After we got the keys and poked our head into A Bitty Better in the Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville, my dear wife Karen drove the two miles down the road to leave me back off at the library to finish my Friday work day.
Then came three days of packing up our lives at the Little Bitty in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood for the final move on Monday. We’d be hauling as much by ourselves as possible in my Chevy Cruze and Karen’s Mazda CX-5. The big furniture would go with the three-person crew I’d signed up on an hourly contract with local company Pelligra Transport.
Through all of the packing, in the house and then taking the bins out to the cars, our beloved rescue mutt Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle fretted. She was not quite convince where she fit into the plans, despite our assurance that she was part of the family and would be going to the new house, too.
So during we took her for an hour each on Saturday and Sunday to let her get the feel of her new place.
You’ll live here, too.
Saturday it rained the entire day. It was an inside hour for Ellie B. She scurried this way and that, on the main floor and up and down. The basement stairs, open in her sight lines, gave her pause. Going up and down with Karen raised her confidence.
No porch, but a deck.
Sunday was cloudy, but the rain held up enough for us to allow Ellie B to explore the additions and subtractions of her new backyard.
Hover over a gallery photo for a description. Click on an image for an enlarged slide show.
The good news for us was that the leaning area of the fence that I’d shored up on the outside with cinder blocks purchased at Lowe’s seemed to hold up fine.
Covered pool with the dog shoo-ed off.
The very good news was that the winter hard cover for the indoor pool held when Ellie B ran fast and hard across it during her first bout of Crazy Ellie in her new yard. Two, three, four times she dashed across that pool cover length-wise, both Karen and I saying Ellie, no! as a bit of water sprayed up through the somewhat-porous and slightly stretchy cover as it bounced under her 60-plus pounds of happy dog.
Smiling dog.
Yeah, Ellie B was satisfied that this new backyard would work out just fine.
She behaved better for the rest of the move.
More to come on Tuesday.
If you’ve moved houses with a dog, how did you get it ready for the transport? If you’ve owned an in ground pool, how have you kept animals off the cover? Which photo is your favorite, and why?
Mark Bialczak 
Love this place bro Mark. Nice back yard and pool. I approve little brother. You done good! Now I’ll go back one more day, then get something to eat and get back to my nest.
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I knew you’d like the outside of the place, sis Angie! ❤
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I’m green with envy. I really miss my back yard. You’ll love that pool!
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What a great house and yard!! I am so excited for you guys and for Ellie B, of course! The poor thing must have been anxious at first! Can’t wait to see pool pics this summer! 😀
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See pics? You and Mr. B have to come swim with us, Mrs. B!
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Looks Ellie B approved!
Hope your Holler-Ring is spooktacular.
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Thanks, Phil. I am looking forward to answering the door for all the kiddies after work today for Holler-Ring!
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We had a fence within a fence. Chain link around the pool was a safety requirement in Michigan. We moved often with pets. They were often nervous during the packing, relieved when they realized there was no moving box for them. Ellie looks so content already. 💛 💙 💜
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Delighted that Ellie is settling. I’ve brought dogs to different places and one in particular got very, verrrrrrry clingy and insecure. Others were absolutely fine. It seems to depend on their dogonalities.
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Oh my a pool and I love that sitting area in the yard! How far from where you used to live Mark? ❤
Diana xo
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To us english people a pool is the height of luxury – you have arrived! 🙂
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I think we have, Rachel. Agreed. 🙂
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so, we are available to visit in August? !
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I can’t wait, Rachel!
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🙂
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You could always put an electric fence around the pool to keep her off! Our dog seems to get excited when we’ve moved with her. We do a lot of camping and she loves camping trips so when she saw us packing the car each time I guess she thought we were packing to go camping! (We’ve moved three times since we’ve owned her.)
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I will keep the electric fence idea in reserve, AFB. Thanks for bringing it up.
Camping! Ellie B would take off down the camp site, making me chase her. 😮
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That photo of the pool cover scared me, Mark. I knew Ellie would run across it! Thanks heavens it held her weight. We’ve never (yet) moved into a new space while owning a dog, but the renovations in our house last year were pretty traumatic for poor Cody. and the night at the motel did not make her happy. Of course, we were only in that motel room that one night; had we been there for several days, I’m sure she would have adjusted and made it her own. Ellie will love her new digs!
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I think Cody would adjust, just like our Ellie B, CM. And I think she would run across a pool cover, too. Free-spirited dogs we have. But we must teach her to stay off of that thing.
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We’ve moved several times with dogs. All you can do is what you and Karen did for Ellie. Let her explore and get comfortable!
One of our houses had a pool. Big animals, like our dogs, stayed outside a fence when we weren’t inside it. I think frequent running across even the strongest cover will weaken it — and could be dangerous.
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There is no fence to keep Ellie B away from the pool, only the fence around the whole yard, Elyse. We think she gets the point now to keep off the darn thing. We hope so.
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You will all be so happy there I just know you will !
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Yes, I think we will, Willow! ❤
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Aww…Ellie B is too cute! The last photo is my favorite – Ellie B’s big smile says it all! (灬♥ω♥灬)
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I love my dog’s smile, yes I do, Patricia. ❤
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she looks as excited as the two of you did, when she saw the house and yard, it is really a charming place. i’ve moved with a cat, who always is afraid when seeing me packing. )
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Six days in now, Beth, and we are still charmed. ❤ And dog-tired ourselves from the process of settling in with our stuff.
And isn't it something how animals can fret?
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