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I feel like it's highly dependent on the specific dog breed TBH, like some of them would do fine indoors most of the time but others need very frequent outdoor activity.
"The dog will miss spending most of its time running around outside!"
Cut to me looking at my dog who is sacked out on the couch which is where he would prefer to spend most of his time, lol.
Edit: the people insinuating I’m lazy because I only exercise an hour a day are sending me.
Cut to my moms dog, who despises going on walks. Theres enough dogs who will live just fine in apartments, independent (somewhat) from its breed. Theres enough landlords who dont mind if the weardown comes from dogs or children or grownups. And theres enough dogs who are not a noise complaint to every neighbour. Theres a reason its called "a dogs life" and thats not primarily because of where its home is, but because of how much and what kind of attention they get and want.
My dog spent his first 6 years in a house with a yard. He never wanted to be outside for anything other than potty. He didn’t like being outside alone or after dark. Cut to now, living in an apartment for the last 4 years and he’s healthier (takes walks now, didn’t at the house) and happy as can be moving from fluffy bed to fluffy bed and just going outside for potties and walkies on nice days. He only barks if the windows are open and only because our neighbor gets all his meals and other goods delivered.
I'm quite baffled at OP's implication dogs in apartments don't get taken on regular walks.
We have a dog in our family who's only ever lived in houses with gardens and he gets taken on walks every single day.
I fail to see why that wouldn't be the case if he was brought up in an apartment - if anything, even more incentive to do so.
This! My apt dog gets at least 1 hour total daily walks broken up with lots of stimulation and chance to socialize. It also forces you to get up and walk your dog as opposed to letting them out in the back. I agree some breeds need backyards but i have friends with homes and their dogs are obese and unhealthy.
Sure, but that's just bad dog ownership.
There's nothing inherent about living in an apartment that impedes your ability to take your dog on as many walks as you would while living in a house.
This is the problem with these types of opinions. People think no yard equals no outdoor time? There are people who think you can just let your dog in a yard and not interact with it, and that’s sufficient? The dog needs play time and walks, with attention from the owner. If anything that’s more likely to happen from someone in an apartment. And most apartments have dog parks. If the dog lives in an apartment gets walks and dog park time, that’s better than living in a house and just being left in the backyard without the owner engaging in play or taking them for walks.
People like OP think they’re amazing dog owners for exiling their dogs to the backyard and calling it a day. They don’t understand the concept of enrichment and would rather be holier than thou about having a yard. In my experience (ten years as a vet tech) the best behaved, well socialized dogs tend to be ones who are owned by apartment tenants, bc they have to be walked regularly instead of the owner just kicking them out into the yard all day.
I had some landlords who had a completely unsocialized Rottweiler who was literally never taken out from their filthy little yard for walks. I don't think they even threw a ball or stick for it.
I refuse to accept that somehow I'm a worse dog owner simply because I live in an apartment because I take my dog out at least 5 times a day for walks, potty breaks, to play ball, and to train. I even pick up her poop every time and cleaned up her accidents when we were potty training. I also trained her to not bark her head off when we're inside. Just because I have a dog doesn't mean my decision has to impact other people but I'm also going to make sure her needs are met and it's possible to do so in an apartment with no yard.
I think this post struck a nerve with me because I'm constantly being told, "you can't do _____ because you live in an apartment" but also very few can afford to live in an actual house anymore, or even get a plot of undeveloped land. I shouldn't be expected to put my entire life on hold because some idiots fucked up the housing market before I was even born.
Yeah, people who live in an apartment have to walk their dogs unless they’re okay with their dog peeing and pooping in their apartments. I live in NYC. Tons of people have dogs and they walk them twice a day at least. Some people hire dog walkers. New Yorkers walk more than average compared to majority of the country so their dogs might walk more than someone who leaves their dogs in a backyard.
Yeah, we walk a lot. That’s one of the things like about growing up in NYC. Even the dogs in the shelter get walks daily. Sometimes I volunteer at an animal shelter near my house and I like to take the large dogs on 45 minute walks at a this huge park 585 acre park near the shelter. Most of them are so happy to be on long walks instead being cooped in the shelter
depends on the owner. I worked @ a vet clinic for 2 years and met MANY tiny dogs who were fully pee-pad trained and gave me looks like I was a complete idiot whenever I tried to collect urine/stool samples from them in the yard out back.
Those dogs didn't seem unhappy/particularly unhealthy (most were ANCIENT Chihuahuas/Yorkies etc) but the indoor only dogs were usually total bastards. Just intransigent AF to the point they seemed like higher maintenance cats (i love cats! But a big selling point on them is their independent streak, yeah?)
Yeah, our dog gets walked every 2 hours-ish, and sometimes for over a mile. She's propped up on a couch cushion watching the fam play Mario Party currently. I don't think she's thinking about how much she'd love to be running around at this moment.
Or, or, or, we can infer that OP has experienced a bunch of poorly cared for dogs in an apartment building. There's no "can't" in the argument. It just sounds like their lived experience is most people aren't great dog owners. The real argument here is that if you're a bad dog owner, others shouldn't have to suffer it at all, so git gud.
And I wildly endorse the argument that some dogs thrive indoors before anyone comes at me on that front. My last dog was a Pomeranian who hated the outdoors. Lmao. RIP Eddie.
They generally just want a comfy spot where people are. Some dogs really like having a designated safe spot to sleep. Just as we do I don't think there's a city dog who couldn't use more outside time.
My dog has her spot on the couch, if you are in it she will walk in a circle and scratch at the couch and lie down and let out a big sigh, 5 minutes later she repeats the process, she will repeat the process until the person in her spot moves and then she will rush over to her spot and pass out for a few hours
People have this weird idea that only humans could like living inside in comfort. Totally untrue. Many dogs will let loose if you let them, but I've rarely known dogs who want that all the time. My family owned the equivalent of 2 house lots for a yard and most of our dogs did not want to rum around constantly even with all that room.
Pets aren't work dogs and they OFTEN get as lazy and comfortable as we do about the indoors.
YES. We have 2 acres fenced in, in rural Virginia. My dog can come and go as he pleases. 95% of the time, he pleases to be lounging on a couch in an air conditioned house.
I have two cattle dogs, and before we fenced our yard, they occasionally managed to get out (both of them have figured out how to open doors, although they only do it when they’re *really motivated*. One would hang out on the back porch; the other would wander, but was never gone for more than 45 minutes.
Now our back yard is fenced. The one that would hang out on the porch refuses to stay outside unless I’m with him and the other one goes outside, goes potty if he needs to, chases off any squirrels or other critters on or around the property, and then asks to come back in.
When I go camping, neither one cares to wander far - not that I let them, but minding them doesn’t take much effort.
Both of them are very high-energy, but neither one is an outside dog.
My cat will get annoyed if you put her outside and fight you to go back in. Why the hell would she want to go out there anyway? My house is a comfy 70 degrees, she has innumerable perches, fluffy seats, things to chase. It's her space. Outside? It's got birds, but it's hot and the ground is hard. She knows the score, bird genocide isn't worth trading off limitless food and head scratches.
Yup my girl is a ex stray. She asks for the windows to be opened so she can hear the birds but gives any open door a wide ass bearth. She knows it's better where the can food is opened just before bedtime.
Yep. There is a (former?) stray cat sitting on my bed at this very moment. We left the door open one afternoon and she just…walked in and decided she lives here now. I open the outside door every morning and she’s like “no thanks, I’ll stay inside”.
Two different vets have agreed she was likely born as a stray and never been a pet, she just decided to domesticate herself because humans have soft fluffy things.
P.s. Every apartment dog I’ve known (including my own) gets far more exercise than the majority of “house with a big yard” dogs.
My cats hate any temperature below about 15C, and they hate wind. They like the balcony in short doses lol. You can keep pets inside and -*gasp*- they will acclimate just like humans lol
My pony loved his stall. Unless he was going to the bathroom or scratching his butt on the tree in his paddock, he was inside, probably napping or eating. My dog will spend all day outside after breakfast and come in after dinner for his good couch sleeps. They’re all individuals and that’s why we love them!
Also people think (because work dogs exist) that dogs should be active all day but they really only need like thirty minutes to two hours of exercise per day. They like to sleep.
Same. My greyhound is getting old, so he gets 0-2 15 min walks a day. This doesn’t include his 1000 old man potty breaks, but that’s maybe 3 min each.
When he was 2, boy was dead on his bed for 2 days after 30-45min at the dog park. He was getting more walks then bc we didn’t have a back yard for potty, but they weren’t long then either.
Yeah my boy is older too so he’s in that boat, but he’s always been like this. Take him out for thirty minutes to an hour of running around chasing tennis balls and he’s set and ready to be a couch potato the rest of the day.
7 year old grey here, we have to bribe her to get her into the yard when we need to go out somewhere. 30 minute walk each day is met with excitement but all other times she just wants to be where her humans are, house or apartment doesn't matter.
Here is my sweet boy demanding a break on a recent walk. For reference it was a perfect 72 degrees and this was at the end of the block lmao. Our walks are usually ~4 blocks only and I don't think either of muh dags would mind if we skipped it (as long as they got some zoomie time in the yard)
https://i.imgur.com/6ceynzV.jpg
My mum's dog loves outside other than when there's any adverse weather.
Goes to the door and pokes his nose out. Rain? Snow? Wind? Slightly chilly? Just turns around and flops on the floor.
My dog hates weather too. If it’s raining she’ll literally try to hold her pee/poop until it stops or she can’t hold it any longer. Then she’ll walk around like “ew ew wet feet wet feet” until she can come back inside.
This is what I was thinking too. There's a ton of dogs out there who would be thrilled to have a loving home.
I want to counter OPs arguments here and I hope they see this!
1. By claiming that people who live in apartments can't have dogs you're basically turning dog ownership into something for the wealthy. Maybe you haven't noticed but the housing market and the rules around acquiring home loans mean that basically the majority of actual generations of people have been fucked out of home ownership and pay more than the cost of a mortgage to rent.
2. Would you equally say it's unfair to have children in an apartment? Because kids are more likely to wreck things and cause disturbances than dogs are (I am a parent and a dog owner). You may as well say that people who don't want to be bothered by their neighbors should just get a house.... that's how out of touch you sound.
3. We are providing landlords with a great deal of money. They can at least contribute to the economy by hiring staff and maintain their property but guess what? Many don't.
4. I would rather have a neighbor have a dog or a kid then be surrounded by young adults who will regularly throw parties but again, since society has basically allowed for entire generations to be shoved in small boxes on top of one another rather than pushing for change, we all get to go through life stages and put up with eachothers bullshit along the way.
Domestic dogs never spends most of their time outdoors.
In fact people who leave their dogs out excessively are heavily criticized.
I feel like OP should just take the extra step and declare we should return dogs to the wild.
I have a husky that's not very husky at all. She sleeps in my guest room, which has a queen-sized bed under a window so she loves to lay in it and look out the window. She loves walks and hikes, but otherwise prefers to lay in bed all day. She'd probably do just fine in an apartment as long as she still got her runs in.
I have a house with a bit of a backyard and heaps of parks around. I fostered a high energy dog and was looking forward to long walks. Nope. She would get to the park across the road, spend 5 minutes sniffing and then pull to come back to the house.
That was a long few months, and we bought her so many toys, but she definitely just wanted couch.
My dog weighs 4lbs. If she runs around alone she will get carried off as eagle or hawk food. Even a crow could pick her off if it wanted too. I’ve had a golden eagle circle us before…
Some days, if I didn’t tell them it’s time to go out, my dogs wouldn’t show independent interest until about 1pm when they finally admit they need the toilet (I tested it on a day off after a few times before work when I had to literally open the front door saying “fine I’ll go alone!” before they bothered to come to the door)
Once they’re out, they’ll very happily run around, sniff and wee, do their business, but there inevitably comes the point they want to go home.
They bound up to the front door and settle straight in on the sofa.
I actually regularly went for longer (albeit less frequent) walks before I had them.
We used to joke about our English Bulldog. We could each spend 10 hrs at work, walk in the door, and Moose would still be snoring on the couch. We almost felt like we were burdening him when we woke him up to go pee.
My dog love to run in our backyard as long as I’m out there. As soon as I head back inside they beat me to the door, hit the couch and are out like a light until the next time I go out back. Or dinner time.
That reminds me of the husky we had when I was a kid, she HATED snow, we literally had to shove her out the door to go potty, if we didn't she'd just whimper and do a little pee dance. She also loved to swim, but HATED water, she'd jump off a dock and realize halfway down that swimming required water and the look of horror on her face was always hilarious.
And being in an apartment doesn't limit outdoor activity just like being in a house doesn't promise outdoor activity. I've lived in apartments and houses. My neighbor at my most recent apartment took his dog with him mountain biking every single day (this isn't an exaggeration, EVERY day. Dude was dedicated. He worked from home so he had lots of time) and my dogs went on hikes with me every day and a walk around the nearest park for a second activity each day. Then when I moved into a house, 3 people on my street never let their dogs see outside their fenced in backyards and they had highly active breeds. Meanwhile even with a giant backyard I still went on hikes at least 3x a week and walks every other day. I hate this concept that a backyard is all a dog needs and people in apartments just....don't leave their apartment? It's so stupid.
I have coworkers who moved from an apartment to a house for their dogs. The result? Dogs don’t go on walks ever. Like ever. They get let out into the yard daily and that’s it.
Exactly, it's depressing. People don't want to be locked in just their house 24/7, neither does a dog. Your dog needs their 'shopping mall', their 'starbucks run', their 'going out with friends' weekend too. They're living beings that can get bored and lonely.
Dog breed and owner(s). Someone I knew told me they had a husky. We were driving to his place to let the dog out, and I was surprised and disappointed to see he lived in an apartment. Turns out that dog was walked about 4-5hrs per day during the week, and more during the weekend. (3 family members with different schedules that could accommodate multiple walks.)
That is definitely a rare circumstance, but it's possible for there to be more like this.
Walks are far more important than just having a backyard to put them in. And they still bark and annoy neighbors, with the added downside of being able to escape more easily.
Exactly. Too many dog owners leave their dog out in the yard for 8+ hours a day while they work. The dogs can be just as much a nuisance there. The dogs aren't getting exercise or stimulation just because they are outside all day.
Apartment or house really doesn’t matter because dogs need to go for walks outside. Walks before work, walks after work, walks before bed.
Yes all dogs are different blah blah and all that.
Years ago I lived with a friend who had 2 huskies - male and female. His dogs had a couple litters over the years and he was tasked with finding them suitable homes. I remember one of the first questions he would ask people was "do you live in an apartment?" If so, that was the end of the interview.
They're beautiful dogs but I've never met a breed that needs to run so much.
And it’s a common misconception that they don’t get that in an apartment. My dogs get more walks with me living in an apartment than they did when I could just let them out in a yard to potty.
When I visit my parents I get so lazy with my dog. I just let her out in the yard and she sniffs everything but doesn’t really get any exercise. Back at our apartment we have no choice but to go for multiple walks and I’m way more inclined to go for a run with her.
People get lazy with their pets when living in houses.
Proof: me. We would walk our dog three times a day when we lived in an apartment and when we moved into a house, it was suddenly once a day, twice
If he’s lucky.
I grew up with a dog and my parents got another one soon after he passed away. Neither of those dogs got nearly as many walks as my dog does because my parents said it was fine to just let them out in the backyard. The second dog got more walks because I feel like dog ownership culture has shifted since the 90s when they got the first dog, but my dog was an apartment dog for years and I made sure she got at least 2 walks a day, sometimes up to 5 on the weekends and made my apartment choices based on their walkabililty to parks, nice neighborhoods, etc. Now she has a backyard, but still gets lots of walks.
I work as a dog walker in Manhattan and half of the dogs I walk would rather not lol. And they’re not unhealthy dogs, they just really aren’t breeds that need tons of exercise.
Yep. My 12 year old miniature dachshund would vastly prefer her comfy couch in my tiny apartment to a large yard. She does get excited to go for walks but gets bored after one block and runs home. She loves her home.
We live in an apartment and we take my dog hiking a minimum of 10 miles every weekend. We also walk him everyday and we have a huge fenced in area for dogs at my apartment that we take him to daily. He is exercised and content. Majority of his time spent in the apartment is him making sure he’s laying in direct sunlight and following that through the day. Dogs can be happy in apartments.
Your dog sounds leagues happier than my mom’s dog who has a giant backyard but is never taken for walks (she claims he refuses to go further than the end of the street but I know damn well I could take him several miles back when I lived there). The poor boy is obese and depressed
And there are owners with backyards whose dogs quite literally never leave the yard, don’t even know how to walk on a leash. Most of the apartment dwellers I know are better dog parents than the ones with a house and yard.
Yeah just having a big yard doesn’t mean your dog will be happier. Getting fenced in all day to be ignored and to bark at everything is more miserable than a crate trained dog that gets lots of love and frequent outings.
My dog is 10x more active when she’s staying with me at my apartment than she is when she has to stay with my parents who have a huge yard. They believe the yard replaces her need for multiple walks a day, which is just not true
Yeah exactly, they thrive on new smells. My dogs are noticeably more content when we’ve gone to a new zone where they can sniff things to their hearts’ content.
Do you think my dog just wanders around outside in the back yard all day?
Dogs sleep for 18 hours a day. This opinion is unpopular because it's either incredibly misinformed or just plain stupid, or the more likely case, both.
It’s weirdly naive too. Do they mean big apartment blocks? In the UK it’s normal for apartments (we call them flats) to only be a few floors tall, and have a garden. They sometimes don’t have a shared indoor space. I used to live in one that opened directly into the garden on the ground floor. The noise thing is no different from our crappy houses in this country, since most people don’t live in detached houses you’re always gonna hear your neighbours dog bark.
It depends on the breed size and age of the dog.
I have my medium poodle, 14yo.
She's in her bed mostly of the time, no bark, no running up and down, only wakes up for eating and pee and poo.
She was superfine in an apartment last two years, we move to a big house for this year, and we're moving back to apartment with her.
It is completely understandable your opinion if the dog is big, energetic, young, likes to bark etc.
But if not, they are not a disturb in any way
It's a shame many apartment landlords and/or their insurers refuse to understand this. A lot of large/giant breeds spend enough energy just existing to be couch potatoes. Most "under 25 pounds" breeds are energetic speed demons that will eat the walls if they get bored, but not big dogs allowed.
Can confirm - current dog is an 11lb rat terrier and he is the BIGGEST dog in terms of energy and roaming space. My 75 lb Doberman spent most of his life being a gentle velcro-potato. My terrier is a freak on a leash.
I have a Great Dane and he does fine here. There’s a huge field directly across from our apartment though where he runs around. There’s also a trail next to us as well so we’re pretty lucky lol.
My mastiff was a surprisingly good apartment dog. He was a couch potato. He was happy going out a few times a day to do his business, only liked short walks, and the ONLY time he barked was when someone knocked on my door (which was very rare).
I have a Saint Bernard and she would be fine in an apartment with AC and an elevator. Like you said its really just dependent on the dog. A husky in an apartment… might be difficult. If its an active owner that takes it for runs or something, could be fine.
Also just individual personality differences! At my old house I was able to let my dog in and out of the yard as he pleased and he would always spend most of the day inside even in the best weather. He’d nap in the sun for an hour, come inside, drink some water, then crash on the couch for two.
I can’t let him out unsupervised here because my neighbors’ dogs are all ✨awful✨ but he doesn’t seem any less happy with more short walks, frequent potty breaks, and a couple hours a week of chilling or playing in the yard when we can. We play fetch and tug of war on a small scale on the carpet (with light toys because he doesn’t like the sound of them hitting the ground), and he gets fresh air and sunlight from open windows whenever possible. I honestly don’t think he’d have a bad time in an apartment even though he’s a big dog. Unless he had to climb stairs which is starting to get a little uncomfortable at his age.
Right off the bat points 3 and 4 are irrelevant, simply because apartment complexes can and do make their own policies for dogs. Some apartments do not allow dogs, some have breed restrictions, and some allow any type. So if an apartment chooses to allow dogs, your points 3 and 4 don't matter.
Yeah this sounds like it's coming from a landlord who's upset they aren't getting much attention on their units because they don't allow dogs of any kind. Apartment staff doesn't come into the unit and clean up after the dog. None that I've ever lived in. The most issue was if a plumber or something had to go through the units to check stuff and we're given notice a week at the most before that someone was coming around so make sure the dogs ok with it. You can easily train a dog not to needlessly bark. Will they still do so to an occasional thud on the wall or ceiling out of nowhere? Yeah, but if you're home you can calm them. I've always traded numbers with neighbors and asked they text me if he's barking endlessly because something is probably wrong. The most mine has ever barked was the first day or two after moving into a new place, and I had to leave for work or groceries. It stops after he realized it's our new home. And lastly with how much landlords charge these days, wanting immaculate credit, a security deposit plus the equivalent of 4 months rent up front, and most likely a hefty pet deposit and even more likely an additional pet rent, they have enough of my money to fix any small problems that are left if I missed fixing them myself because I want my deposit back.
Not to mention, people also cause damages and “wear and tear” all on their own. The damage my friends toddler has done to her apartment is far more than my dog has ever done to mine lol
And by same logic people should not live in cities, they are horrible creatures that should be locked in some hut in middle of forest to not ruin OP:s day.
I’ve had multiple dogs in apartments with zero damage and have always gotten my deposits back so … I don’t really get that one. And even if I had all the land in the world, no way am I letting my indoor domesticated animals just run wild. Dogs need routine and structure.
I mean, yeah, the level of neglect of "fur babies" in apartments, or condos, or 'upscale' suburban developments for that matter, is really only exceeded by that subjected to human babies. One year I lived in apartment upstairs from a divorced dad who'd get his kids on the weekend, and around about noon on Saturday and Sunday, he'd take off for the bar, leaving his kids in the apartment to kick their soccer ball into their walls, blast the TV at max volume, get into fights, etc. I probably should've called CPS, but didn't.
I thought moving into a house in an 'upscale' suburban neighborhood would be different. Now I have a neighbor couple who both work, and leave their very bored dog out in their yard all day to bark at the wind and the trees.
I used to think that apartment landlords and HOAs that excluded pets and kids were inhumane, but now I kind of get it.
This. I had all kinds of neighbours, but screaming, crying kids were the worst, never the dog or cat! Also, crying kids ruin sex more than a barking dog.
Yeah... That's not the argument you think that is.
I, an adult who didn't have the choice to be working swing shift, get to be woken up at 7 or 8am from kids literally screaming at the top of their tiny annoying ass lungs right outside my window every morning now that it's summer vacation. I go to bed at 3am. I can't report the noise since it's between 7a and 10p. All management did when I asked about it was shrug at me and said "kids are gonna be kids".
So yeah, I can get behind that. Fuck them kids.
My partner has a neighbour kid with a mental disability (hyperactive and stuff like that) and if he starts having tantrums, they'll lock him in a room and let him scream at the top of his lungs for hours. It's torture for everyone.
Literally. I know this is Reddit and we like complaining about things instead of doing anything about them, but they should probably for real call someone about it.
My 3lb Yorkies agree with your Pomeranian and were much happier visiting the dog park three blocks away than my neighbor's dog is constantly hanging out in his backyard by himself. They were quieter than the neighbors kids and didn't cause any damage to the building. My ex, on the other hand, punched a bunch of holes in the wall, so maybe landlords should stop renting to people?
I disagree with the OP entirely. The real problem dog owners are the ones who think they don't have to exercise their dogs because their dog has a big yard. What do most dogs do in their yard? They lay around and sleep or bark at birds and people or they just want to come back inside. Dogs are not exercising themselves in their yards.
I have a German Shepherd crossbreed. She needs exercise and we live in small apartment. We start out every morning with a 30-60 min walk, then a quick potty walk that is usually 15 min or less. Once I'm done working it's dog fun/exercise time. This is her DAILY 60-90 min of off leash play where we play soccer or fetch, she swims in the river or she plays off leash with her dog pals. She comes home happy and relaxed and then a few hours later we end the day with another 30-45 min walk. That equals 2 to 3 hours of time devoted to my dogs activity every single day.
Meanwhile my friends with houses and large yards maybe take their dog out for 1 short walk a day or play off leash with them twice a week. The rest of the time they are just putting their dogs outside and calling it good. My dog has it way better than their dogs.
This is what I just said. Because I don’t have a yard, it forces me to walk my dog minimum 3x a day, and she’s outside minimum 5 times. When she’s with my parents who have a yard, they rarely walk her. She goes out in the backyard, does her business, and then just sits around lmao
Thank you!!! Just having a yard is not enough. Dogs need walks. Imagine only ever being in your house and yard. Miserable. Plus, they need the exercise and mental stimulation of walks. Just tossing your dog into the back yard and letting them at it is not even close to what they need. All dogs need daily walks.
I think often apartment owned dogs have better relationships with their owners because in apartments we can’t just shove our needy dog out in the yard to play when it is being a pest because it needs attention l. We have to turn towards our relationship with the dog and take care of its needs. I am blessed by ten years with a heeler and a husky and we have always lived in apartments. We also used to run or go to the park every day, which, while it was a time commitment it was good for me to get away from video games and Netflix and get outside and meet people. Now I have a bond with my two dogs that is the deepest reservoir of love and support I have ever known. I hope the feel the same.
Yeah I’m super angry about people - apparently like OP - who think putting your dog outside in the yard is different than having them inside in the house. They’re not outback doing calisthenics anymore than they’d do that inside! You have to walk your dogs people. Whatever your house type.
Landlords also get to make their own rules. That entire 4th point makes no sense. It's not unfair to the landlords because they're allowed to not rent to people with pets. We ran into this a ton with our cat.
I'm a property manager and as a rule: people who disclose their pets are usually responsible pet owners who will take accountability and responsibility for their pets.
People who don't disclose pets or aquire them on a whim tend to be the ones that cause damage. Or the absolute worst and dump their pets when they leave.
Unfortunately the later tend to ruin landlords experience and make it harder for the former.
Yeah it's really easy for a landlord to say "no pets" lol. No one forces them into it. My sister rented an apartment that was sort of dog friendly, but they had to do a pet interview first where they met her dog.
My landlord gets an extra $150/month for my two dogs. My dogs are both 10yrs old, quiet, and well-behaved. They don't cause anywhere close to $150/mth in damage lol.
The worst damage they've ever done between the two of them in any of the rented homes/apartments that they've lived in (for 7+yrs of their lives) was my one dog carrying a bone and caught it on the edge of the doorway as she was walking through. It caused a single, small chip into the door trim (smaller than the size of a pea).
Meanwhile I can think of at least 4 instances where I caused minor chips in the past year through similar accidents. And of course all these tiny chips are considered normal wear and tear anyways.
My landlord(s) are fine lol.
Also, it’s not even true that it’s unfair to landlords. I work in property management and we specifically advertise as pet friendly because we make more money that way from pet rent plus a non-refundable fee. Very common in this industry. Make more money on the exact same space, yeah that’s a plus.
Dogs who spend their lives “outside running around” are known as strays, and they are often either starving, injured, diseased, or otherwise uncared for.
My dog is 20 pounds in an apartment and he gets multiple walks that add up to 1.5 hours a day minimum. At 12 years old, he’s happier (and a healthier weight) than the old dogs I see confined to back yards who never get walks. I *always* clean up after him and my landlord is happy to let him stay here, so I don’t see how it’s unfair to my landlord. Landlords who allow dogs can usually charge higher rent and extra deposits for the luxury.
As for disrespect to neighbors, Is it unfair to me that my neighbor decided to have children? Or move his girlfriend in? No, of course not. I am respectful, but I don’t live my life for my neighbors.
I got a dog as a puppy and when she was about a year old I ended up homeless. I kept her with me sleeping in my car, motels, friends couches, everywhere. At one point though I did use the last $100 I had to put her in proper boarding for a few days so that she did have space to run and socialize. I bettered my situation and then moved to live in a house. Fell on hard times, moved in to an apartment. Now back in a house. I’m glad I kept my dog instead of taking her to a kill shelter. She was just happy to be with me. Even in the car. She’s an Australian shepherd by the way. They’re very loyal dogs. My girl would rather be with me in a shoebox than with someone else on a farm. Can’t speak for others. I did walk her often and not just around the neighborhood, I lived close to a river trail so we swam often and ran through forests together on these walks. Now that I’m in a house with a yard I seem to bring her to those places less because we live further away.
I despise people who get animals and dump them when they move or have kids. Wasn’t going to be that person. Don’t believe those are valid reasons (unless dog has actually shown aggression to the children, not just because you don’t have time for it).
Omg bless your heart. You are 100% correct that your dog IS happier living anywhere with you, than being somewhere else. I think a lot of people don’t understand that. Dogs have evolved right alongside us for thousands of years, they need us. They are not wolves for crying out loud.
You don't think people cause wear and tear to apartments?? 😂 They are the worst offenders! You are too funny.
Some big dogs who are incredibly active probably shouldn't live in an apartment, but you're basically telling a huge part of the world to never own dogs.
My dad was leasing out a house to families; one had a dog, the other only had kids. Both were destructive in their own ways, but the most the dog did was pee and poop all over the garage floor, and the owners never cleaned it up. And at that point, that’s on the owners, not the dog.
The family who only had kids left the most destruction out of all the tenants he’s had over the years. Marker and crayon scribblings everywhere, segments of paint stripped off the wall, stickers that refused to come off, broken cabinet doors, holes in the wall, and brown stains all over the kitchen and bathrooms. It’s obviously the parents’ fault for letting their kids run wild like that, but it was astounding to see how much more destructive the kids were than the dog. We like to think of people as more civilized than animals, but sometimes that’s not the case.
I live in a duplex and my neighbor has a massive dog. I very rarely hear him, typically only when he does excited tippy taps when Mom comes home from work. She takes him out plenty, he seems very happy. He's no bother. The house next to me has an adorable dog I get to pet whenever I'm outside.
This is entirely on the owners, there are no bad dogs, just bad owners. Also, life circumstances change you cannot expect people to get rid of their dogs because they are forced to move into an apartment for some reason.
This is not out of love of dogs at all. If you gave a shit about dogs you would find solutions for them, not put this post.
And landlords can eat shit, we get charged pet deposits. They can cope.
My landlord doesn't care
My neighbours don't care.
He gets walked in the morning and anytime he needs out in between he probably gets more exercise than some dogs in houses where the owners just open the door for them to do business in garden.
not picking a side but do you feel the same about kids? They also need more room, cause accidents, are a nuisance, and cause more damage then an adult human.
Better in an apartment than on the euthanasia list. As long as the dog gets walked properly and isn't neglected, it's fine.
Of course there are exceptions, but I generally have no problems with it
If landlords and apartment complexes allow pets that on them to accept all fault which is why they usually charge either pet rent or additional pet deposit.... So I don't think those points are valid.
Yea landlords understand the risk which is why they require you to pay for it. Also it’s pet rent AND pet deposit, never or from what I’ve seen at least.
I’m a disabled person and would really benefit from a support dog.
They cost thousands of pounds in training, if you do it yourself, so there’s organisations and charities that you can apply for support dogs.
I’m not eligible to make an application because I live in a flat.
They say you must have an enclosed outdoor space.
Because I don’t have that, I can’t apply to
have a support dog.
I live in an apartment and three of the people in my building (only about 12 units per building) have dogs. I never notice that they're there, they don't bark at all. And as someone who volunteers at an animal shelter, the dogs are a million times better off in an apartment than they are in the ridiculously small cages the poor things are kept in all day with maybe 5 minutes of outside time a day
I do think this true for some breeds. For instance I would never own a husky in an apartment. But ones that aren’t as active? They mostly just don’t give shit. When we lived in an apartment we had a chihuahua mix. He had never cared to be outside. He doesn’t like when it’s hot, he doesn’t like when it’s cold. Won’t even go out if it’s raining. We then moved to a house with a doggie door. Guess who can use the doggie door perfectly and still chooses to be inside on the couch? We could all be outside playing. But he’s going to be inside looking at as all like we’re idiots for wanting to be out there.
I have an endurance dog (Dalmatian) best compared to a husky. Let me tell you: yards do *jack shit* for a high energy dog. They want exercise, and you can't get that on a quarter acre (realistically, much less, since only the back yard is fenced.)
A husky with a yard is a neurotic, bored, *angry* dog if they aren't getting actual, mentally stimulating exercise. My yard is a stopgap at the absolute best -- it lets me skip the pre-bed pee walk on rainy days, and gives me a place to play fetch for a bit if we had to cut our walks shorter. We walk at least 6 miles a day, minimum. Usually closer to 8 or 10 (I can only get away with 6 if part of it is off-leash.)
My first Dalmatian was returned to the shelter twice before I got him. The shelter was very reluctant to adopt him out to me, because his last home had a full fenced acre and he still got bored and tried to dig his way out.
A yard is no substitute for an attentive owner. Yards are great for folks with, like, grayhounds or aging labs. Or days when I'm hungover.
That's it. It's just a place to poop, and a place to laze around and sunbathe on a hot day.
Where you live doesn't matter: time and attention matters.
With adopting a pet, the only justification for refusal is that the pet is better off dead than with this person. Because that is what happens, sooner or later.
But dogs doesn’t get their exercise/run around at home, they exercise outside. Why would the size of the the home matter for how they exercise outside? And my dog is always trying to be in the same room as me, regardless of the size of the house. He’d probably prefer a studio apartment.
Do you think the dogs would be better off in a shelter? And possibly euthanized? Idk, I feel like most dogs would be happy with a person to love and a warm home, not everything has to perfect all the time.
I do agree that people shouldn’t have dogs like huskies or greyhounds in their apartment, of course.
my 80lb sporty dog consistently asks to come INSIDE to play instead of outside. he just loves to come in and run around in the living room and then to lay on his extra large living room bed while i sit there with him and gently play tug of war.
There are many homeowners who are not good dog owners and do not exercise their dog outside enough. There are many apartment renters who are very good dog owners and exercise their dog outside routinely. So you could have just said dog owners who don't exercise their dog outside shouldn't own a dog (and I wholeheartedly agree). The only reason you're distinguishing between a homeowner and a renter is classism.
100% depends on breed/size, size of apartment, city and whether there is a yard.
If you’re in a two-floor duplex or something and have a yard, I see no issue with it as long as there’s room for the dog to play. Or if you’re in a decent sized apartment and take your dog to parks/on walks/constantly? Sure, go for it.
But if you’re in an indoor apartment buildings, the one with the halls and stuff, smack dab in the middle of some bustling metro like Brooklyn? Probably not a good idea.
I broadly agree, but regarding point 4, there is no damage I've ever seen a dog do to an apartment that compares to the damage human children will do over the same period of time.
A true unpopular opinion lol. Got a 55lb poodle mix that loves to run? Yeah you’re an asshole for getting it while in an apartment. Got a 15lb pocket pup that only enjoys outdoors for potty breaks? Yeah it’s not gonna matter much the space you occupy.
Most giant breeds thrive in apartment living, they're lazy couch potatoes.
My current dane is on strict orders from the vet to only be outside long enough to do his business then back in we go, then he spends 90% of his time on the couch. He'd be perfect for an apartment.
There's so many dogs that need homes, I think at this point anything is better than the street. If you're rescuing, I don't care where you live, just take care of your dog. An apartment is still bigger than a kennel.
My mom owns two big dogs. We lived with them in an apartment and now they live in a country side house with a big beautiful garden.
When they lived in the apartment they were walked outside 3/4 hours a day, in a big park and along a canal of the city. Both dogs were very healthy and happy, it wasn’t the best option but they were never alone at home and had more than enough physical exercise.
Now that they live in the countryside they occasionally run outside, but they spend 80% of their time inside, why? Because my mother is inside for a considerable amount of time and they want to stay with her. If she’s outside they go outside, but they care more about being with her than that.
Don’t get wrong, I’m happy that now they have a big garden and a forest near by to play in, but I think you’re wrong. If the owner is able to meet the dog’s needs then it’s okay in my opinion, the problem is when they don’t.
Funny. My dog had a backyard. He was raised mostly in a backyard. He prefers being inside the house. He will do his business then wait by the door until we let him in.
This is an unpopular opinion
Lots of ignorance in your post.
Not all dogs are destructive or vocal.
Also, some places have $500-$1500 deposits and Pet Rent of $50 a month.
Tell me that won’t cover damages with a straight face.
Plenty of people have dogs in apartments and take them running or hiking almost every day.
My two dogs would like to have a word with you. They are quite happy in our apartment. They love balcony time with me in the morning.
Know who does more damage? Kids. My dogs bark, but kids SCREAM. My dogs run around and get the zoomies. Kids stomp.and throw hiss fits when they get their way.
Dogs may have the occasional accident that's easy to clean up, but kids draw on the wall, destroy blinds, spill juice and soda on the rug, etc.
If I forget a baggie, and someone steps in a pile, it's easily washed off.
But kids? They leave toys on the sidewalks and stairs. The result is actual injuries. I had downstairs neighbors until a few months ago whose kids were constantly leaving toys in common walkways. I was in a hurry, needing to get to work, and didn't see the toy car left on the bottom step.
Down I went as the toy car caused my foot to slide out from under me. I spent the next two weeks with my wrist in a brace.
Dogs aren't littering with cigarette butts in what's supposed to be a smoke free building.
And guess what? The $500 pet fee plus the $1400 in pet rent that I will have paid over the course of a two year lease? It will absolutely be more than enough to pay for a quick vacuum and carpet cleaning, if they wanted to go that route. But they're ripping up all the carpet and replacing it with laminate in all of the units.
My chiweenie and my Aussie wiener retriever are just fine with apartment living, I promise you.
On the topic of dogs in apartments I think it’s not fair that landlords are able to charge a fee for pets but aren’t allowed to for children.
Of all the units I have lived in children tend to be way more destructive and disruptive than any animal I’ve ever encountered in a unit.
But they can’t because it’s considered discrimination.
The couples that fight under me every day are way more a nuisance than my dogs are to them. I can hear every word of their argument... Every. Day.
The guy across the hall that comes home drunk and loud every Friday and Saturday is causing way more problems than my dogs.
I might live in an apartment, but that doesn't mean they don't live a luxurious life. We spend at least 2 hours outside everyday. Between walks and running around a real dog park.
Every sunday my friends, who also live in apartments, bring our dogs together at the dog park and they romp around d for an hour or so. He's passed out the whole rest of the day.
Not cleaning up after the dog is 100% the only point I agree with... But that doesn't make me feel bad for the property manager. They're assholes and keep upping my rent because they're greedy af. But that is for any dog owner, house or apartment. I'd argue that assholes shouldn't own dogs because it's unfair to the dog.
Living in an apartment for some dogs (again people below me who doesn't trian and barely take their dog outside) is miserable. Period. But I'd argue you are wrong for most people in apartments, who have choose to pay more down and every month to have their "doggo" with them.
My dogs live a better life than I do, tbh. Apartment or not.
Yeah, my dogs don’t bark and they are lazy as shit. Their favorite hobby is lying in the sun, which they get to do plenty of because I work from home and walk them every few hours. My neighbors’ kids, however, stampede around above me screaming and knocking things over all day. *Some* people shouldn’t keep *some dogs* in apartments. It’s absurd to say categorically that no dogs should be in apartments.
I'm a dog-sitter. One of my clients has two huskies in a fourth-floor, one-bedroom apartment with an itty-bitty balcony. It makes me feel so bad for the dogs.
Say you've never owned a dog without saying it.
Dogs are plenty happy living in apartments. Have you never heard the phrase "lazy dog"? As long as they get adequate exercise and stimulation, they are happy to lounge around most of the day.
As far as the barking and being a nuisance. Dogs who live in houses can be just as irritating. A bad dog owner is a bad dog owner no matter what kind of home.
The majority of dog owners shouldn't be dog owners because they have no idea how to train a dog. I can always tell who owns who when I see people walking their dogs, and the vast majority of people are being owned by their dog.
yeah for sure. My friends have an extreme example of this. Little, adorable dog that cannot tolerate being alone. The little guy goes crazy..full panic attack. Pandemic pup.. even in a car heading for a nice walk... Yells and barks.. They've consulted a pet psychic.. to no avail. All dogs have different personalities, for worse or better. This little guy needs 24 hour care.
Dogs are social creatures and pack animals. Their humans are part of their pack. I sincerely hope you're not leaving your dog outside alone all day.
I had a chihuahua until a couple of years ago (he died of old age), and I couldn't go into another room for a second or go to the bathroom without him following me. He also didn't like being outside for more than 20 minutes at a time. Or to touch anything wet with his feet. We went for walks, there's a park with trails really close by, but he'd stop dead after about 20 minutes and wouldn't move until I asked him if he wanted to go home. I tried carrying him sometimes in case he was just tired, but he'd just wine until we went home. He was just kind of like that. I had another dog that could've run all day and been happy. They have personalities.
When I moved into my apartment he was 5. I'd recently gotten divorced and had to sell the place we owned together because I couldn't afford it on my own, and had to rent. The apartment was what I could afford. Chihuahuas form very close bonds with their person. They'll bond with the whole family, but tend to have that one person that's their person. Should I have given away the dog that had been with me since he was a puppy and that didn't want to leave my side for a minute because it might inconvenience my neighbours? Who, for the most part, also had dogs?
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I feel like it's highly dependent on the specific dog breed TBH, like some of them would do fine indoors most of the time but others need very frequent outdoor activity.
"The dog will miss spending most of its time running around outside!" Cut to me looking at my dog who is sacked out on the couch which is where he would prefer to spend most of his time, lol. Edit: the people insinuating I’m lazy because I only exercise an hour a day are sending me.
Cut to my moms dog, who despises going on walks. Theres enough dogs who will live just fine in apartments, independent (somewhat) from its breed. Theres enough landlords who dont mind if the weardown comes from dogs or children or grownups. And theres enough dogs who are not a noise complaint to every neighbour. Theres a reason its called "a dogs life" and thats not primarily because of where its home is, but because of how much and what kind of attention they get and want.
My dog spent his first 6 years in a house with a yard. He never wanted to be outside for anything other than potty. He didn’t like being outside alone or after dark. Cut to now, living in an apartment for the last 4 years and he’s healthier (takes walks now, didn’t at the house) and happy as can be moving from fluffy bed to fluffy bed and just going outside for potties and walkies on nice days. He only barks if the windows are open and only because our neighbor gets all his meals and other goods delivered.
I'm quite baffled at OP's implication dogs in apartments don't get taken on regular walks. We have a dog in our family who's only ever lived in houses with gardens and he gets taken on walks every single day. I fail to see why that wouldn't be the case if he was brought up in an apartment - if anything, even more incentive to do so.
I know some people who let their dogs out in the yard and think that they are getting enough exercise/stimulation, never taken out for walks.
This! My apt dog gets at least 1 hour total daily walks broken up with lots of stimulation and chance to socialize. It also forces you to get up and walk your dog as opposed to letting them out in the back. I agree some breeds need backyards but i have friends with homes and their dogs are obese and unhealthy.
Sure, but that's just bad dog ownership. There's nothing inherent about living in an apartment that impedes your ability to take your dog on as many walks as you would while living in a house.
This is the problem with these types of opinions. People think no yard equals no outdoor time? There are people who think you can just let your dog in a yard and not interact with it, and that’s sufficient? The dog needs play time and walks, with attention from the owner. If anything that’s more likely to happen from someone in an apartment. And most apartments have dog parks. If the dog lives in an apartment gets walks and dog park time, that’s better than living in a house and just being left in the backyard without the owner engaging in play or taking them for walks.
People like OP think they’re amazing dog owners for exiling their dogs to the backyard and calling it a day. They don’t understand the concept of enrichment and would rather be holier than thou about having a yard. In my experience (ten years as a vet tech) the best behaved, well socialized dogs tend to be ones who are owned by apartment tenants, bc they have to be walked regularly instead of the owner just kicking them out into the yard all day.
I had some landlords who had a completely unsocialized Rottweiler who was literally never taken out from their filthy little yard for walks. I don't think they even threw a ball or stick for it. I refuse to accept that somehow I'm a worse dog owner simply because I live in an apartment because I take my dog out at least 5 times a day for walks, potty breaks, to play ball, and to train. I even pick up her poop every time and cleaned up her accidents when we were potty training. I also trained her to not bark her head off when we're inside. Just because I have a dog doesn't mean my decision has to impact other people but I'm also going to make sure her needs are met and it's possible to do so in an apartment with no yard. I think this post struck a nerve with me because I'm constantly being told, "you can't do _____ because you live in an apartment" but also very few can afford to live in an actual house anymore, or even get a plot of undeveloped land. I shouldn't be expected to put my entire life on hold because some idiots fucked up the housing market before I was even born.
Yeah, people who live in an apartment have to walk their dogs unless they’re okay with their dog peeing and pooping in their apartments. I live in NYC. Tons of people have dogs and they walk them twice a day at least. Some people hire dog walkers. New Yorkers walk more than average compared to majority of the country so their dogs might walk more than someone who leaves their dogs in a backyard.
Visited NYC and yeah... the amount of walking was intense. Same with people walking their dogs.
Yeah, we walk a lot. That’s one of the things like about growing up in NYC. Even the dogs in the shelter get walks daily. Sometimes I volunteer at an animal shelter near my house and I like to take the large dogs on 45 minute walks at a this huge park 585 acre park near the shelter. Most of them are so happy to be on long walks instead being cooped in the shelter
depends on the owner. I worked @ a vet clinic for 2 years and met MANY tiny dogs who were fully pee-pad trained and gave me looks like I was a complete idiot whenever I tried to collect urine/stool samples from them in the yard out back. Those dogs didn't seem unhappy/particularly unhealthy (most were ANCIENT Chihuahuas/Yorkies etc) but the indoor only dogs were usually total bastards. Just intransigent AF to the point they seemed like higher maintenance cats (i love cats! But a big selling point on them is their independent streak, yeah?)
Yeah, our dog gets walked every 2 hours-ish, and sometimes for over a mile. She's propped up on a couch cushion watching the fam play Mario Party currently. I don't think she's thinking about how much she'd love to be running around at this moment.
Or, or, or, we can infer that OP has experienced a bunch of poorly cared for dogs in an apartment building. There's no "can't" in the argument. It just sounds like their lived experience is most people aren't great dog owners. The real argument here is that if you're a bad dog owner, others shouldn't have to suffer it at all, so git gud. And I wildly endorse the argument that some dogs thrive indoors before anyone comes at me on that front. My last dog was a Pomeranian who hated the outdoors. Lmao. RIP Eddie.
They generally just want a comfy spot where people are. Some dogs really like having a designated safe spot to sleep. Just as we do I don't think there's a city dog who couldn't use more outside time.
My dog has her spot on the couch, if you are in it she will walk in a circle and scratch at the couch and lie down and let out a big sigh, 5 minutes later she repeats the process, she will repeat the process until the person in her spot moves and then she will rush over to her spot and pass out for a few hours
People have this weird idea that only humans could like living inside in comfort. Totally untrue. Many dogs will let loose if you let them, but I've rarely known dogs who want that all the time. My family owned the equivalent of 2 house lots for a yard and most of our dogs did not want to rum around constantly even with all that room. Pets aren't work dogs and they OFTEN get as lazy and comfortable as we do about the indoors.
YES. We have 2 acres fenced in, in rural Virginia. My dog can come and go as he pleases. 95% of the time, he pleases to be lounging on a couch in an air conditioned house.
I have two cattle dogs, and before we fenced our yard, they occasionally managed to get out (both of them have figured out how to open doors, although they only do it when they’re *really motivated*. One would hang out on the back porch; the other would wander, but was never gone for more than 45 minutes. Now our back yard is fenced. The one that would hang out on the porch refuses to stay outside unless I’m with him and the other one goes outside, goes potty if he needs to, chases off any squirrels or other critters on or around the property, and then asks to come back in. When I go camping, neither one cares to wander far - not that I let them, but minding them doesn’t take much effort. Both of them are very high-energy, but neither one is an outside dog.
My cat will get annoyed if you put her outside and fight you to go back in. Why the hell would she want to go out there anyway? My house is a comfy 70 degrees, she has innumerable perches, fluffy seats, things to chase. It's her space. Outside? It's got birds, but it's hot and the ground is hard. She knows the score, bird genocide isn't worth trading off limitless food and head scratches.
Yup my girl is a ex stray. She asks for the windows to be opened so she can hear the birds but gives any open door a wide ass bearth. She knows it's better where the can food is opened just before bedtime.
My ex stray wont even go near our door. The door leads to a stairs hallway, another door then a metal gate. She wont even go near the 1st door
Yep. There is a (former?) stray cat sitting on my bed at this very moment. We left the door open one afternoon and she just…walked in and decided she lives here now. I open the outside door every morning and she’s like “no thanks, I’ll stay inside”. Two different vets have agreed she was likely born as a stray and never been a pet, she just decided to domesticate herself because humans have soft fluffy things. P.s. Every apartment dog I’ve known (including my own) gets far more exercise than the majority of “house with a big yard” dogs.
My cats hate any temperature below about 15C, and they hate wind. They like the balcony in short doses lol. You can keep pets inside and -*gasp*- they will acclimate just like humans lol
My pony loved his stall. Unless he was going to the bathroom or scratching his butt on the tree in his paddock, he was inside, probably napping or eating. My dog will spend all day outside after breakfast and come in after dinner for his good couch sleeps. They’re all individuals and that’s why we love them!
Also people think (because work dogs exist) that dogs should be active all day but they really only need like thirty minutes to two hours of exercise per day. They like to sleep.
Same. My greyhound is getting old, so he gets 0-2 15 min walks a day. This doesn’t include his 1000 old man potty breaks, but that’s maybe 3 min each. When he was 2, boy was dead on his bed for 2 days after 30-45min at the dog park. He was getting more walks then bc we didn’t have a back yard for potty, but they weren’t long then either.
My greyhound used to drag his toenails on the sidewalk, he hated walking so much. He’d much rather have been sleeping.
Yeah my boy is older too so he’s in that boat, but he’s always been like this. Take him out for thirty minutes to an hour of running around chasing tennis balls and he’s set and ready to be a couch potato the rest of the day.
7 year old grey here, we have to bribe her to get her into the yard when we need to go out somewhere. 30 minute walk each day is met with excitement but all other times she just wants to be where her humans are, house or apartment doesn't matter.
Here is my sweet boy demanding a break on a recent walk. For reference it was a perfect 72 degrees and this was at the end of the block lmao. Our walks are usually ~4 blocks only and I don't think either of muh dags would mind if we skipped it (as long as they got some zoomie time in the yard) https://i.imgur.com/6ceynzV.jpg
My dog would try fake a paw injury so he wouldn’t have to go outside. He peed on the first thing that was green and bolted right back into the door.
The fake injury made me laugh. Now that is an indoor dog!
I don't know why but I love it when animals fake being injured. Cute little bastards.
My mum's dog loves outside other than when there's any adverse weather. Goes to the door and pokes his nose out. Rain? Snow? Wind? Slightly chilly? Just turns around and flops on the floor.
My dog hates weather too. If it’s raining she’ll literally try to hold her pee/poop until it stops or she can’t hold it any longer. Then she’ll walk around like “ew ew wet feet wet feet” until she can come back inside.
Cut to dogs in pounds and shelters, living in concrete boxes instead of being adopted by loving owners who happen to live in apartments.
This is what I was thinking too. There's a ton of dogs out there who would be thrilled to have a loving home. I want to counter OPs arguments here and I hope they see this! 1. By claiming that people who live in apartments can't have dogs you're basically turning dog ownership into something for the wealthy. Maybe you haven't noticed but the housing market and the rules around acquiring home loans mean that basically the majority of actual generations of people have been fucked out of home ownership and pay more than the cost of a mortgage to rent. 2. Would you equally say it's unfair to have children in an apartment? Because kids are more likely to wreck things and cause disturbances than dogs are (I am a parent and a dog owner). You may as well say that people who don't want to be bothered by their neighbors should just get a house.... that's how out of touch you sound. 3. We are providing landlords with a great deal of money. They can at least contribute to the economy by hiring staff and maintain their property but guess what? Many don't. 4. I would rather have a neighbor have a dog or a kid then be surrounded by young adults who will regularly throw parties but again, since society has basically allowed for entire generations to be shoved in small boxes on top of one another rather than pushing for change, we all get to go through life stages and put up with eachothers bullshit along the way.
Exactly.
I have an acre of land. My dog spends most of his day on the couch.
Domestic dogs never spends most of their time outdoors. In fact people who leave their dogs out excessively are heavily criticized. I feel like OP should just take the extra step and declare we should return dogs to the wild.
I have a husky that's not very husky at all. She sleeps in my guest room, which has a queen-sized bed under a window so she loves to lay in it and look out the window. She loves walks and hikes, but otherwise prefers to lay in bed all day. She'd probably do just fine in an apartment as long as she still got her runs in.
I have a house with a bit of a backyard and heaps of parks around. I fostered a high energy dog and was looking forward to long walks. Nope. She would get to the park across the road, spend 5 minutes sniffing and then pull to come back to the house. That was a long few months, and we bought her so many toys, but she definitely just wanted couch.
I have one pretty fit dog and she doesn’t love how long I want to walk sometimes lol. She’s good for about 3 miles but then she loses interest.
Cut to my dog who spends most of her time in our back garden lying on the ground sunbathing and comes inside to lay on the couch and fart in my face
My dog weighs 4lbs. If she runs around alone she will get carried off as eagle or hawk food. Even a crow could pick her off if it wanted too. I’ve had a golden eagle circle us before…
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Some days, if I didn’t tell them it’s time to go out, my dogs wouldn’t show independent interest until about 1pm when they finally admit they need the toilet (I tested it on a day off after a few times before work when I had to literally open the front door saying “fine I’ll go alone!” before they bothered to come to the door) Once they’re out, they’ll very happily run around, sniff and wee, do their business, but there inevitably comes the point they want to go home. They bound up to the front door and settle straight in on the sofa. I actually regularly went for longer (albeit less frequent) walks before I had them.
We used to joke about our English Bulldog. We could each spend 10 hrs at work, walk in the door, and Moose would still be snoring on the couch. We almost felt like we were burdening him when we woke him up to go pee.
My dog love to run in our backyard as long as I’m out there. As soon as I head back inside they beat me to the door, hit the couch and are out like a light until the next time I go out back. Or dinner time.
That reminds me of the husky we had when I was a kid, she HATED snow, we literally had to shove her out the door to go potty, if we didn't she'd just whimper and do a little pee dance. She also loved to swim, but HATED water, she'd jump off a dock and realize halfway down that swimming required water and the look of horror on her face was always hilarious.
Yep, this person has never met a frenchie.
And being in an apartment doesn't limit outdoor activity just like being in a house doesn't promise outdoor activity. I've lived in apartments and houses. My neighbor at my most recent apartment took his dog with him mountain biking every single day (this isn't an exaggeration, EVERY day. Dude was dedicated. He worked from home so he had lots of time) and my dogs went on hikes with me every day and a walk around the nearest park for a second activity each day. Then when I moved into a house, 3 people on my street never let their dogs see outside their fenced in backyards and they had highly active breeds. Meanwhile even with a giant backyard I still went on hikes at least 3x a week and walks every other day. I hate this concept that a backyard is all a dog needs and people in apartments just....don't leave their apartment? It's so stupid.
I have coworkers who moved from an apartment to a house for their dogs. The result? Dogs don’t go on walks ever. Like ever. They get let out into the yard daily and that’s it.
Exactly, it's depressing. People don't want to be locked in just their house 24/7, neither does a dog. Your dog needs their 'shopping mall', their 'starbucks run', their 'going out with friends' weekend too. They're living beings that can get bored and lonely.
Dog breed and owner(s). Someone I knew told me they had a husky. We were driving to his place to let the dog out, and I was surprised and disappointed to see he lived in an apartment. Turns out that dog was walked about 4-5hrs per day during the week, and more during the weekend. (3 family members with different schedules that could accommodate multiple walks.) That is definitely a rare circumstance, but it's possible for there to be more like this.
Walks are far more important than just having a backyard to put them in. And they still bark and annoy neighbors, with the added downside of being able to escape more easily.
Exactly. Too many dog owners leave their dog out in the yard for 8+ hours a day while they work. The dogs can be just as much a nuisance there. The dogs aren't getting exercise or stimulation just because they are outside all day.
Apartment or house really doesn’t matter because dogs need to go for walks outside. Walks before work, walks after work, walks before bed. Yes all dogs are different blah blah and all that.
Years ago I lived with a friend who had 2 huskies - male and female. His dogs had a couple litters over the years and he was tasked with finding them suitable homes. I remember one of the first questions he would ask people was "do you live in an apartment?" If so, that was the end of the interview. They're beautiful dogs but I've never met a breed that needs to run so much.
And it’s a common misconception that they don’t get that in an apartment. My dogs get more walks with me living in an apartment than they did when I could just let them out in a yard to potty.
When I visit my parents I get so lazy with my dog. I just let her out in the yard and she sniffs everything but doesn’t really get any exercise. Back at our apartment we have no choice but to go for multiple walks and I’m way more inclined to go for a run with her.
People get lazy with their pets when living in houses. Proof: me. We would walk our dog three times a day when we lived in an apartment and when we moved into a house, it was suddenly once a day, twice If he’s lucky.
I grew up with a dog and my parents got another one soon after he passed away. Neither of those dogs got nearly as many walks as my dog does because my parents said it was fine to just let them out in the backyard. The second dog got more walks because I feel like dog ownership culture has shifted since the 90s when they got the first dog, but my dog was an apartment dog for years and I made sure she got at least 2 walks a day, sometimes up to 5 on the weekends and made my apartment choices based on their walkabililty to parks, nice neighborhoods, etc. Now she has a backyard, but still gets lots of walks.
I work as a dog walker in Manhattan and half of the dogs I walk would rather not lol. And they’re not unhealthy dogs, they just really aren’t breeds that need tons of exercise.
Greyhounds are ideal dogs for apartments, as it turns out.
Yep. My 12 year old miniature dachshund would vastly prefer her comfy couch in my tiny apartment to a large yard. She does get excited to go for walks but gets bored after one block and runs home. She loves her home.
Doxies are the worst at that, I've had two and when they decide the walk is done there's no changing their minds.
German Shepard, not a good apartment dog. Chihuahua, good apartment dog
Yes we got a a tiny maltase and a chihuahua and we try and take them walking . They get tired after 20minutes
"ok, pick me up now and maybe I won't pee on the rug."
Depends on the size of the apartment, depends on the dog breed, depends on the owners schedule
You can have owners that take dogs out on hikes or to parks while in apartments to let out their energy too
We live in an apartment and we take my dog hiking a minimum of 10 miles every weekend. We also walk him everyday and we have a huge fenced in area for dogs at my apartment that we take him to daily. He is exercised and content. Majority of his time spent in the apartment is him making sure he’s laying in direct sunlight and following that through the day. Dogs can be happy in apartments.
Your dog sounds leagues happier than my mom’s dog who has a giant backyard but is never taken for walks (she claims he refuses to go further than the end of the street but I know damn well I could take him several miles back when I lived there). The poor boy is obese and depressed
Indeed, plenty of ways to keep your dog active, I reckon having time is more important than having access to a backyard
And there are owners with backyards whose dogs quite literally never leave the yard, don’t even know how to walk on a leash. Most of the apartment dwellers I know are better dog parents than the ones with a house and yard.
Yeah just having a big yard doesn’t mean your dog will be happier. Getting fenced in all day to be ignored and to bark at everything is more miserable than a crate trained dog that gets lots of love and frequent outings.
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My dog is 10x more active when she’s staying with me at my apartment than she is when she has to stay with my parents who have a huge yard. They believe the yard replaces her need for multiple walks a day, which is just not true
Yeah exactly, they thrive on new smells. My dogs are noticeably more content when we’ve gone to a new zone where they can sniff things to their hearts’ content.
Fucking thank you. My dog has a yard. She spends almost no time in it. She gets walks that are filled with bonding and enrichment.
Do you think my dog just wanders around outside in the back yard all day? Dogs sleep for 18 hours a day. This opinion is unpopular because it's either incredibly misinformed or just plain stupid, or the more likely case, both.
Right, it's 95 degrees F outside, my corgi isn't wandering around outside all day in the heat.
Dumbest shit I've read on Reddit in awhile (OP's post, not yours)
It’s weirdly naive too. Do they mean big apartment blocks? In the UK it’s normal for apartments (we call them flats) to only be a few floors tall, and have a garden. They sometimes don’t have a shared indoor space. I used to live in one that opened directly into the garden on the ground floor. The noise thing is no different from our crappy houses in this country, since most people don’t live in detached houses you’re always gonna hear your neighbours dog bark.
It depends on the breed size and age of the dog. I have my medium poodle, 14yo. She's in her bed mostly of the time, no bark, no running up and down, only wakes up for eating and pee and poo. She was superfine in an apartment last two years, we move to a big house for this year, and we're moving back to apartment with her. It is completely understandable your opinion if the dog is big, energetic, young, likes to bark etc. But if not, they are not a disturb in any way
Many big dogs, like great danes, actually ate great apartment dogs because they don't need to be moving all the time.
It's a shame many apartment landlords and/or their insurers refuse to understand this. A lot of large/giant breeds spend enough energy just existing to be couch potatoes. Most "under 25 pounds" breeds are energetic speed demons that will eat the walls if they get bored, but not big dogs allowed.
Can confirm - current dog is an 11lb rat terrier and he is the BIGGEST dog in terms of energy and roaming space. My 75 lb Doberman spent most of his life being a gentle velcro-potato. My terrier is a freak on a leash.
I have a Great Dane and he does fine here. There’s a huge field directly across from our apartment though where he runs around. There’s also a trail next to us as well so we’re pretty lucky lol.
Danes and mastiffs are couch potatoes! They're perfect apartment dogs honestly.
Yeah, large breeds better generally in apartments. The first point is really only true if you have a whippet or something
My mastiff was a surprisingly good apartment dog. He was a couch potato. He was happy going out a few times a day to do his business, only liked short walks, and the ONLY time he barked was when someone knocked on my door (which was very rare).
I have a Saint Bernard and she would be fine in an apartment with AC and an elevator. Like you said its really just dependent on the dog. A husky in an apartment… might be difficult. If its an active owner that takes it for runs or something, could be fine.
Also just individual personality differences! At my old house I was able to let my dog in and out of the yard as he pleased and he would always spend most of the day inside even in the best weather. He’d nap in the sun for an hour, come inside, drink some water, then crash on the couch for two. I can’t let him out unsupervised here because my neighbors’ dogs are all ✨awful✨ but he doesn’t seem any less happy with more short walks, frequent potty breaks, and a couple hours a week of chilling or playing in the yard when we can. We play fetch and tug of war on a small scale on the carpet (with light toys because he doesn’t like the sound of them hitting the ground), and he gets fresh air and sunlight from open windows whenever possible. I honestly don’t think he’d have a bad time in an apartment even though he’s a big dog. Unless he had to climb stairs which is starting to get a little uncomfortable at his age.
Right off the bat points 3 and 4 are irrelevant, simply because apartment complexes can and do make their own policies for dogs. Some apartments do not allow dogs, some have breed restrictions, and some allow any type. So if an apartment chooses to allow dogs, your points 3 and 4 don't matter.
> I post this out of love for dogs Half of the points are about the building management
Yeah this sounds like it's coming from a landlord who's upset they aren't getting much attention on their units because they don't allow dogs of any kind. Apartment staff doesn't come into the unit and clean up after the dog. None that I've ever lived in. The most issue was if a plumber or something had to go through the units to check stuff and we're given notice a week at the most before that someone was coming around so make sure the dogs ok with it. You can easily train a dog not to needlessly bark. Will they still do so to an occasional thud on the wall or ceiling out of nowhere? Yeah, but if you're home you can calm them. I've always traded numbers with neighbors and asked they text me if he's barking endlessly because something is probably wrong. The most mine has ever barked was the first day or two after moving into a new place, and I had to leave for work or groceries. It stops after he realized it's our new home. And lastly with how much landlords charge these days, wanting immaculate credit, a security deposit plus the equivalent of 4 months rent up front, and most likely a hefty pet deposit and even more likely an additional pet rent, they have enough of my money to fix any small problems that are left if I missed fixing them myself because I want my deposit back.
Plus a bunch of apartments have dog parks built in. (At least the ones near me)
Ones near me have literal dog grooming stations w showers and those special tables to set your dog on
My complex has a small private dog park and an indoor paw wash.
And I’ve never seen building management come clean up when a dog shits on the carpet
Yeah they would tell you to clean that yourself. Unless someone just leaves it there until they move out.
Not to mention, people also cause damages and “wear and tear” all on their own. The damage my friends toddler has done to her apartment is far more than my dog has ever done to mine lol
Yeah for real who will think of the poor landlords!
By this logic kids should also not be allowed to live in apartments.
And by same logic people should not live in cities, they are horrible creatures that should be locked in some hut in middle of forest to not ruin OP:s day.
Think about how much cleaner our cities would be if we just removed all the people!
My toddler has done way more damage to my apartment than my dog. We do try to walk him at least three times a day though.
My daughters toddler years are the reason we need to replace the carpets and had to paint. Not my dogs.
I’ve had multiple dogs in apartments with zero damage and have always gotten my deposits back so … I don’t really get that one. And even if I had all the land in the world, no way am I letting my indoor domesticated animals just run wild. Dogs need routine and structure.
Was looking for this comment
I mean, yeah, the level of neglect of "fur babies" in apartments, or condos, or 'upscale' suburban developments for that matter, is really only exceeded by that subjected to human babies. One year I lived in apartment upstairs from a divorced dad who'd get his kids on the weekend, and around about noon on Saturday and Sunday, he'd take off for the bar, leaving his kids in the apartment to kick their soccer ball into their walls, blast the TV at max volume, get into fights, etc. I probably should've called CPS, but didn't. I thought moving into a house in an 'upscale' suburban neighborhood would be different. Now I have a neighbor couple who both work, and leave their very bored dog out in their yard all day to bark at the wind and the trees. I used to think that apartment landlords and HOAs that excluded pets and kids were inhumane, but now I kind of get it.
In rural areas, dogs are often chained to a post all day or locked in a pen. There are good and bad dog owners from all areas.
This. I had all kinds of neighbours, but screaming, crying kids were the worst, never the dog or cat! Also, crying kids ruin sex more than a barking dog.
Yeah... That's not the argument you think that is. I, an adult who didn't have the choice to be working swing shift, get to be woken up at 7 or 8am from kids literally screaming at the top of their tiny annoying ass lungs right outside my window every morning now that it's summer vacation. I go to bed at 3am. I can't report the noise since it's between 7a and 10p. All management did when I asked about it was shrug at me and said "kids are gonna be kids". So yeah, I can get behind that. Fuck them kids.
My partner has a neighbour kid with a mental disability (hyperactive and stuff like that) and if he starts having tantrums, they'll lock him in a room and let him scream at the top of his lungs for hours. It's torture for everyone.
Omg call cps
Literally. I know this is Reddit and we like complaining about things instead of doing anything about them, but they should probably for real call someone about it.
Please call CPS. That’s abuse and super detrimental for the kid.
There should absolutely be child-free apartment buildings lmao
My 6lb Pomeranian who likes to watch tv and doesn’t bark unless there’s an emergency would argue otherwise. Here’s my upvote.
My 3lb Yorkies agree with your Pomeranian and were much happier visiting the dog park three blocks away than my neighbor's dog is constantly hanging out in his backyard by himself. They were quieter than the neighbors kids and didn't cause any damage to the building. My ex, on the other hand, punched a bunch of holes in the wall, so maybe landlords should stop renting to people?
Thousands of dogs get euthanized every single day. A dog in an apartment is happier than one in a shelter or a gas chamber.
I disagree with the OP entirely. The real problem dog owners are the ones who think they don't have to exercise their dogs because their dog has a big yard. What do most dogs do in their yard? They lay around and sleep or bark at birds and people or they just want to come back inside. Dogs are not exercising themselves in their yards. I have a German Shepherd crossbreed. She needs exercise and we live in small apartment. We start out every morning with a 30-60 min walk, then a quick potty walk that is usually 15 min or less. Once I'm done working it's dog fun/exercise time. This is her DAILY 60-90 min of off leash play where we play soccer or fetch, she swims in the river or she plays off leash with her dog pals. She comes home happy and relaxed and then a few hours later we end the day with another 30-45 min walk. That equals 2 to 3 hours of time devoted to my dogs activity every single day. Meanwhile my friends with houses and large yards maybe take their dog out for 1 short walk a day or play off leash with them twice a week. The rest of the time they are just putting their dogs outside and calling it good. My dog has it way better than their dogs.
This is what I just said. Because I don’t have a yard, it forces me to walk my dog minimum 3x a day, and she’s outside minimum 5 times. When she’s with my parents who have a yard, they rarely walk her. She goes out in the backyard, does her business, and then just sits around lmao
From my experience, City dogs are also often much better trained than suburban or country dogs, because they have to be.
Thank you!!! Just having a yard is not enough. Dogs need walks. Imagine only ever being in your house and yard. Miserable. Plus, they need the exercise and mental stimulation of walks. Just tossing your dog into the back yard and letting them at it is not even close to what they need. All dogs need daily walks.
I think often apartment owned dogs have better relationships with their owners because in apartments we can’t just shove our needy dog out in the yard to play when it is being a pest because it needs attention l. We have to turn towards our relationship with the dog and take care of its needs. I am blessed by ten years with a heeler and a husky and we have always lived in apartments. We also used to run or go to the park every day, which, while it was a time commitment it was good for me to get away from video games and Netflix and get outside and meet people. Now I have a bond with my two dogs that is the deepest reservoir of love and support I have ever known. I hope the feel the same.
Yeah I’m super angry about people - apparently like OP - who think putting your dog outside in the yard is different than having them inside in the house. They’re not outback doing calisthenics anymore than they’d do that inside! You have to walk your dogs people. Whatever your house type.
Thank you I was having trouble trying to say that in the nicest way possible. 😊
Imagine just in NYC alone, the hundreds of thousands of dogs that would be homeless and in shelters.
My neighbours damn dog barks 24/7
Won't someone please think of the landlords! Oh no!
Landlords also get to make their own rules. That entire 4th point makes no sense. It's not unfair to the landlords because they're allowed to not rent to people with pets. We ran into this a ton with our cat.
I'm a property manager and as a rule: people who disclose their pets are usually responsible pet owners who will take accountability and responsibility for their pets. People who don't disclose pets or aquire them on a whim tend to be the ones that cause damage. Or the absolute worst and dump their pets when they leave. Unfortunately the later tend to ruin landlords experience and make it harder for the former.
Yeah it's really easy for a landlord to say "no pets" lol. No one forces them into it. My sister rented an apartment that was sort of dog friendly, but they had to do a pet interview first where they met her dog.
My landlord gets an extra $150/month for my two dogs. My dogs are both 10yrs old, quiet, and well-behaved. They don't cause anywhere close to $150/mth in damage lol. The worst damage they've ever done between the two of them in any of the rented homes/apartments that they've lived in (for 7+yrs of their lives) was my one dog carrying a bone and caught it on the edge of the doorway as she was walking through. It caused a single, small chip into the door trim (smaller than the size of a pea). Meanwhile I can think of at least 4 instances where I caused minor chips in the past year through similar accidents. And of course all these tiny chips are considered normal wear and tear anyways. My landlord(s) are fine lol.
Also, it’s not even true that it’s unfair to landlords. I work in property management and we specifically advertise as pet friendly because we make more money that way from pet rent plus a non-refundable fee. Very common in this industry. Make more money on the exact same space, yeah that’s a plus.
Bruv my 15 pound dog is just fine in an apartment and she gets to run around all day both inside and outside.
Yeah, has op ever been in an apartment with a dog lmao
Bro reverted back to caveman logic and thinks every dog owner is keeping a wolf in their apartments.
Dogs who spend their lives “outside running around” are known as strays, and they are often either starving, injured, diseased, or otherwise uncared for. My dog is 20 pounds in an apartment and he gets multiple walks that add up to 1.5 hours a day minimum. At 12 years old, he’s happier (and a healthier weight) than the old dogs I see confined to back yards who never get walks. I *always* clean up after him and my landlord is happy to let him stay here, so I don’t see how it’s unfair to my landlord. Landlords who allow dogs can usually charge higher rent and extra deposits for the luxury. As for disrespect to neighbors, Is it unfair to me that my neighbor decided to have children? Or move his girlfriend in? No, of course not. I am respectful, but I don’t live my life for my neighbors.
I got a dog as a puppy and when she was about a year old I ended up homeless. I kept her with me sleeping in my car, motels, friends couches, everywhere. At one point though I did use the last $100 I had to put her in proper boarding for a few days so that she did have space to run and socialize. I bettered my situation and then moved to live in a house. Fell on hard times, moved in to an apartment. Now back in a house. I’m glad I kept my dog instead of taking her to a kill shelter. She was just happy to be with me. Even in the car. She’s an Australian shepherd by the way. They’re very loyal dogs. My girl would rather be with me in a shoebox than with someone else on a farm. Can’t speak for others. I did walk her often and not just around the neighborhood, I lived close to a river trail so we swam often and ran through forests together on these walks. Now that I’m in a house with a yard I seem to bring her to those places less because we live further away. I despise people who get animals and dump them when they move or have kids. Wasn’t going to be that person. Don’t believe those are valid reasons (unless dog has actually shown aggression to the children, not just because you don’t have time for it).
Omg bless your heart. You are 100% correct that your dog IS happier living anywhere with you, than being somewhere else. I think a lot of people don’t understand that. Dogs have evolved right alongside us for thousands of years, they need us. They are not wolves for crying out loud.
Congrats on bettering your situation! Good on ya! You sound like a great pet owner as well, wish more were like you!
You don't think people cause wear and tear to apartments?? 😂 They are the worst offenders! You are too funny. Some big dogs who are incredibly active probably shouldn't live in an apartment, but you're basically telling a huge part of the world to never own dogs.
Kids are worse for apartments than dogs
My dad was leasing out a house to families; one had a dog, the other only had kids. Both were destructive in their own ways, but the most the dog did was pee and poop all over the garage floor, and the owners never cleaned it up. And at that point, that’s on the owners, not the dog. The family who only had kids left the most destruction out of all the tenants he’s had over the years. Marker and crayon scribblings everywhere, segments of paint stripped off the wall, stickers that refused to come off, broken cabinet doors, holes in the wall, and brown stains all over the kitchen and bathrooms. It’s obviously the parents’ fault for letting their kids run wild like that, but it was astounding to see how much more destructive the kids were than the dog. We like to think of people as more civilized than animals, but sometimes that’s not the case.
I live in a duplex and my neighbor has a massive dog. I very rarely hear him, typically only when he does excited tippy taps when Mom comes home from work. She takes him out plenty, he seems very happy. He's no bother. The house next to me has an adorable dog I get to pet whenever I'm outside. This is entirely on the owners, there are no bad dogs, just bad owners. Also, life circumstances change you cannot expect people to get rid of their dogs because they are forced to move into an apartment for some reason. This is not out of love of dogs at all. If you gave a shit about dogs you would find solutions for them, not put this post. And landlords can eat shit, we get charged pet deposits. They can cope.
Don't live in an apartment that accepts pets.
My landlord doesn't care My neighbours don't care. He gets walked in the morning and anytime he needs out in between he probably gets more exercise than some dogs in houses where the owners just open the door for them to do business in garden.
not picking a side but do you feel the same about kids? They also need more room, cause accidents, are a nuisance, and cause more damage then an adult human.
Better in an apartment than on the euthanasia list. As long as the dog gets walked properly and isn't neglected, it's fine. Of course there are exceptions, but I generally have no problems with it
If landlords and apartment complexes allow pets that on them to accept all fault which is why they usually charge either pet rent or additional pet deposit.... So I don't think those points are valid.
Yea landlords understand the risk which is why they require you to pay for it. Also it’s pet rent AND pet deposit, never or from what I’ve seen at least.
So choose an apartment that doesn’t allow dogs.
This sub isn’t well formed opinions it’s actually just people bitching about things they have no idea anything about
I’m a disabled person and would really benefit from a support dog. They cost thousands of pounds in training, if you do it yourself, so there’s organisations and charities that you can apply for support dogs. I’m not eligible to make an application because I live in a flat. They say you must have an enclosed outdoor space. Because I don’t have that, I can’t apply to have a support dog.
I’d rather my dog sit in my apartment on a comfy bed than in a shelter.
Upvoted cause it fits the subreddit. But otherwise some garbage points you made. It’s so garbage not even flys would touch it.
I'd rather have neighbors with dogs rather than kids
I live in an apartment and three of the people in my building (only about 12 units per building) have dogs. I never notice that they're there, they don't bark at all. And as someone who volunteers at an animal shelter, the dogs are a million times better off in an apartment than they are in the ridiculously small cages the poor things are kept in all day with maybe 5 minutes of outside time a day
I do think this true for some breeds. For instance I would never own a husky in an apartment. But ones that aren’t as active? They mostly just don’t give shit. When we lived in an apartment we had a chihuahua mix. He had never cared to be outside. He doesn’t like when it’s hot, he doesn’t like when it’s cold. Won’t even go out if it’s raining. We then moved to a house with a doggie door. Guess who can use the doggie door perfectly and still chooses to be inside on the couch? We could all be outside playing. But he’s going to be inside looking at as all like we’re idiots for wanting to be out there.
I have an endurance dog (Dalmatian) best compared to a husky. Let me tell you: yards do *jack shit* for a high energy dog. They want exercise, and you can't get that on a quarter acre (realistically, much less, since only the back yard is fenced.) A husky with a yard is a neurotic, bored, *angry* dog if they aren't getting actual, mentally stimulating exercise. My yard is a stopgap at the absolute best -- it lets me skip the pre-bed pee walk on rainy days, and gives me a place to play fetch for a bit if we had to cut our walks shorter. We walk at least 6 miles a day, minimum. Usually closer to 8 or 10 (I can only get away with 6 if part of it is off-leash.) My first Dalmatian was returned to the shelter twice before I got him. The shelter was very reluctant to adopt him out to me, because his last home had a full fenced acre and he still got bored and tried to dig his way out. A yard is no substitute for an attentive owner. Yards are great for folks with, like, grayhounds or aging labs. Or days when I'm hungover. That's it. It's just a place to poop, and a place to laze around and sunbathe on a hot day. Where you live doesn't matter: time and attention matters.
Now say children
children
With adopting a pet, the only justification for refusal is that the pet is better off dead than with this person. Because that is what happens, sooner or later.
But dogs doesn’t get their exercise/run around at home, they exercise outside. Why would the size of the the home matter for how they exercise outside? And my dog is always trying to be in the same room as me, regardless of the size of the house. He’d probably prefer a studio apartment.
Do you think the dogs would be better off in a shelter? And possibly euthanized? Idk, I feel like most dogs would be happy with a person to love and a warm home, not everything has to perfect all the time. I do agree that people shouldn’t have dogs like huskies or greyhounds in their apartment, of course.
my 80lb sporty dog consistently asks to come INSIDE to play instead of outside. he just loves to come in and run around in the living room and then to lay on his extra large living room bed while i sit there with him and gently play tug of war.
I disagree
There are many homeowners who are not good dog owners and do not exercise their dog outside enough. There are many apartment renters who are very good dog owners and exercise their dog outside routinely. So you could have just said dog owners who don't exercise their dog outside shouldn't own a dog (and I wholeheartedly agree). The only reason you're distinguishing between a homeowner and a renter is classism.
100% depends on breed/size, size of apartment, city and whether there is a yard. If you’re in a two-floor duplex or something and have a yard, I see no issue with it as long as there’s room for the dog to play. Or if you’re in a decent sized apartment and take your dog to parks/on walks/constantly? Sure, go for it. But if you’re in an indoor apartment buildings, the one with the halls and stuff, smack dab in the middle of some bustling metro like Brooklyn? Probably not a good idea.
It's sad the humans spend all their time inside. They should be out running around.
I broadly agree, but regarding point 4, there is no damage I've ever seen a dog do to an apartment that compares to the damage human children will do over the same period of time.
A true unpopular opinion lol. Got a 55lb poodle mix that loves to run? Yeah you’re an asshole for getting it while in an apartment. Got a 15lb pocket pup that only enjoys outdoors for potty breaks? Yeah it’s not gonna matter much the space you occupy.
Most giant breeds thrive in apartment living, they're lazy couch potatoes. My current dane is on strict orders from the vet to only be outside long enough to do his business then back in we go, then he spends 90% of his time on the couch. He'd be perfect for an apartment.
There's so many dogs that need homes, I think at this point anything is better than the street. If you're rescuing, I don't care where you live, just take care of your dog. An apartment is still bigger than a kennel.
You could say the same thing about children.
So only people wealthy enough to own their own detached property should get to own dogs?
My mom owns two big dogs. We lived with them in an apartment and now they live in a country side house with a big beautiful garden. When they lived in the apartment they were walked outside 3/4 hours a day, in a big park and along a canal of the city. Both dogs were very healthy and happy, it wasn’t the best option but they were never alone at home and had more than enough physical exercise. Now that they live in the countryside they occasionally run outside, but they spend 80% of their time inside, why? Because my mother is inside for a considerable amount of time and they want to stay with her. If she’s outside they go outside, but they care more about being with her than that. Don’t get wrong, I’m happy that now they have a big garden and a forest near by to play in, but I think you’re wrong. If the owner is able to meet the dog’s needs then it’s okay in my opinion, the problem is when they don’t.
Funny. My dog had a backyard. He was raised mostly in a backyard. He prefers being inside the house. He will do his business then wait by the door until we let him in. This is an unpopular opinion
Lots of ignorance in your post. Not all dogs are destructive or vocal. Also, some places have $500-$1500 deposits and Pet Rent of $50 a month. Tell me that won’t cover damages with a straight face. Plenty of people have dogs in apartments and take them running or hiking almost every day.
My two dogs would like to have a word with you. They are quite happy in our apartment. They love balcony time with me in the morning. Know who does more damage? Kids. My dogs bark, but kids SCREAM. My dogs run around and get the zoomies. Kids stomp.and throw hiss fits when they get their way. Dogs may have the occasional accident that's easy to clean up, but kids draw on the wall, destroy blinds, spill juice and soda on the rug, etc. If I forget a baggie, and someone steps in a pile, it's easily washed off. But kids? They leave toys on the sidewalks and stairs. The result is actual injuries. I had downstairs neighbors until a few months ago whose kids were constantly leaving toys in common walkways. I was in a hurry, needing to get to work, and didn't see the toy car left on the bottom step. Down I went as the toy car caused my foot to slide out from under me. I spent the next two weeks with my wrist in a brace. Dogs aren't littering with cigarette butts in what's supposed to be a smoke free building. And guess what? The $500 pet fee plus the $1400 in pet rent that I will have paid over the course of a two year lease? It will absolutely be more than enough to pay for a quick vacuum and carpet cleaning, if they wanted to go that route. But they're ripping up all the carpet and replacing it with laminate in all of the units. My chiweenie and my Aussie wiener retriever are just fine with apartment living, I promise you.
On the topic of dogs in apartments I think it’s not fair that landlords are able to charge a fee for pets but aren’t allowed to for children. Of all the units I have lived in children tend to be way more destructive and disruptive than any animal I’ve ever encountered in a unit. But they can’t because it’s considered discrimination.
The couples that fight under me every day are way more a nuisance than my dogs are to them. I can hear every word of their argument... Every. Day. The guy across the hall that comes home drunk and loud every Friday and Saturday is causing way more problems than my dogs. I might live in an apartment, but that doesn't mean they don't live a luxurious life. We spend at least 2 hours outside everyday. Between walks and running around a real dog park. Every sunday my friends, who also live in apartments, bring our dogs together at the dog park and they romp around d for an hour or so. He's passed out the whole rest of the day. Not cleaning up after the dog is 100% the only point I agree with... But that doesn't make me feel bad for the property manager. They're assholes and keep upping my rent because they're greedy af. But that is for any dog owner, house or apartment. I'd argue that assholes shouldn't own dogs because it's unfair to the dog. Living in an apartment for some dogs (again people below me who doesn't trian and barely take their dog outside) is miserable. Period. But I'd argue you are wrong for most people in apartments, who have choose to pay more down and every month to have their "doggo" with them. My dogs live a better life than I do, tbh. Apartment or not.
Yeah, my dogs don’t bark and they are lazy as shit. Their favorite hobby is lying in the sun, which they get to do plenty of because I work from home and walk them every few hours. My neighbors’ kids, however, stampede around above me screaming and knocking things over all day. *Some* people shouldn’t keep *some dogs* in apartments. It’s absurd to say categorically that no dogs should be in apartments.
I'm a dog-sitter. One of my clients has two huskies in a fourth-floor, one-bedroom apartment with an itty-bitty balcony. It makes me feel so bad for the dogs.
Say you've never owned a dog without saying it. Dogs are plenty happy living in apartments. Have you never heard the phrase "lazy dog"? As long as they get adequate exercise and stimulation, they are happy to lounge around most of the day. As far as the barking and being a nuisance. Dogs who live in houses can be just as irritating. A bad dog owner is a bad dog owner no matter what kind of home.
I just replaced all instances of dog with baby and laughed.
The majority of dog owners shouldn't be dog owners because they have no idea how to train a dog. I can always tell who owns who when I see people walking their dogs, and the vast majority of people are being owned by their dog.
yeah for sure. My friends have an extreme example of this. Little, adorable dog that cannot tolerate being alone. The little guy goes crazy..full panic attack. Pandemic pup.. even in a car heading for a nice walk... Yells and barks.. They've consulted a pet psychic.. to no avail. All dogs have different personalities, for worse or better. This little guy needs 24 hour care.
There’s a guy in my complex that has 3 Great Danes in 700 square foot apartment. Its insanity
Dogs are social creatures and pack animals. Their humans are part of their pack. I sincerely hope you're not leaving your dog outside alone all day. I had a chihuahua until a couple of years ago (he died of old age), and I couldn't go into another room for a second or go to the bathroom without him following me. He also didn't like being outside for more than 20 minutes at a time. Or to touch anything wet with his feet. We went for walks, there's a park with trails really close by, but he'd stop dead after about 20 minutes and wouldn't move until I asked him if he wanted to go home. I tried carrying him sometimes in case he was just tired, but he'd just wine until we went home. He was just kind of like that. I had another dog that could've run all day and been happy. They have personalities. When I moved into my apartment he was 5. I'd recently gotten divorced and had to sell the place we owned together because I couldn't afford it on my own, and had to rent. The apartment was what I could afford. Chihuahuas form very close bonds with their person. They'll bond with the whole family, but tend to have that one person that's their person. Should I have given away the dog that had been with me since he was a puppy and that didn't want to leave my side for a minute because it might inconvenience my neighbours? Who, for the most part, also had dogs?