Moving: With Dogs!

     In about a week, the Hubbs, Annie, Paul, and I will be moving!  We're only going about 50 miles, so it's not a huge move, however, it's still nuts!  Our square footage is being cut in half.  And, for the first time in years, we'll be living in an apartment.

Annie, nose on, ears off.  She'd be gone in 10 seconds.

     I've been reading back posts of Two Pitties in the City trying to "hack" how to live in a small place.  The dogs are loosing their dog room, and the Hubbs is loosing his "man cave."  We'll have about 700 square feet.

Paul may be nice and calm here, but all I need is a squirrel and we'd be in trouble.

     However, in all of this, I'm trying to figure out how to actually move with the dogs.  I realize the obvious: They will hop into the Prius and off we'll go!  However, with unloading the truck, the car, and moving everything in, I don't want to worry about one of them escaping and getting lost.
 
     Any one have any suggestions as to how to move Annie and Paul?

Paul

     I love lying in bed with Paul and Annie at my sides.  Especially in the summer with the windows open and a breeze blowing in.  Sometimes, it's the only way to handle Paul being close to us.  As he's gotten older (he's 9 now), Paul has developed a gas problem.

     The Hubbs calls them "silent assassins" because somehow, when he lets one loose, we don't hear them until it's too late.
     Typically, it goes something like this: we're lying in bed watching TV, and I suddenly smell "it."  I turn and look at the Hubbs, "Did you just let one loose?"
     "No.  Why?"
     "Give it a minute."
     Five seconds later, "Oh!  Woah!  Dude!"
     I start to chuckle at this point, because I'm no longer the only one who is dealing with this joy.  And then we both burst out laughing.  Paul usually pops his head up at this moment and smiles at us as if to say, "Hey, what's so funny?" I lean over out of bed and start petting him until he settles back down to his bed next to my side of the bed

Real Life: It's Not As Easy As We Make It Look

     The first month we had Paul, he ate through the car's seatbelt on the way to the dog park.  We got the $300 estimate, and decided not to repair the seat belt.  I told The Hubbs after he watched a winning football game and was drunk.

     Annie, for the first 2 years we had her, peed everywhere in the house and it smelled like dog urine year round.  I finally got to the point I just tour up all of the carpet in the house.  Luckily, we had 30 year old hardwood underneath.  Unluckily, she had already soaked it and it had warped in her 2 favorite pee places.
     I hate walking A&P at the same time on my own.  When I do, I've been bitten, dragged down with a concussion, and stopped by the police for raising "vicious dogs"
     Just tonight, I discovered Annie has been snacking on my leftovers that I left on the counter top.  I found the container in her room, empty.
     At different points in the past 7 years of dog ownership, we've contemplated getting rid of either Annie, Paul, or both.
     Why am I saying all of this?  What's the point in "airing my dirty laundry in public"?  For the same reason Marly and Me by John Grogan is one of my favorite books.  Marly is far from perfect.  At times, he's a holy terror.  But time and time again, the family can't help but love him.
     I can't help but love Annie and Paul, for all their good times and bad.  They are still my puppies, and now 7 years with them, I can't imagine my life without them.  To anyone reading this blog who has just adopted a new pet and is going through an adjustment period with them, remember this.  There are good times and bad, it won't always be easy, but good times will come.  You just have to hang on for them.