For people that are familiar with my work and life this might seem an unlikely topic for me to approach in this way because if you know me, you know that my dog is basically the biggest part of my life and almost all of what I do evolves around her.
Nadi (my dog) is my heart, she is the reason why I do most of the things that I do in my day and I really enjoy the fact that she is in my life. I know that I am a lot happier because of her existence in my day-to-day life and I am going to be very sad when she is eventually gone. So why would I say that having a dog as an expat is a bad idea? Well that is because as much as I love her, she has definitely made my life a lot more complicated than it would be if she were not in it.
I have no regrets of course and I would never wish her out of my life. It's quite the opposite actually: I go out of my way to provide for her and sometimes i feel like a single mom or something because virtually everything I do including where I decide to live has everything to do with her and actually a lot more so than I consider how I am going to feel about a place that I go.
People don't want to rent to pets
This is one of the biggest hurdles with a dog and one that I can relate to because at one point in time I actually owned rental properties. Despite my love for animals I had a strict "no pets" policy at the properties that I owned and managed. It didn't matter to me if we were talking about a German Shepherd or a Chihuahua, it didn't factor in to my own decision about whether or not it would be allowed. Sure, I KNOW that my dog doesn't chew up things, poop on the floor, bark all damn day long, or really do anything that would annoy most neighbors, but there is no reason for a landlord to know or believe that when I tell it to them.
When I have moved to my last 2 cities that I lived in I was limited to around 1/4 of the overall available rentals because even though the houses, condos, and bungalows definitely wanted to rent the place, they were not willing to take a chance on the animal. Also, places that do allow animals tend to be run down and filled with other pet owners whose dogs are NOT well behaved.
Transporting a dog is more difficult than transporting a person
that fact that she hates traveling like this is also a consideration
I have had to transport Nadi by air 3 times in her life. On all of those occasions it was dramatically more difficult to transport her than it was to transport me. There is documentation that you have to get from vets and government agencies just to be allowed to do it and then once you do have the paperwork there are only certain airlines that will even allow it. Then you have the added bonus of not really knowing how your dog is going to be treated once it is out of your sight. On one flight I arrived at the baggage pickup to find that they had stowed her crate outside in the heat with no water for hours before I was able to get her. She could have died and nobody seemed to care.
Most places I've been are not very safe for pets
As much as I love having a dog, the places that I have lived have had many dangers that my home country would not have had. In Thailand, you always had to be concerned about roving packs of semi-feral dogs getting a hold of your domesticated dog in which case she wouldn't stand a chance. In Vietnam the environment is very dangerous because of the rather crazy roads here and since even the sidewalks are part of the road. I have to be on my toes anytime I take her for a walk because cars, trucks, motorbikes.... they are not going to accommodate your animal's lack of street-smarts.
It's expensive
I'm reasonably successful so this isn't a huge factor for me but there are a lot of people that I have met that got a dog, then realized that when they were going to transport it that it isn't as simple as just wanting to get on a plane with a dog... It costs a LOT of money to transport an animal and there are even situations I have heard about where customs try to shake people down for bribes, threatening to not give the animal back if you do not pay.
If you have a stable job and the ability to stay in a foreign country for long periods of time this is all fine and dandy but people need to remember that just because things are going well for you now (even in my own life) it doesn't necessarily mean that they are going to stay that way for another 15 years, which is about how long a dog is going to live if you are lucky.
For a lot of people, I think they jump into pet ownership because they only see the good side of things such as the fact that my dog is cute and well-behaved. They don't see the troubles that come along with that such as the fact that if I wanted to move to Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, or really anywhere else I could do so easily if it was just me. Introduce a dog into the situation and now there are multiple agents, government agencies, veterinarians, and special offices you have to go to that the airline owns before you ever depart.
It seriously complicates your life is what I am trying to say.
So if you find yourself living abroad and thinking of adopting a dog I commend you because there are so many dogs in the world that need this sort of help. The problem is that the process and your life after the fact is going to be a lot more complicated than it was before. So just be careful and make sure to think about this before you take the plunge. It can be a very rewarding one but I do know this about my own life before I had Nadi: I was more adventurous and moved around and did a lot more things. Now I can't really do these things so I realize that it was a tradeoff, one that I would gladly do again.
I have a very strong feeling reading this piece. I used to have a dog when I live in my parents house, which is a landed property with yard I can let the doggo run around. Looking back for the past 20 years, I haven't been able to have a yard to walk myself, I can't imagine how to raise a dog in my 600sqf apartment.
Echoing to owning a rental property, not me but the building management have a strict policy of no pets allowed. If my tenant decided to quietly have a pet dog and the neighbor complaints, I'm gonna pay the bill since I'm the owner of the property 😂 what shit is this?
I guess, the entire write up speaks a lot in terms of responsibilities. You can't go back to your country for 2 weeks without sending Nadi to pet hotel, unless you're gonna go through the heavy paperwork and transport her together with you.
Partially disagree on the last statement(for me). The trade-off is worthy simply because she is Nadi. Will you do it again? With Nadi, yes. Naming and hoping another dogividual to behave or become Nadi, I guess it's nearly impossible. I'd thought of getting a new Lucky so my kids can experience what I had when I was a kid, but I just can't. I'd rather take the kids to the animal shelter to visit then having chase out by my building management.
I don't like to think about Nadi dying but when she does I will probably not get another dog for quite some time... at least until I am "certain" that I am not going to move anymore.
The first picture of Nadi shoooosh cute. Is she asking for a treat or to pet her from you? !LUV
she is always looking for treats so yes, probably. :)
@gooddream, @tampilyne(1/1) sent you LUV.
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You're right, the title has surprised me as I know how much you love her, but I also know you're right. This goes to not only expats though.
Renting a flat with a pet is difficult no matter where you live. You can't leave the pet at home and go om a vacation for 2 weeks. You can only go to places where dogs are accepted. Caring for a pet means extra expenses and so on. It's not easy but worth it as the love and the moments of happiness you get is something that only pets can provide.
it's a tradeoff, that is for sure. one that i don't think many people are prepared for the difficulties involved in.
We have been finding something similar with Jovi lately. We are finally at the point budget-wise where we would like to do some more traveling while we are still young. Having to board her or have her stay with my in-laws isn't always an option. Like you said, we wouldn't trade her for anything, but it definitely makes things more difficult. I'd imagine it's 100x more so for an expat.
People keep telling me to get her designated as an emotional support animal but I don't even know how that process would work over here. Plus, it does kind of seem like if I were to do that, I am taking away from the people that genuinely need this sort of thing. I don't really like gaming the system, especially when it means you have to lie to a psychologist.
yeah, I think I would feel the same as you. I think there are a lot of people who game the system for sure. It boils down to entitlement and entitlement at the expense of others who are suffering just isn't cool. I have a feeling when the timing is right, things will fall into place for you. Don't quote me on that though!
I get all of this and why I think you have done a remarkable job. Everything you do is against you as you have a pet. The decisions you make are governed by can your dog come along or who will look after her. Nothing is easy and saying it how it is.
at first it was a question of "if my dog can't come than I am not going either" but when we are talking about necessary international travel, that isn't really a choice that you have.
Totally get this. Also being an expat in Thailand, earlier this year I got 2 cats. I knew they'd mean certain complications/sacrifice - but those were worth it. What I didn't account for (or predict) was dramatic changes in my life, and now I have to adapt whilst taking the cats into consideration at every step to ensure they're continued happiness. I love them like my own kids and could not be separated from them, but this does bring about sacrifices and limitations.
absolutely. There is a friend of mine here in Da Nang that was doing the right thing and adopted every stray cat she came across. She now has 5 cats and she lives alone. There were huge sacrifices that she had to make and of course when you are looking prospective places to rent having a crazy number of pets like 5 is going to limit your options even more. Now, to make things worse, her contract with the company that she has been with for many years is set to expire in early 2023 and it is looking like she is going to be forced to move back to South Africa.
She is like us, and there is no chance she would abandon her babies but I can't even imagine how expensive it is going to be to transport half of a zoo on the plane with her.
I had originally planned to come to SE Asia for a month in 2010, and this would've been the first time away from my dogs for more than a week since I was in 5th grade when I got my little beagle mut. I had no idea this dog was going to live on Ol' Roy and defy the odds by making it to 25+ years old or whatever she was in 2010 when I came to Cambodia in mid-late twenties. I took in my stepsister's golden retriever years later when she blew up her trailer with a meth lab.
The golden retriever defied the odds too, and I guesstimated she had to be at least 17+ in 2010. Unfortunately I met a girl, and at the one-month mark I decided to stay a little longer, my parents said no problem to watch my dogs a little longer, but then both suddenly fell ill and died within hours of each other, I guess they just couldn't be without me that long, but their health wasn't good enough to travel nor did I have the funds to bring them here.
In the end it was the reason I stayed in SE Asia, mostly because it was like I had that non-dog owner freedom for the first time in my life since 5th grade. Needless to stay, I still love dogs, but wouldn't get one here because my future is too unstable, I can't afford to transport a dog, and I don't believe in taking a dog for a year or two and ditching it with another foreigner like I've seen happen so much.
Nadi is a trooper, I can see why she's a special part of your life, those puppy pics are ridiculous.
This is something that almost every expat that I know needs to understand. Sure you might THINK that you are stable but as a non-citizen you and I and all of them are only one arbitrary government decision away from no longer being welcome here. Be nice to other people's animals in the meantime I guess.
I love the story about your dogs back home. That could be a short film. Tragic and humorous at the same time!
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