Best way to introduce pets to new home?

We will be moving in a couple of weeks. We have a 2 year old IG and an 8 year old Chihuahua. Whats the best way to introduce them to the new house? They have no limitations here now but do we just let let wonder around the whole house and sniff the place out? Keep them in a certain area for the first few days?

Re: Best way to introduce pets to new home?

When 6 year old Bella came into our home (I adopted her from my friend who also has a dog and another cat),
we let her roam around to get used to the place. I showed her where the litter box and her food/water bowls were but after that we pretty much ignored her for a while.
She walked along every wall, crawled under anything she could, sat in the corners of the rooms just looking.
It took about 3 hours for her to settle down and realize that the dog was not there.
After that, she was all over us and still is.

Re: Best way to introduce pets to new home?

When we bought our house we spent a few weeks painting, cleaning, etc. We would bring Misty with us so she could sniff it out and get to know it while we were there and then bring her home. She didn't have any problem once we were in, just settled right in and we gave her free run of the house (crated when we weren't home as per in the apartment).
Espresso, we just brought him with us when we moved in - after all the moving was done. He yowled for a few hours, then hid under the bed for a day and then he was fine.

Re: Best way to introduce pets to new home?

We just opened the door, let them in and let them check the house out for themselves.
We didn't have a fence at the time so I put on their leashes and walked them around the backyard.
We didn't have any problems.