New Home + Dog = Friends!

Being an expat means you move around a bit.  We move around the world.  With our dog.  We bought Archie when we were living in the US and he now lives with us here in Germany.

Basically all of the friends I've made here are people I've met whilst out walking Archie (or at the barn).  Dogs tend to talk to other dogs and I end up talking to their owners.  There are certainly people here who don't speak any English, and that's great for me to practice my German, but many people do speak English and it's great to find some people to chat with in your own language - and I've made some lovely friends this way.

Without Archie forcing me to get up off the sofa and get out of the house to walk him (long walks, twice a day, no matter what the weather), I know that my life here would be very different and probably quite lonely.

One of the many challenges when moving around the world is that you're constantly living in rental accommodation, and that can have serious pros and cons.  One of the pros is that, after experiencing 8 different rental kitchens, I'm going to be able to design the most amazing kitchen ever when we get our own house!  One of the cons is that, depending on which country you're in, you're going to wind up in an apartment without a garden.

An apartment without a garden isn't really a problem if you don't have a pet, but with a dog, you're going to have to make some changes to the way you live.  We're lucky enough to have a garden so Arch can go out to go to the toilet, or lay in the sun, or chase the birds, whenever he wants to.

I found a great blog post here on how to manage with pets when you're living in an apartment that might help on your next move around the globe, or even just across town.

Check it out here:-

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/tips-to-keep-your-pets-happy-without-a-yard-167518