[RTG89]

Hi, I have an 11 year old Lab, we took him 2 years ago as he was a retired trained "pick up dog" destined to spend his last years living outside.

We have recently moved house and gained a stray cat which I guess has unsettled him, in our old house he was used to being fed in a room we were usually in though not always but there were never any problems, though the layout of the house he could see us in the kitchen and dinning room from his bed. In the old house he would not leave the front room unless I said it was OK, but I think it was because he could see me, the old house when I move room to room he can't see me and gets anxious.

He is in really good condition for an old dog, perfect weight etc and is fed dry food with a little bit of water mixed in. We now feed him in the kitchen diner and if we walk out of the room the food will still be there when we get home from work, we have currently been trying to ignore it hoping he will settle into the new routine but it's been nearly 3 weeks, in the evenings we can stay in the room while he eats but mornings are a bit hectic with 5 other animals (4 rabbits, 1 cat) to feed and getting to work. He has his own area now in the new house which I thought he would like but he wants to be in the same room as us and since the house move been attention seeking and I even watched him knock over a box and try destroy some paper that fell out of it which is so completely out of his nature and that was because I was baking so had barricaded the join between the diner and kitchen.

How can I get him to feel relaxed in his new house, not so he feels like he's abandoned, he wants to follow me in every room when I'm doing chores which is cute but completely impractical especially as the cat follows too and the cat hisses at him (never fights but hisses) and so he can eat on his own?

[tickle]

He is a senior citizen now and you say pretty well behaved but not presently adjusting to his new surroundings, would,you if you were 90 or so. Sorry not being a smart aleck by saying that, but so what if the cat hisses at him for whatever reason.

Let him be a dog and the cat a cat. He hasn't got many years left love him to pieces and just humour him please. He has done his duty serving others.

He will adjust he has used his life up adjusting to others, it will just take him longer this time. Thank you for giving him a home.

Respectfully submitted for an old fella

Tick

[joypulv]

My dog is the same age, and she is increasingly eager to be with me every second, getting underfoot like a cat. I set up a bed for her next to my desk as well as my bed, and boxes for her to use as steps, and so on. This is typical for old dogs! Often they know when they are going to die and will be extremely insistent that you stay with them.

I would put his food wherever you are, and cater to his every wish.