Before I begin, I want to preface this by saying my parents absolutely adore my dog and would love her to stay home. When I come home for break, they’ll tease me by saying to the dog “woof if you’d rather live with dad! Blink if you like this house better!” I’m not just trying to put the responsibility on my parents because I’m over having a dog. I’m uncertain if this living situation is good for her right now.
To give some background, I live in an on campus house at my college. Besides summer and Christmas break, I’m there all year. I don’t really party a lot and do my best to be home between classes. I have a friend who watches her on Mondays (when I’m gone for the whole day) and I sometimes bring her to meetings to cut down on time alone. My dog is a 2 yr old toy poodle and has been my best friend since we adopted her at 6 months old from a family. We later found out that she was from a puppy mill in Illinois, which I think contributes to her anxiety.
She’s come to and from school with me ever since we adopted her. She was doing really well with it, but now her anxiety is getting a lot worse. This past year, I moved in with 5 other girls, another dog, and a cat to a 3 bedroom house. The other dog has accidents in the house almost every day, but when the accidents first started my dog was blamed. The conditions to keep my dog at school with me were to crate train her, and although I’ve tried really hard to get her acclimated by playing crate games and giving her treats, she’s extremely anxious while in there. I think a part of the anxiety is hearing 4 other girls playing with another dog right outside my door while she’s in the crate. This living situation was also a large change, so I know that contributed to her anxiety as well.
I’m on spring break, and I have the opportunity to leave her home. In 5 weeks I’ll be moving out of that house anyway and into a new apartment (with her). The apartment will only be my dog, other roommate who I’ve lived with for 3 yrs, and myself, so it’s a lot less chaotic. My dog would have a lot more freedom and stability at my parents house, as well as not be around for the chaos of moving 6 ppl out of a house, but I’m worried she could develop separation anxiety if I just disappear for awhile. For example, I just stayed 1 night in a city for a little vacation and my mom told me she’s been sitting outside my door all day waiting for me. Even if I’m gone for a long time during the day, when I come home she’s whining and can’t calm down.
She is truly my best friend. I know this sounds dramatic, but love her more than anything in life. It’s not that I don’t want to put in the work to take care of her, I’m just not sure what would be psychologically/emotionally best for her right now. Ultimately, I will talk to my parents, but I would really appreciate some advice!
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/b3v11n/should_i_leave_my_dog_home_with_my_parents_or/
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