Downsizing Your Home: A Guide for Pet Owners

Photo Credit: Brooke Cagle via Unsplash 

Downsizing Your Home: A Guide for Pet Owners

Whether you’re downsizing for financial reasons, less home upkeep, or a simpler way of living as you age, it’s important to keep your animal companions in mind as you search for a new place to live. Though you’ll be moving into a smaller home or apartment, most companion animals require regular exercise and time spent outside of their kennels or cages — including smaller dog breeds, cats, rabbits, and guinea pigs. As such, you’ll need to find a home that’s big enough for you, your other household members, and your pets.

Check out these tips to learn more about downsizing your home with one or more animal companions, presented by Knudawn Southern Goldendoodles.

Find the Right Home for You and Your Pets

There are many upsides of downsizing your home, but moving into a smaller space can be challenging when you live with one or more animal companions — especially more active dog breeds, such as golden retrievers, Springer Spaniels, Goldendoodles, Huskies, Border Collies, and Jack Russel Terriers. However, downsizing with pets is possible if you take the following into consideration:

●      The amount of living space your pet needs to feel their best.

●      Outdoor features for your pet, such as fenced-in yards, nearby walking trails, and dog parks.

●      Storage space for your pet’s food, treats, toys, and other supplies.

If you’re moving into an apartment, condo, townhome, or senior living community, you’ll also need to ensure your new home is pet-friendly. Lets with Pets shares some tips for finding pet-friendly housing when downsizing your home.

In the event that you’re purchasing a smaller home, it’s a good idea to get preapproved for a mortgage early on in the downsizing process — as this will help you to determine how much you can afford to spend on a house for you and your animal companions. Additionally, obtaining a mortgage pre-approval letter will help to expedite the downsizing process.

Prep Your Current Home

Finding a new place for you and your pets to live is just one part of the downsizing process. You’ll also need to prep your current home, declutter your belongings, and sell or donate the items you no longer need.

Even if you’re marketing your home as pet-friendly, it’s important to deep clean and deodorize your house, repair any damaged floors, and store away all litter boxes, kennels, dog beds, and pet toys. Remove all pets from the home during showings with potential buyers, and if possible, move out of the home before listing it.

If you’ve made any pet-friendly upgrades, like adding a kennel or dog run, making a paved walking area, or installing a dog pool, mention them in your listing. You may find that they increase the resale value of your home. Hopefully, you also kept your receipts so that you can justify any price increases to your real estate agent.

In addition to preparing your home for sale, you’ll need to declutter and downsize your belongings since you’ll be moving into a smaller living space. There are many places to donate unwanted items, including used furniture, household goods, clothing, pet supplies, and food.

Keep Your Pets Safe, Comfortable, and Stress-Free

Just as moving is hard on us, it’s challenging for the animal companions with whom we share our homes. However, we can help to keep our pets safe, comfortable, and stress-free during the downsizing process if we stick to a normal routine as best as possible — and surround our animal companions with their favorite toys, bedding, blankets, and treats.

Also, remember to keep your stress under control during the move. NPR explains that animals are sensitive to our emotions, and our stress can quickly become their stress. Although moving day can get overwhelming for you, just imagine how much more stressful this time can be for your fur friend.

If you have a high energy pet, like a Springer Spaniel, be sure to keep up with your walk routine. Just like people, animals can feel anxious if they have too much pent up energy. Walking them 2-3 times a day will help them control their stress.

Make the Move a Good One for All

Downsizing can make life easier in a lot of ways, but it’s important to consider the needs of your animal companions before making the decision to downsize your home. The pets we share our homes with require lots of space to play, rest, and live — and downsizing shouldn’t prevent them from enjoying a happy, safe, and comfortable life. 

Are you looking to adopt a Goldendoodle? Then check out Knudawn Southern Goldendoodles online for litter updates!