Country dog to Suburban dog? Any experience?

[Lisa0825]

My sister has 2 Swiss Shepherds about 2 years old. They live on 23 acres, so they have plenty of room to run. When not leashed, they tend to run off at the littlest distractions - butterflies, etc, so my sister worries about how they would adjust to living in a smaller area, because they are thinking of moving. She is interested in knowing if anyone has experience with moving from the "country" to suburbia, and if there were any challenges you had - not having neighbors for example, to having neighbors... wondering if the dogs will be barking and excited at more activity all around them.

In case it matters, she is currently in rural Maine, and looking to move to small town New Hampshire.

Thanks for any advice.

[MADem]

1. FENCE that yard! Keep the dogs safe!

Give them regular exercise, a reasonable routine, a good long walk each day, a jaunt at a dog park for socialization, and keep them tired and happy. Don't let them roam, get them used to a leash, because the dog officer's gonna gitcha otherwise!

Age takes care of a lot of issues--the older a dog gets, the less hyper they get, too.

[Lisa0825]

2. Yeah, I am sure they will fence if/when they move.

They are just worried the adjustment might be difficult for the pups. Good point about age! They are barely out of puphood at 2!

[Granny M]

3. We have a country dog.

I take her when we go visit our kids in their towns. She really struggles with all the dogs in their neighbourhoods and barks a lot. If we ever have to move to town, I will plan on getting a dog trainer to help me desensitise her. When we adopted her, she had a lot of issues and the trainer did help a lot to get her to tolerate the cat (best buddies now), so I'm sure she could be helped to live in town.

[Lisa0825]

5. Thanks! Good point... maybe they should take the dogs on a lil vacation to a busier area and see

how they do.

[LakeArenal]

4. We had two dogs that moved to the city

They hated it. They barked at first and neighbors complained. We caught the neighbor kid throwing fire crackers at them when they thought we weren't there. They started to turn on each other. We had to move back to the country. Sorry to be so negative. Maybe we were horrible neighbors or maybe they were horrible neighbors. I don't know but it was a bad experience for us. Now we want to retire to central America but our old dog would never make the flight. So we are postponing our move until our beloved dog is resting in peace. He's ten. It could take years. But we love dogs. More than people. Well, more than neighbors for sure.

[Lisa0825]

6. They'll be buying a house, so they don't want to get there and regret it.

Their dogs are very important to them, so if they are unhappy, they'd take a loss, sell the house and move if they had to.

I totally understand how you feel. I would like to retire in Central America someday as well. My cats are all 10-12 years old now, so I am already thinking ahead that if I get another in the next 10 years, it would be a mature adult so it would not cause me to put off my plans for too long.

Thanks for the honest input!

[LakeArenal]

7. See you in Costa Rica?

They have a no kill law in CR. There are dogs everywhere looking for a home.. Can't wait to start a new adventure there, hope to see you!

[Lisa0825]

8. It could happen!

My best friend and her husband are also interested, so we are talking about buying a place together when the time comes. I love the Latin American cultures, and the lands are so beautiful. I have been on an International Living mailing list for a couple years.... I read and dream.