What to do with your pet when you move to Australia

I’m pleased to see the back of last week. It was a long slog but we made it. As you saw in my last post, the kids all came down with chicken pox last Monday. By Wednesday they were all smothered in painful blisters. Nobody was sleeping at night (that includes me) and there were a lot of tears (that includes me too). Then on Wednesday we said goodbye to Ted our labradoodle.

Ted protecting the poorly boys

I talked about our reasons for getting him rehomed in a previous post. After lots of possible new homes fell through we decided our only option was to rehome him with the Labradoodle Trust. A lovely foster family have taken him on to assess him so they can make sure the next home he gets is the right one. His final day at home co-incided with the day the three kids were at their poorliest, so by the time the evening came I was exhausted and in bits about saying goodbye.

I’m so relieved that he’s settled in with the foster family and I’m sure he’s going to be very easy to rehome. Our life has got infinitely easier as it feels as though we’re one small child down, but both Husband and I are devastated at our loss. Yesterday was a lovely sunny day and I’d usually take him on a Sunday morning walk by the creek near our house. When we have dinner leftovers it feels strange to have to throw them in the bin rather than put them in his bowl. And night times just aren’t the same without snuggling up on the sofa with him for cuddles.

I won’t lie – having a puppy with young kids has been such hard work. If I’d had a family member willing to take him there are many times I’d have handed him over. But we’d passed that phase and he had become a firm part of the family.  We’d worked hard with his training and trying to keep his exercise levels up and he was turning into a gorgeous adult dog.

Although we aren’t going to Australia yet, rehoming him now was the right thing to do. The younger the dog, the easier they settle into a new home, and also young dogs are easier to rehome because more people are willing to take them on. Not only that, but we need a few months to come to terms with saying goodbye to him before we fly out. Leaving our home, our family and our friends is going to be hard enough without saying goodbye to a pet at the same time as well.

Rehoming your pet before moving to Australia isn’t for everyone. We only did it because we couldn’t see a way of taking him. The £5k fee was actually the most minor of our reasons. Not being able to rent with a large dog, and potentially having to move around the country in search of work was a big part of it, as was the fact he’s nervous and the flight and quarantine would just be too much for him. Sometimes you have to do what’s best for someone because you love them even though it doesn’t feel like it’s the best thing for you.

Finding him a new home has been hanging over us since July when we decided to emigrate. It’s such a weight off our minds now it’s happened. Although it’s hard, we can now start to focus on the next stage of our adventure. And hopefully he can find a perfect new family to love him.