[daehnolem]

My husband and I just moved to a new place, and our 7 month old lab has started acting a little strangely. She doesn't really act this way when I'm home, but my husband tells me that when I leave she'll run around the house, then go into the room he's in, whine, and back out of the room. And apparently she kept it up for awhile. Also, when we put her in her kennel to go to bed last night, she cried. She stopped at some point, I guess when she figured we weren't going to let her out, but she kept that up for a bit, too. Could she be nervous because this is a new place? What can we do to help her relax, if anything?

Also, how can we get our dog to stop licking us?

Thanks very much,
Rebekah

[labman]

I am sure you are right about the moving upsetting her. Dogs love the familiar. You may also have a longer commute and be gone longer. Moving is stressful to people too. Even if this was a long looked forward to move, on top of the holiday season, so much to do, details of the new place, she knows you are stressed, and anything stressing you, is bad. On top of all that, she could be going through a fear stage as dogs do.

What to do? Try to relax, spending more time with her. Brushing her may be good for both of you and leave less black hair all over your new house. Give her walks around the new neighborhood so it is more familiar to her. Maybe even good tasks for your husband. It is common for dogs to be much more closely bonded to one family member. Taking over the feeding would require very little of him, but help the relationship with most dogs, especially a Lab.

To settle her into the crate for the night, try my lay done in front of the crate trick. At bed time, with a new puppy, I have found lying down in front
Of the crate like you were going to sleep and speaking softly to it, or
Singing, until it settles down and goes to sleep works very well. Follow the
Pattern, a period of active play, outside to eliminate, and then into the
Crate. I discovered it about 10 puppies ago, and it has worked very well. I am not sure a 7 month old will settle down as quickly. Be carefully what you leave in the crate with her. Other than Nylabones, Kongs, etc. even if she hasn't been a problem chewer, she could decide to shred something to punish you for the move.