My husband and I will be going on a long road trip in a week or so. We’ll be gone maybe a couple of months, visiting family and friends around the western U.S. LarryDog will stay at home, as will our two cats. We’ve got petsitters who will live in the house, and I’ve lined up a backup petsitter if anything comes up for the first ones. The animals will be well cared for, and all three are used to being home when we travel. Past pet sitters have told us that our animals did okay.

When we were planning this trip, we had the choice between taking our car, a VW Jetta that doesn’t really have room for LarryDog and all the stuff we’ll be hauling, or our small motorhome, an older Toyota Dolphin. LarryDog has traveled a good bit in the motorhome, and he does okay. But every time one or the other of us would leave, the dog couldn’t relax. It must have been worse when both of us humans left. We realized that Larry will be less stressed (though perhaps more bored) by being at home, with nice people around. He’s bonded with a lot of different petsitters, and I’m sure he’ll like these new ones.

Of course, he’s not the only one with separation anxiety… I get some myself! Luckily, I don’t act it out in destructive ways, and it’s probably worse now in anticipation than it will be once we’re out having adventures!