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how to deal with leaving a dog behind for university

me and my dog, who is 9, are very close, ive had him since he was a puppy and i was 10, now i am nearly 19 and i have to leave for uni which is around 2 hours away by car which means i ill probably only get to see my dog once a week or probably even longer than that. me and my dog do everything together, i literally take him everywhere, he wakes me up in the morning and comes to sleep next to me before i wake up and hes really helped me throughout the hard times of my life. im wondering if anyone else has gone through leaving their dog/pet behind and how they dealt with it as everytime i think about it i start crying, thank you.

Reply 1

username6828106

Hey, I'll be leaving my two cats next September and always think about this. I've been caring for them since they were kittens and one is still quite young. How are you with leaving for a weekend at a time? What helps me is time apart to understand how ill feel and that they'll be fine. Photos help, too.

It's also important to think about what's worrying you. If you're not in a healthy position to go to university without the support of your dog, I would suggest working on that before leaving and taking on that emotional pain. Leaving for university is emotional as it is. If you're worried about how your dog will be or if he will remember you, a dog's long term memory spans over a 10 year range and hopefully there are people you trust to keep him healthy.

Reply 2

cynical-flipper

So sorry ☹️ If it helps, I know how it feels and how much of a wrench it is having to say goodbye to a dog you've grown up with ☹️ No advice, just didn't want to read and not comment ☹️