So, I have been mentioning the pups on and off in this blog but when we chat with friends the first thing they ask is how are the dogs? It’s been quite and adventure and an adjustment for sure. When we walked the dogs around Seminole Heights we avoided other dogs like the plague. Finn would bark like crazy at any dog that wasn’t Myra or Coco and Doodle like he was protecting me from a vicious attack. Bella also barked but usually she calmed down pretty quickly. The voyage to Greece went quite well, overall- they did fine on the plane and the ferries. Finn was not a fan of the trains but overall, we couldn’t have hoped for better. We took JSX, K9Jets, and La Compagnie to fly the pups from Miami to Milan- feel free to reach out to me for any info about flying pups over 8kg.

When we arrived at our apartment, we spotted a nice little spot for potty breaks across the street, and we knew there was a bigger park within .25 mile- being in the city center is a bit noisy but has its advantages for the dogs. I will never forget our first few outings- we did our usual walk, trying to avoid other dogs on the leash but the locals were not having it- apparently dog owners here want the dogs to meet, say hello, have a sniff. I was annoyed at first like, let me avoid this meeting so my dog doesn’t lose his mind, but eventually we all got used to the process. Dogs sniff, owners asks – boy or girl, more sniffs, and if Bella doesn’t bark and interrupt, the pups either want to play or say goodbye and move on. Finn has done great with the Greek dogs, mostly enjoying the meetings and getting along with most other pups. Bella, on the other hand, is still a barker, so we walk her around and avoid any meetings still.

While Finn is good with the pups here, he is not doing well with all of the cats. Allegedly Greece is home to 3 million stray cats. Vacationers and locals feed them but unfortunately most are not fixed, and a lot of local rescues try and help but it’s an uphill battle. For weeks, we had a situation when an overprotective momma with new babies attacked Finn. We had walked too close to her kittens, I guess. For days I would check the cameras downstairs to see if the kittens were anywhere near the front door. I was afraid every time I had to take Finn to pee; it was getting ridiculous. Finally, I decided to take my power back, and I bought a gun- a water gun. I’m not proud of it but it seemed to solve the problem. The kittens are now older, and Finn is now wiser, and I have been able to stop walking with my water gun.

Having spoiled pups on Crete can be challenging. Some of the creature comforts we had in the US just don’t exist here. Some still look at dogs less as part of the family and more as security, sometimes they don’t come in the house. There’s no doggie daycare and finding an overnight babysitter is challenging, to say the least. Most Cretans live with family, so if they leave town someone is always there to watch the dogs. I do think things are changing here, we see new doggie spa’s popping up and we found a great one very near to our apartment that we love. We also found a great dogsitter in the city center and the pups have stayed for 3 nights already and we booked for another stay in December/January. This is a huge win so we can take vacations now and not worry about our furry kids.

A game changer in Heraklion has been the recent reopening of the walkway and park on top of the Venetian Wall in the city center. No cars, rarely any cats, mostly just walkers and dog owners. We can usually find anywhere from 3-10 dogs playing, off leash. Our dogs do great off leash with other dogs, so they have had many days of playtime up there and we don’t have to worry about traffic so it’s a win-win. When it’s nice weather we try to go a couple times a week.

So overall the family is doing well. The weather has been amazing and I’m trying new things all the time. This weekend I am going to a friend’s house, and we are harvesting her olives, a true Cretan experience! Will miss Thanksgiving but loving the holiday decorations around town and can’t wait to experience a European Christmas market. There’s a small one in Heraklion and we will also get to see one in Amsterdam with Jen and Stacey! Many exciting updates to come!