Leaving My GSD With My Dad?

Hello,

I rescued a 2 year old white male GSD a few weeks ago. We are doing really well and he is very adaptive and gets along with all people. I just found out that I may have an opportunity to move to Israel.

Do you think it is plausible to leave my dog with my dad (who has 2 other dogs and will be spending a lot of time there before I would go) for a few months and then come back and get him or have my dad send him? I eventually want to bring him to Israel with me, but I would need to settle a few things first.

He is a very calm dog and we did a few moves/transitions with my labradors when I was growing up, and they did fine. I just feel like my GSD is much more attached to one person(Me) than my labs were. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank you.


Total German Shepherd:

If I were you I would first do some test runs of your dog with your dads dogs. Have them meet up, see how they do. Later, let them hang out for longer together until you work them up to being together for several hours.

Then maybe go spend the night with your dad, or the weekend, with your dog joining you, etc. All the while assessing how well the dogs all get along and how well your dog gets along with your dad. And how well your dog minds your dad.

If it all goes well maybe you can then leave the equation for a few minutes while your dog is there, working up to a half hour, an hour, several hours, etc. This way you build your dog up being with the others and being less dependent on you too.

I hope this makes sense. And if your dog is pretty laid back (and Im sure he's intelligent because he is a German Shepherd) then this process may go pretty fast. But good luck with the transition.

I know it can be done - people do this all the time when they travel between places but it will take planning, and work on everyone's part to have this go as easily as possible. Good luck!