Everybody plans the movers. Almost nobody plans the dog. Then the front door is propped open for six hours, strangers are carrying the couch out, and somebody is driving around the old neighborhood at nine at night calling a name.
I have supervised a few of these. Here is the version that goes well.
The boring part, and the part that bites you if you skip it. Do it while you still have time to make phone calls.
Ask for a copy of the full file, not a summary — rabies certificate, vaccination dates, any prescriptions with the exact dosage. If you are changing practices, records move faster when you are the one carrying them.
The tag is what a neighbor reads. The chip is what a shelter scans. The chip registration is a separate account from your vet and it is the one people forget. Change the address and the phone number the day you know your closing date.
New York licenses dogs at the town, city or village level, not the county. Albany, Colonie, Clifton Park, Troy and Bethlehem each run their own. A license from your old town does not travel with you — you register in the new one, usually within a set window after you move, and they will want that rabies certificate.
Buying before selling, or landing in a short-term rental for a month? Pet terms, weight limits and breed restrictions belong in the lease, not in a text message.
Dogs read boxes as a threat. Not because of the boxes — because the routine stopped.
Everything else in the house is changing. The two things that shouldn’t are the bowl and the leash.
Bed, bowls, the ugly toy, a blanket that smells like the old house. That box rides in your car, not the truck, and it comes out before the dishes do.
Not on moving day. Program the emergency number into your phone before you need it — the Capital Region has a handful of 24-hour options and they are not always the closest thing to you.
You are signing paperwork for an hour and moving furniture for six. Plan the dog’s day the way you would plan a toddler’s.
Empty bedroom, door closed, water bowl, a sign taped on the outside that says the dog is in there. Movers are careful with furniture and oblivious to doors.
Gates that do not latch, a gap behind the shed, a section the last owner meant to fix. Do this walk yourself, on foot, the first day. On leash until you have.
Old antifreeze in the garage, a rusted stake, cocoa mulch in the beds, whatever is behind the shed. New yards hide a decade of somebody else’s stuff.
Give it about two weeks before you decide anything is wrong. Most of what looks like a problem in week one is just a dog doing math.
Set up the bed and bowls in one spot and let that be home base. Access to the whole house on day one is a lot of new information at once.
Pacing, waking up, following you room to room, an accident from a dog who has not had one in years. Normal. It passes.
Same route, same time. It is how a dog builds a map, and it is how you meet the neighbors, which is the other thing that makes a house feel like yours.
The Capital Region is unusually good for this — the Corning Preserve path in Albany, the Zim Smith trail through Ballston and Malta, the Mohawk–Hudson Bike Hike Trail, plus town dog parks in Albany, Colonie, Clifton Park, Saratoga Springs and Guilderland. Ask your new neighbors which one is worth the drive.
That is everything I know, and I know a lot for someone whose main job is supervising snacks. Good luck with the move. Tell my Dad I sent you.
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Brian Marchand · Sr. Loan Consultant, New American Funding · NMLS #481563
Works with buyers and homeowners across Albany, NY, the Capital Region and New York State. Licensed in New York State. New American Funding, NMLS #6606 · 18 Computer Dr E, Suite 103, Albany, NY 12205.