions by our sides. 🙂 In college I volunteered at an animal shelter, and fell in love with a dog on my very first day there (oops) who I knew I had to bring home, in the same vein as what you described with Freya — despite that “home” was a college dorm where animals were forbidden (another “oops”). I was never fond of small dogs and had a lot of prejudice against chihuahuas (Flynn is half chihuahua, half rat terrier), but it was love at first sight (sniff?) for both of us, I think. I smuggled Flynn in and out of my dorm multiple times a day to take long walks with him in the campus woods.
When I left college and had nowhere to go but my dad’s home quite some distance away, he said I absolutely could not bring Flynn with me, as his landlord didn’t allow dogs and his roommate was already breaking that rule with his massive Rhodesian ridgeback (who he was sure would eat Flynn, haha), but I knew I couldn’t be parted from him and showed up at his doorstep with him. Despite our hesitation in introducing them, Flynn and the ridgeback (who was actually very gentle-natured, despite the prejudice against the breed) turned out to be great friends!
Flynn is now 12 or 13 years old and still by my side, through backpacking trips and vacations around the U.S. He’s lived with me in five different states and is such an awesome traveling companion. He’s small enough that he can sleep in your lap while driving or under the seat on an airplane and always so eager to experience new things. I can’t imagine having been all those places without him!
TL;DR: Pets make the best traveling companions and I can’t imagine having traveled and moved so much over the past several years without my furry fellow traveler!
I’m a great believer that sometimes the dog chooses the person and its sounds like Flynn chose you! I agree that they are the best of travelling companions and I have certainly learned a lot from both of our rescues. In fact, I’m about to write about the most recent addition to the family….