# Keeping dogs in flats



## Pix (6 September 2011)

I've noticed frowns towards keeping dogs in flats (more on other forums than here) and though I would ask who has their dogs in flats, and who would utterly dread having to keep their dogs in flats? Just general opinions really 

When I was growing up all our dogs were flat dwellers as me da had the village local, and we lived above it. I live in a two bed flat (well, rent a room from generous parents ) now with a large GSD and have had no problem really. House training was done the same as we did in the pub- get out regularly and if they look like they want to go, get out FAST  Also, a large portion of the day is spent walking the dogs, both on lead and off depending on surroundings.

Having said that, I would love a huge garden for the dog to be in and out of as he pleased. Whilst I don't think he misses it at all, I can see how it would be a benefit (though in my case it would have to be huge, as I'm poor and therefore grow what  I can. The garden would soon be taken over by raised beds  ). Not just as somewhere to chill... but also somewhere to set up his agility tunnels etc. and other toys, without us having to walk a mile to a disused paddock. 

Yet on the other hand... Would that tempt me to be lazier in walking my dog? If he was happy poddling in and out all day would I really worry about taking him out and about on walks?

Not interested in arguments about what is best, just wondering how much 'free access' everyone's dogs have to outdoor space, and how that alters how they keep their dogs, and whether they would adjust to having less/wish they had much more (the only time we had garden enough for the dog, the poor old lad we had left couldn't manage the stairs down there on account of his dodgy hips- the garden was much lower than the house. Was actually easier to walk him to the end of the road to the flat park )

So are your dogs out when you take them, or totally in control of the french doors to the patio?


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## prosefullstop (6 September 2011)

I live in a NYC apartment with two dogs, a Boston terrier and a pug. The Boston has never known any different, but the pug used to live in a house with a one-acre garden, but the temptation was to let him potter about there, as opposed to giving him real walks, and he is much fitter in his current, city-dwelling situation. 

When we spend summers outside the city in a rental home, my dogs still want their walks, even with a large garden at their disposal (around which they occasionally sniff, but mostly clamour at the back door).


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## PucciNPoni (6 September 2011)

When I lived in the Boston area, I lived in flats.  I had my wee MinPins with me--- and they were about the right size dog for small places like that.   Okay, even though I had three of them at once, they still took up the space of a cocker spaniel!   Anyway, they went for several walks a day - had a dog walker come take them out at lunch time as well. 

When I first moved us to the UK, we lived in a large flat with a garden access and the walks continued, but just not as many cos we did have a garden we could just open a door and let them out.  

Then we moved to a rural area, big back garden completely fenced in, cat flap access for my small dogs to come in and out at will.  Walks?  Hmmm, sometimes...  However they are fit and able to do walks, we do get out now and again. I think the lack of walks has more to do with the fact that I also now have the horse which keeps me out and about a lot (and the dogs aren't horse savvy enough to allow them to come to the yard with me).

In my case, your theory of apartment/flat kept dogs = lots of walks versus rural kept dogs  = fewer structured walks and more roaming...it's spot on.  But I would say that with my border terrier especially, within a week of moving out to the sticks, he became a much more relaxed, less-frantic-to-go-out dog!  Sometimes we take them on holiday with us where there's no closed in garden and and that frantic "I have to go out NOW" comes back -- even if he's out for several big walks and frequently!  It's just him, he likes to choose when he gets to go out! LOL


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## lexiedhb (6 September 2011)

Mine currently- not on your life. The right dog, in the right set up, not an issue.


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## MurphysMinder (6 September 2011)

I think you really have to look at every case as an individual.  The american bully cross mentioned above certainly does not sound a suitable dog for a flat, but I know plenty of dogs who live very happy lives as flat dwellers.
I have cited before the GSD pup I sold to a lady who lived in a flat in Hackney.  Poor woman had been turned down by so many people, but after putting her through a full interrogation, and getting more references than you would need to work for the Queen I decided to let her come and see the pups.   She duly chose her pup and then travelled up every week for the next month to visit her.  That pup had the most wonderful life (her owner worked from home) was always a picture of health and was successful in obedience and lower stakes working trials. 
I have turned people down who proudly tell me they have an acre of garden which the dog would have the free run of, but when you mention training etc they look at you in horror.  They don't particular want to interact with a dog just have a status symbol .


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## MrVelvet (6 September 2011)

I live in a cottage with no secure garden so im nearly the same  I have a lurcher pup and she gets taken out for toilet breaks aswell as her walks, shes adapted fine and has a wee pad by the door as shes only tiny so accidents are inevitable. I sometimes envy my mum for having a big garden to just turn out in for wees but I wouldnt change her for the world and its not too much more work when your in a routine! she's getting to know her toilet times and is often sat by her lead waiting


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## Cop-Pop (6 September 2011)

I have Yellow Dog in a flat.  I nearly didn't as he's been in houses his whole life but when I left my ex I couldnt leave him behind and when I tried him living with my parents he dropped loads of weight and was so miserable that I had him back.  He just wants to be with me and I don't think he cares where, when we go away at the weekends he's happy aslong as I'm there - he's a real mummys boy   Don't tell my landlords tho!


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## Nettle123 (6 September 2011)

My Sister has a springer spaniel and lives in a 1st floor flat. He came from a rescue several years ago after the loss of her elderly dog and had been unwanted in kennels for 2 years with various behavioural issues. 

He has a great life, they live on the edge of a country park and he has three good walks a day. He spends most of his weekend out with us and the horses. Wherever they go holidays, pub etc etc he goes along too.

They sad thing is he is very elderly now and I know they would want to take on another rescue eventually but it will be nearly impossible due to their living arrangements which they cannot change. Obviously they could just go and buy a pup but that would be such a waste of a home for and unwanted dog.

It all depends on the commitment of the owner really to ensure you provide the dog with the best possible life, a patch of grass outside the back door does not always provide that imo.


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## galaxy (6 September 2011)

I have a GSP and would keep him in a flat

I do have a house and an ok sized garden, but I don't use it to exercise him and he doesn't go to the toilet in there!  When he needs a quick toilet break I take him out, there is a large open footpath 30 secs from my front door.  

My husband likes his lawn and I just don't see it as an exercise area!  I don't think it would be big enough anyway.  The only thing H uses the garden for is to sunbathe!!!!  We do sometimes have rough and tumble play out there, but I could as easily do that anywhere!

So my personal opinion is I don't think having a garden is 100% essential for a dog (even a large high energy one!).  I just like having a garden!


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## PucciNPoni (6 September 2011)

Nettle123 said:



			They sad thing is he is very elderly now and I know they would want to take on another rescue eventually but it will be nearly impossible due to their living arrangements which they cannot change. Obviously they could just go and buy a pup but that would be such a waste of a home for and unwanted dog.

It all depends on the commitment of the owner really to ensure you provide the dog with the best possible life, a patch of grass outside the back door does not always provide that imo.
		
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I agree with this wholeheartedly.  I have always appreciated the garden space for my older dogs - and their small, declining bladders!  But when the min pins were younger, and we all lived in a third floor Boston apt, we certainly did our share of long walks.  They had bigger walks when we were in a flat, but I felt the quality of their lives drastically improved even without the bigger walks and the ability to roam freely in and out of the house at will.


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## Naryafluffy (6 September 2011)

I would think it would more depend on the size of the flat, trying to keep a couple of large GSD in a pokey one bedroom flat, probably not going to be much fun, but a large 3 bedroom flat (ok I'm making up numbers here) more space and less of an issue.
The garden to me is less important and the space where the dog has to live/sleep etc is more important.


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## blackcob (6 September 2011)

I think mine have a better lifestyle because we don't have a garden (house, not flat, but only a tiny yard which is technically shared access anyway) - I have to make the effort to get out and walk them a great deal more which I think has had a huge impact on their training and socialisation. 

I could never leave them unattended in a garden anyway, there is no fence too high for them to jump or too hard to dig under.  

Obviously I would love to have a garden just to make the late night pee walk a bit less of a chore but I'd kick myself if it meant I started walking them less.

SHWA were more than happy to rehome a dog to us after a careful home check but no other rescues would even consider it - stupid, really, as I defy anyone to say that my dogs are anything but fulfilled, happy and spoilt rotten.


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## mollichop (6 September 2011)

As long as the dog was walked sufficiently then it is preferable to just being chucked out in a garden with little or no walking.

The only concern I would have is if they had an upset tum and I was at work and not able to get them out quickly/often enough.


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## SusieT (6 September 2011)

Th eimplication that having a garden makes you a lazy dog owner instantly who is too lazy to walk your dog is an interesting one..


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## SusannaF (6 September 2011)

Huge number of people here live in flats and have big dogs. Weimaraners, a borzoi, Bernese Mountain dog, GSDs, viszlas, rotties, dobermans, even a Deutsche dogge  I've seen them all around here, looking happy. The only out-of-condition dogs I've seen were JRTs - I'm not sure if everyone here understands how much exercise they need!


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## frankie7 (6 September 2011)

we have a largeish garden but the dogs are not left out there during the day (one would go over and one under!) it is great for night time wees but the little one is not that keen on going in the garden so often requires a walk anyway, it is great in the summer for BBQs but not a necessity


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## PucciNPoni (6 September 2011)

SusieT said:



			Th eimplication that having a garden makes you a lazy dog owner instantly who is too lazy to walk your dog is an interesting one..
		
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I'm kind of hoping that was not the implication!  

I've already admitted that my dogs don't go out for regular walks... but I certainly don't see myself as a lazy dog owner.  I see myself as a very busy one though.  I'm up with them at 5.30 am every morning to feed spend a bit of time with them before leaving the house at 6.30 or 7.  Off to work I go, sometimes take them with me depending on whether or not I have to go to horse first and what the day is going to be like at the shop.  Off to horse, ride, muck out, stuff nets and so on - can take me 2 1/2 hrs and then back home to spend more time with the mutts where I usually have a good game of rough and tumble with them in the house, throwing the ball down the hall for them to chase, tug of war... and then by 9 pm they're snoring on the couch beside me while I tackle paperwork for my small business.  At weekends if the weather is decent enough, hubby and I will take them to the park.  Neither of my dogs are fat - they play quite a lot with eachother and us and the house is big enough to have a right good run inside (and out too!).


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## Pix (6 September 2011)

blackcob said:



			Obviously I would love to have a garden just to make the late night pee walk a bit less of a chore
		
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This.  We're in the middle of nowhere, I hate stumbling round with a torch late at night. Especially since my decent one died, I've been using the useless little back up one. It's pathetic, I'd never see the zombies* until they were pretty much on top of us. 






*Yes, they are a real threat. Yes, I do have plans in place for the zombie apocalypse. 

ETA- I don't think garden = laziness is implied anywhere, or that the issue is anywhere near so straightforward. It would require the assumption that say, X mins walk twice a day is the optimal exercise regime (or outside time, or chill out time, or whatever you want to call it) for Y breed of dog, and that ownership of a garden prevents this. Which is a pretty big generalisation.


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## Tinkerbee (6 September 2011)

SusieT said:



			Th eimplication that having a garden makes you a lazy dog owner instantly who is too lazy to walk your dog is an interesting one..
		
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It's probably accurate though...

When we were back in NI over the summer Tink had the roam of around 10 acres (if she stays within boundary  ) and I only walked the dogs once in 2 weeks 

Heck, I only saw them most days at meal times/shutting in time! 

Whereas now we're back in England with no land of our own that she can roam without encountering sheep, its back to the 3 walks a day.


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## Tinkerbee (6 September 2011)

Not that I'm suggesting everyone would be as lazy as me though


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## SusieT (7 September 2011)

Perhaps it is just that those who have a garden and walk their dogs are not lazy?
And don't walk them out of pure necessity as those who live in a flat evidently do if they cba to walk when they have a garden available? I don't think that makes the flat living walker any superior or giving a better life than the garden owning walker..


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## madmav (7 September 2011)

Do think it helps to tailor the dog to the environment. I would love a border collie, but I live in London and have limited access/time to giving that breed the activity it needs. So I have an adorable low-maintenance schipperke. Have a nice garden, but that's really only useful dog-wise for first thing and last-night pees.
Having said that, if a dog is fed, watered, walked enough and loved, I believe he/she will will not care if they are living in a Tower Hamlets high-rise or an aristocratic estate.


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## Pix (7 September 2011)

SusieT said:



			Perhaps it is just that those who have a garden and walk their dogs are not lazy?
And don't walk them out of pure necessity as those who live in a flat evidently do if they cba to walk when they have a garden available? I don't think that makes the flat living walker any superior or giving a better life than the garden owning walker..
		
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Not entirely sure I understand what you're trying to say. Also not too sure where laziness or superiority comes into the discussion. This is a thread about the pros and cons of having outside space, and whether it's utilised for dogs or not. I really don't see what there is to get touchy about? As evidenced by the thread dogs are an adaptable bunch and are kept in many different ways. If they're happy, who cares?


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## Katikins (7 September 2011)

Pix said:



			Not entirely sure I understand what you're trying to say. Also not too sure where laziness or superiority comes into the discussion. This is a thread about the pros and cons of having outside space, and whether it's utilised for dogs or not. I really don't see what there is to get touchy about? As evidenced by the thread dogs are an adaptable bunch and are kept in many different ways. If they're happy, who cares?
		
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Pix, don't rise.  Have you not noticed that SusieT seems to enjoy throwing a controversial spin on even the most harmless topic?

ETS: I find this topic very interesting on an informative level as I will be moving next year to a house with a garden (and will be getting a dog - obviously) but will still be living in the city (although admittedly with access to fabulous beaches and parks) so am somewhere in the middle.


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## CAYLA (7 September 2011)

I have a pretty big garden and if the door is left open, none of mine will stay out, they all dive back under the cover of their beds, infact they pee/pooh in 5 seconds flat and the pointer and whippet literally open the door to be back in (yep they can pull the handle down) and in turn let everyone in
My akita will happily lie out all day long (in the same spot) so a small yard would be just as convenient as my large lawn for he to lie on aslong as shady.
We rehome to people living in flats, obs a down stairs with even a tiny garden is preferred, or if upstairs a dog thats can hold for the toilet a little better just incase.


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