Small Town Residents?

I live in a small town, migrated from Los Angeles to the east coast and decided to stay. Our town does not have any dog parks but we have a fairly active all breed club which I belong to. Also, my agility class has quite a following so we have a nice group between agility and breed folks.

I would suggest contacting the humane society and vets as well. I would think they would be your best sources.

Good Luck!

Fairbanks is a small town (though the second largest in Alaska--after Los Anchorage "it's such a nice city and so CLOSE to Alaska!" [])--of about 35,000, a college town. I don't live IN Fairbanks, I'm like the other 50,000 in the area, who live out in the woods up to 60 miles away. The Fairbanks North Star Borough (we don't have counties) has about 80,000 people but spread way the heck all over the place.

Fairbanks is an island--instead of water we are surrounded by wilderness. Most places in Alaska are either water islands or wilderness islands. The small town mentality rules everywhere except Anchorage.

You have to make it happen for yourself in a small place. But not right away. First, meet all your neighbors and get to hobnobbing and such. Walk around and talk to people. If you are the churchgoing type that's a good place to start. If not, just being out there walking your dog is a good way to meet people. Also, the local coffee shop and grocery store, feed store, grange, post office and such places are good for starting a conversation.

Get to know people first, beat around the bush, don't be in a hurry to do anything. Be friendly, but realize that in most small towns newcomers from cities are often too direct and seem pushy.

If you are on a military base it might be a lot easier to start there with the other families and get something organized as to dog playdates and such. Also, if they know you are military they'll know you aren't staying, and that might be a barrier to getting close to folks.

Good luck!

ORIGINAL: jeano

Fairbanks is a small town (though the second largest in Alaska--after Los Anchorage "it's such a nice city and so CLOSE to Alaska!" [])--of about 35,000, a college town. I don't live IN Fairbanks, I'm like the other 50,000 in the area, who live out in the woods up to 60 miles away. The Fairbanks North Star Borough (we don't have counties) has about 80,000 people but spread way the heck all over the place.

Fairbanks is an island--instead of water we are surrounded by wilderness. Most places in Alaska are either water islands or wilderness islands. The small town mentality rules everywhere except Anchorage.

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ROFL!!  I am an Alaskan just not there right now thanks to the military. I think we are the few families here to have Alaskan license plates.

--Sara

Thanks for the advice too. I am sure things will get much easier once the kids resume school. That is what is the hardest is the heat and having kids home for the summer. We moved right when their old school let out.  I am sure we will meet lots of doggie pals on the walks to school.

--Sara

[sm=rotfl.gif]

OMIGOD! Well, then you know exactick-ally (as Popeye would say) what I'm talking about! Where in AK you from?

Figgers I'd be the one to write you a big reply. LOL!![]

Eagle River. Which I like to say is a suburb of Anchorage. I miss driving on the Seward highway and taking pictures of the glaciers rising from the bay. I also miss the northern lights.  I had to get my son some Motrin at 3 a.m. and, as I was coming home, the northern lights were visible.  When the military piece of our lives are over, we are heading straight for Alaska. We visit there every 2 years though. Flying there can be expensive.

--Sara

BTW, the new family that is renting the house across the alley from our house just arrived from Alaska. Too funny.

I wish for an Alaskan cool summer though.

I have always lived in small towns and have alwyas made friends easily.  Just go walking with your dog--works every time!!!

I live in a little town just south of Sherman, Tx. We don't have animal control, per se, though there is one city worker who is pretty good at corraling loose dogs. There are no dog parks but there is a domestic animal at large ordinance. We can see other dogs at the Petco in Sherman. But the only dog event we've been to was this year and it was the "Dog Days of Summer" in Denton, north of Dallas on I-35.

Welcome to Texas!!!  It looks like on the map I found that you are west or southwest of DFW not too far from Abilene.  I believe Abilene is about a 3 hour drive from DFW.  What other larger cities are around you?  Are you in the Gorman county area?  just throwing some guesses out there.  You may not be close enough for every day play, but you may or may not (judged by my rough guestimates) be just a few hours away from DFW where you can finds all sorts of dog parks and shows and other dog friendly agendas for a weekend or day trip.  There are quite a few of us I-Doggers within a few hours of DFW.  There are probably some places closer to you like maybe even Abilene that have more dog friendly options for you. 

Another Alaskan checking in!  Sara, if it makes you feel any better, it's *too* cool here this summer.  Everyone is complaining about it. 
 
My mother was a military brat, and she went to high school in San Angelo.  Unfortunately she didn't like it too much, I don't think.  I hope you find the fun doggie people soon.  It sounds like you have a great place to live, so that's a good start. 

ORIGINAL: acesmom

Another Alaskan checking in! Sara, if it makes you feel any better, it's *too* cool here this summer. Everyone is complaining about it.

Yeah! Tell me about it!! We've have a couple days of nice weather but for the most part I feel gypped out of summer. [] Sorry....carry on... didn't mean to hijack!

ORIGINAL: cyclefiend2000

yep. no dog parks here. though they are supposed to be building one in the big park in our city. not sure about dog clubs here though.

I see you are in Taylors SC. I am in Pelzer. I moved her 2 yrs ago from PA. While there isn't as much to do here as there was in PA, it has gotten better in the time I've been here.

I am not generally a fan of dog parks. But the one at CP looks to be pretty nice as far as a facility goes. There is a Greenville kennel Club, but as you have mixed breeds they probably wouldn't interest you much. There is a German Shepherd Dog club that hold lots of matches and stuff. They encourage all breeds to participate. And there is an active Agility community here. There is the Paws at the Falls and the Bark in the Park. So, Greenville is getting doggier[]

ORIGINAL: boneyjean

Welcome to Texas!!!  It looks like on the map I found that you are west or southwest of DFW not too far from Abilene.  I believe Abilene is about a 3 hour drive from DFW.  What other larger cities are around you?  Are you in the Gorman county area?  just throwing some guesses out there.  You may not be close enough for every day play, but you may or may not (judged by my rough guestimates) be just a few hours away from DFW where you can finds all sorts of dog parks and shows and other dog friendly agendas for a weekend or day trip.  There are quite a few of us I-Doggers within a few hours of DFW.  There are probably some places closer to you like maybe even Abilene that have more dog friendly options for you. 

We are in Tom Green county. Midland, Odessa and Abilene are all an equal 90 minute drive from where we are. DFW is about 5 hours away. Thank you for the welcome.

--Sara

ORIGINAL: acesmom

Another Alaskan checking in!  Sara, if it makes you feel any better, it's *too* cool here this summer.  Everyone is complaining about it. 

My mother was a military brat, and she went to high school in San Angelo.  Unfortunately she didn't like it too much, I don't think.  I hope you find the fun doggie people soon.  It sounds like you have a great place to live, so that's a good start. 

The only thing I ever complained about with Alaska was the amount of light during the summer. It always threw me off. Yes, I can understand having a very mild summer would cause Alaskans to complain. Especially if the winter may be a brutal one.

San Angelo is a very nice place to live. Especially if you have a family. For those who have been here before several years ago, San Angelo is changing. It is becoming more of a small city than a town. Many businesses are building around here.

We did not choose San Angelo on purpose either. The Air Force decided to put us here and I consider it a blessing. We were able to buy our very first house. The house is more than one of those first-time owner houses too. It may need some cosmetic updating since it is stuck in the 70's, but everything with it is sound. The carpet is amazing too.

You see what happened was that in late 2005, we were supposed to move to Omaha, Nebraska for Offutt AFB. My husband was to re-train into a new career field in Mississippi first though. He was to get there the week Katrina hit Biloxi.  So, his class was cancelled until everything was repaired and we lost moving to Offutt. In Feb. of 2006, dh went to Biloxi for his class and we moved to San Angelo in late May. Goodfellow AFB was 4th on our list of where we wanted to go.

Thank you everyone for the advice.

--Sara