Dogs Good For Apartment Life

Have you walked YOUR dog today?

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Dogs Good For Apartment Life

This is a list of breeds that are considered "Good" for apartment life. If you do not see a breed listed here, it does not mean that it cannot live in an apartment. This list only covers the breeds considered "Best" for apartment life. Do not assume that just because they are small they get enough exercise running around your home. Your home is like a large cage. If you have a yard its a larger cage. The key to keeping any dog in an apartment is providing enough exercise. Dogs are canine animals which retain the instinct to migrate. Therefore, even small dogs need to be taken out for daily walks. High energy dogs can live in an apartment if the owner takes them out for long walks, bike rides or jogs. Enough daily exercise is the key to keeping any dog stable and happy. Be sure it is the right type of exercise. An exercise that drains both the dogs physical and mental energy. Only providing excited exercise (i.e. playing with other dogs or tossing a ball) does not drain the dogs mental energy. Find out more, read, The Proper Way to Walk a Dog.

NOTE: Almost any dog can live in an apartment, IF... and this is a Big IF... they get enough exercise and the right kind of exercise. If you plan on jogging with your dog, and as long as you can make the dog heel on the jog so the dog is not worrying about being your leader but rather relaxing as he is following you, you have a very wide range of dogs to choose from. Most dogs in the shelters are there because their owners.... ONE did not provide proper leadership and TWO did not exercise them properly. A big back yard is not going to cut it. So those people who live in an apartment who actually walk their dogs (assuming they make them heel on the lead) are often better off then those who are simply only let out into the fenced back yard for exercise. Dog park exercise is excited exercise and it is not recommended as the only source of exercise a dog receives. It keeps the dog in an excited state of mind.

There are SO MANY great jogging companions in shelters. If you plan to jog every day then you would even qualify for a higher energy dog even though you are in an apartment. But if you plan on only jogging 2 or 3 times a week and plan to only walk the dog the remaining days, I would go with a medium energy dog.

The thing to remember is, it is not necessarily the breed you are looking for but the energy level of that particular dog. There are pups born within every litter who are higher energy then other pups within the same litter. Dogs within the same breed who are higher energy then others. That is why some folks will for example get a Lab as a pet and think it is wonderful and when that dog passes away they get another Lab and find the next one to be a nightmare. Their first Lab was low energy and low dominancy and the second one is high and high. Sure a Pointer is going to always be higher then a Clumber Spaniel, but they will still vary from dog to dog within the same breed.