Relocating to a new country is rarely simple, and when a pet is part of the family, the process carries an extra layer of responsibility — and worry. Many people postpone their move to Portugal simply because they’re afraid of putting their dog or cat through a stressful journey. It’s a fear Elena Bykovets, CEO and Founder of RelyOn Relocation®️, hears often from clients.
To help answer it properly, Elena invited Yulia Soltan, a certified animal behaviorist who works with the behavioral issues of cats and dogs, to join her for a live conversation. Together they walk through what a pet owner actually needs to do — starting weeks before the move — to make the journey to Portugal calmer for everyone involved, human and animal alike.
This first part focuses on two stages of the process: preparing your pet before the move, and getting through the travel day itself. In the next part of this series, they will cover the first weeks of adaptation in Portugal and the insurance side of pet ownership.
If you’re planning a relocation with a pet, this conversation is a practical starting point — not a list of abstract rules, but real, testable steps that reduce stress on both ends of the leash.
The Conversation
Elena: Today we’re welcoming Yulia, a certified animal behaviorist. I really want to explain to our followers how things work in Portugal, and how exactly they need to prepare themselves and their pets before they come here. Yulia, can you introduce yourself a little?
Yulia: Sure. Hello, everyone. My name is Yulia. I’m a certified animal behaviorist, and I work mostly with the behavioral issues of cats and dogs. Today we’re going to talk about how to prepare your pet for relocation. It’s a stressful process for people — but even more so for animals. So preparation really does matter.
Elena: Many expats delay their relocation altogether because of fear for their pets. Have you heard that a lot?
Yulia: I have, and I understand it. I have a dog myself — I actually got him here in Portugal — but I do understand that relocation can feel scary for a pet owner. It might genuinely hinder the process of traveling and relocating, because it feels frightening. That’s exactly why it’s important to know how to prepare in advance and ease the process for both you and your pet.
Elena: I totally agree, and that’s why this topic matters so much for relocation planning. It takes time — documents, preparation, all of it. So let’s start with what you can do before the move.
Yulia: Before the travel date — I’d say starting about a month prior — there are things you can do to ease the process. The first one is to desensitize your pet to the sounds of travel. You define what your pet is actually going to experience. Let’s say it’s a car ride, then a plane flight. About two or three weeks before the travel date, you turn on recordings of those sounds — search “car ride sounds” or “airport noise” on YouTube — during feeding time. It works for both cats and dogs. Start on a very low volume so they’re not afraid, then gradually increase it over a few days, always during feeding. The idea is to build a positive connection between those sounds and your pet’s nervous system.
Elena: That’s genuinely a surprise to me. I never heard about this, and I never prepared my own dog this way.
Yulia: It’s not a problem if it wasn’t too stressful for your dog — every dog and cat is different. But in general, it’s a very effective way to prepare for anything scary that’s coming.
Elena: What else would you recommend?
Yulia: It’s really important to turn the travel carrier into a safe space. For a lot of pets, the carrier is a scary object. So we use their primal instincts — treats and food — to build a positive association with it. About three weeks before the travel date, take the carrier out and put it inside your home. Let it just become part of the environment, part of the furniture. Open it, put treats inside. Don’t force your pet in, and don’t lock the door. It has to become a place where they go to rest and eat, not a place they’re forced into.
Elena: So they get used to it gradually.
Yulia: Exactly. You’re building a history of them enjoying their time inside it. So on the actual travel date, when you have to put them in, they already associate it with something good — treats, rest, safety. One more important point about the carrier: if you already own one and it has a history of something frightening attached to it, I’d strongly suggest buying a new one for the move. Cats and dogs leave a hormonal trace connected to certain emotions. If your cat was, say, taken to surgery inside that bag and was very scared, the carrier will carry the smell of that fear for them. It becomes much harder to turn it into a safe space.
Elena: I never knew that either. My dog only traveled once, and honestly, it wasn’t a good experience — he was scared the entire three and a half hours on the train. After that, I decided that staying home without me would be less stressful for him than traveling with me.
Yulia: That’s a completely valid decision. But going through these steps in advance really can change the outcome if you do decide to travel together. The last thing I’d recommend before the move is building a routine. Cats and dogs are ritualistic animals — for their nervous system, predictability matters. If they know that playtime always follows feeding time, for example, that structure becomes a kind of anchor that helps them adjust more easily once they’ve relocated. It can feel tiring to build a schedule, not just for yourself but for your pet too — but it genuinely helps them feel calmer, because predictability means safety to them.
Elena: That makes complete sense. And I want to add something on the practical side. You mentioned that behavioral preparation needs about a month. On the documents and legal side, we recommend starting at least 60 days in advance. Portugal is part of the EU, so pet relocation largely follows EU pet movement regulations, and the requirements are strict. Exact documents depend on where you’re coming from — another EU country, or somewhere outside the EU makes the process more layered — but the core requirements are largely the same: a pet microchip certificate, a rabies vaccination certificate, an EU pet passport or health certificate depending on the country, an owner declaration confirming non-commercial movement, and a rabies antibody test on entry into Portugal. On top of that, always check the specific airline’s own pet policy, because it varies significantly from carrier to carrier. Document preparation and psychological preparation should really run in parallel — they can’t be separate processes.
Yulia: Thank you for laying that out — it’s such an important part of relocation that people don’t always think about. I can say from my own experience that I once wanted to travel somewhere with my dog and wasn’t ready for the requirements on the Portuguese side. Leaving the country is easy — it’s re-entering that becomes complicated if you haven’t prepared. Because I hadn’t started early enough, I ended up having to leave him behind that time. That’s exactly why I recommend starting preparation 60 days ahead and confirming you have everything Portugal requires.
Elena: Very important. Now let’s move to the travel day itself — what can be done to reduce stress on that specific day?
Yulia: The bulk of the work happens before the travel date, but there are a few key things for the day itself. First, avoid overfeeding your dog or cat two to three hours before you leave the house — many pets feel seasick during travel, and a full stomach can make that worse and even affect their breathing if they’re sick.
Elena: So it’s actually safer for them to be a little hungry?
Yulia: Yes, safer — a bit like before a medical procedure. Then, follow your established routine on moving day itself: walk, play, or feed at the usual times. That consistency gives them a sense of safety. Try to let them go to the bathroom before you leave, so they travel with an empty bladder if possible — harder to control with cats, but with dogs, a longer walk beforehand really helps.
Elena: If you’ve built the routine over the previous weeks, you’ll already know roughly when your pet needs the bathroom, since it usually follows feeding time.
Yulia: Exactly. Another important detail: put a “safety blanket” inside the carrier — something that carries your strong scent. A pillowcase, a towel, an old sweatshirt. For pets, our scent means safety, and it helps calm them during travel. And finally — and this one is genuinely important — you as the owner need to stay calm and reassuring. Animals read our emotional state through smell; our hormones carry a scent, and pets can pick up on whether we smell like safety or like anxiety. If you’re calm, your pet is far more likely to feel calm too.
Elena: That’s easier said than done during a relocation, when you’re rarely fully calm yourself.
Yulia: True — you’re stepping into a new life, meeting everything you were hoping for, or bracing for. But knowing that your own calm directly helps your pet can actually be reassuring for you as the owner too. Those are the most important things to keep in mind for the day of relocation itself.
Closing
Preparing a pet for relocation isn’t about eliminating stress entirely — it’s about giving your dog or cat enough familiarity and predictability that the unfamiliar feels a little less frightening. A month of small, consistent steps, paired with the right documents started 60 days in advance, makes a genuine difference on the day itself.
In the next part of this series, Elena and Yulia will talk about what happens after arrival — how pets adapt to their new home in the first weeks, and what insurance and ongoing care look like for pet owners settling in Portugal.
If you’re planning a move to Portugal with a pet, having the legal and logistical side handled by professionals can make the entire process significantly calmer and more structured. Book a consultation with RelyOn Relocation®️ (AMI 24842) to discuss your situation and the most suitable pathway for you and your pet.
