Hi all again,
I posted recently about my delightful (cough) adolescent pup Leo who has just hit 10 months.
Firstly I must say I am so grateful for the support I recieved and am feeling so much more positive and we are making tiny bits of progress every day.
It suddenly dawned on me today that Leo is about to have a BIG change in his life. His beloved daddy will be going away with the military at the end of October for 4months.
I'm hoping to maybe have a little bit of support from this group so that I can be as prepared as possible.
So a bit of background, Leo loves daddy, and that sort of sums it up. Daddy goes to work at 7 and comes home at 5, when he's out he OK, but he knows exactly when he is due home and starts pacing and finding toys to greet him with.
When daddy leaves the room he whines and cries until he returns, daddy doesn't give him any attention if he has cried but Leo doesn't care, as long as daddy's back in the same room.
Leo does push his luck with daddy but daddy is just as consistent with me, he is seen as a bit of a playmate I feel! (I'm the strict and boring one who's home all the time!)
So anyway, the questions I have:
1. Is there ANY way to prepare him for losing his dad for that long? You can't exactly explain where he has gone and that he will be back. Do I start to try and distance daddy from Leo by taking on roles that daddy would usually complete? Or do I let them enjoy each other as much as possible before he goes?
2. When daddy returns in march, do I change anything? Let daddy continue where we left off or take charge and let daddy settle back in slowly?
3. He's going away over winter, currently I walk Leo in an area that I wouldn't feel comfortable walking in the dark, do you think having to change Leo to more road walks round the block will be a huge issue? Or shall I man up and take a panic alarm with me and do the usual walks?!
4. I work from home,never ever had issues with leaving Leo at home to go out and he will be left for 4hours no problems. The first few weeks daddy is gone do you reckon I should carry on as normal and leave him if I need to or shall I plan my diary to ensure I am at home fully for a few weeks so he knows I'm not going to leave him as well?!!
I know it sounds as though I may be being protective but I observe Leo with his dad and the love he has for him is huge ! I can't help but think he is going to struggle and want to deal with it in the best way possible!
If any other military partners have any experience of this I would love to hear from you!
And again any advice is greatly appreciated.
Many thanks