Moving to the Country - Part 2

Moving from the city to the country for the first time is a big move, for both you and your pets, and it should be carefully thought through. A successful transistion will depend on what you want from your rural lifestyle as well as your basic everyday needs. Once the financial requirements are within your means, the right location and property choice will be the key to your long term happiness with country home living. Too isolated and you might be uncomfortable or unable to get help in an emergency, it will also be harder to get help with your pets when necessary. However, too many neighbors close by and you might be "bothered" by their activities. If you stay inside the city limits, you'll get more services but there might be limitations on the number and/or kinds of pets you can have. Lots of land can be scenic and private, but too much land and there may be more to maintain than you can afford financially or logistically. Not enough land and your horses (if you have them) might eat the grass away to mere dust. In other words, you'll want to find the right balance that will work for you and your pets specific requirements. The first thing you'll want to do is decide if the move will work for both you and your pets that you already have. For instance, if you have an outdoor cat that you absolutely can't part with you'll want to think twice about moving. Chances are if your cat is like others I know, there is a pretty high chance that it will run away when taken to a new outdoor environment. There may also be new dangers to face such as coyotes, owls and other predators. If your looking to expand your furry family with new arrivals, then you'll want to consider what new animals and pets you would like to have on your place, inside and out. The desire to have one kind of pet may lead to a certain requirement for another. For example, if you would like to have a pygmy goat, you'll want to have a dog specifically bred to protect small animals from predators such as coyotes. Because, if you have horses, you'll want to avoid cattle dogs that tend to want to herd livestock because they will bother and chase the horses when you are not around - it's not their fault, they are just doing what they are bred to do. We will look at choosing the right pets, animals and livestock for your particular situation in another entry soon. Once you've decided on the pets and animals you'd like to have, you'll want to determine what this will require logistically, for instance, how much land will you need to support feeding the number of horses you want. Do you want a pond, a workshop, a barn, a tractor, etc., these all require land and money. You'll want to consider how much time you have to spend maintaining the place and caring for your animals and/or how much money you would be willing to spend to have someone else do the work for you. Concurrently, you'll want to determine your monthly budget, including animal care expenses, maintenance costs, transportation expenses (gasoline cost when traveling to and from town), and finally your property taxes and monthly mortgage. Usually the less money you have to spend the further from town you'll have to go to be able to afford the land you want. And, don't forget to consider how important it will be for you to get to town within a certain time frame, both for work and in case of emergency. And last but not least, make sure your home is in the proper zoning for what you would like to have, for instance, if it is within a small town's city limits will they allow horses. As you see, there are a lot of considerations to ponder when moving to the country. There is a lot more to it than just pastoral views, chirping birds and beautiful pond waters. Successful country home living is also a lot of work and yes some sacrificing too. Next time, we'll back track some and examine the above considerations in more detail one at a time, beginning with deciding what kind of pets to have and/or add to your family.