What I wish I knew before adopting a dog while living in an apartment - Considerations and tips

hi everyone welcome back to my channel for anyone who's new here my name's maria and this is my dog ansel and today we wanted to talk to you about considerations for adopting a dog when you live in an apartment i've been hearing about an increasing number of people who are re-homing their dogs because of their living situation and a lot of these people also recently adopted their dog to live in an apartment and in some cases maybe they didn't think it through they didn't understand the commitment they were getting themselves into or they realize that their living situation wasn't ideal for the dog i personally don't have anything against people adopting dogs when they live in an apartment ansel and i live in an apartment which is 700 square feet and i've lived in an apartment the whole time that i've had ansel and i think he has a pretty good life to be honest adopting a dog can bring you so much joy so much happiness it can be so much fun but it's also a really big commitment it's a financial commitment it's a time investment and that's not what this video is about if you are planning on bringing a dog into your home you really need to do your research on what it takes to own a dog today i just want to talk specifically about bringing a dog into an apartment if you've already researched the financial aspects to owning a dog a time investment and you're ready to commit to the lifetime of the dog and congratulations i'm so happy to be on this journey with you and i hope that we can make it a good one for both you and your dog also as a side note when i say apartment i'm making the assumption that your apartment doesn't have a backyard occasionally if you get a first floor apartment you might have a little patio on the back and in my current apartment i actually do have a little patio in the back but i've run into the issue that my dog knows it's part of his home so he won't go to the bathroom there the first question i have for you is have you looked at your leasing agreement does your leasing agreement say that you can adopt a pet and if so you should look into two things one being the pet deposit that you will have to pay and the second item being the monthly pet rent that you will pay in addition to your rent if you look at your leasing agreement and it says that you cannot have a pet like a dog or a cat and please don't do it you can get fined you can get evicted and you might end up having to re-home your dog if you don't want to pay a fine or be evicted and re-homing a dog is not as easy as you think rehoming a dog is stressful it's stressful for you and it's a hundred times more stressful for your dog and it's absolutely heartbreaking when a dog builds trust with a human and gets used to a home only to be evicted shortly because the humans didn't plan accordingly so please don't be that person and don't make a dog have to go through that because you didn't read your leasing agreement there is no such thing as having a secret dog or a secret puppy in your apartment dogs will bark dogs need to go to the bathroom the dog will have to go for walks several times a day please don't do this to your dog because eventually you will get caught okay so if you're still on board and you have checked your leasing agreement and you are allowed to bring a dog into your home then the next step is figuring out how to adopt your dog this is a personal decision and i strongly advise that you adopt a dog from a rescue the reason i strongly advise you to is not just so you can adopt a dog in need because you could also go to the shelter for that but the main reason is because when a dog comes from a rescue usually they've gone through a foster network and the foster parents have had ample time to get to know the dog they get to know the dog's behavior they get to know where the dog needs improvement and occasionally the dog already has a little bit of basic training a little bit of basic manners and these are things that are going to make your life so much easier than if you were to get a dog from a shelter or if you were to adopt a puppy from a breeder if you'd like to buy a puppy from a breeder then that's up to you that's a personal choice as long as you get a puppy that didn't come from a puppy mill it came from a responsible breeder who knew what they were doing and actually cares about the well-being of the dogs then that's completely fine i have nothing against that but just know that if you do end up bringing a puppy into an apartment you will have some additional challenges the same as if you brought a puppy into a house or a larger home but these little challenges will be just a little bit harder when you live in an apartment if you're thinking about adopting a dog from a shelter that's fine too although the upfront cost of adopting a dog from a shelter can be significantly less than adopting a dog from a rescue a big difference is in the medical needs that your dog might have upon adoption so in several cases rescues have funding to take care of dogs medical needs expand neuter surgeries any ear infections any much-needed dental cleanings and the costs of all of those things add up so again my final notes on why i think it's better to adopt from a rescue than going to the shelter is because you will know more about the dog and you will have less surprises both in the dog's behavior and the dog's medical needs personally i adopted ansel from a rescue and i was able to get a little bio about him with information such as that he's very playful he was the perfect dog that i was looking for the next thing you want to think about if you're thinking about bringing a dog into your apartment is the time commitment the time commitment of having a dog in an apartment is a little bit more than having a dog in a house and the reason for that is because everything will take a little bit longer your morning routine will take a little bit longer and your evening routine will take longer in the mornings depending on how much activity your dog needs you need time to feed your dog and you need time to walk your dog and this is especially even more important if you're leaving for work and you're planning on leaving your dog home alone for a couple of hours because you have to make sure that your dog gets enough exercise in the morning to where they're feeling enriched and tired enough to not destroy your home and in the evenings when you feel ready to go to bed you have to stay up a little bit longer to walk your dog and both of these cases in the morning and in the evening you might have to walk them when it's snowing when it's raining when it's cold and when you simply don't want to or if you live alone and you find that you're feeling sick i'm sorry but you still have to walk your dog just because you have the flu or anything else that doesn't mean that your dog doesn't have to go to the bathroom so be ready to have to walk your dog even when you don't quite feel like it on average a dog should not go more than six to eight hours without taking a potty break and you can verify specifics with your veterinarian personally ansel is a 30 pound dog and i don't like to let him go more than six hours without a bathroom break so i take him out for walks in the middle of the day but on the days when i have to be at work for long hours i take him to daycare so that he can socialize with other dogs and he can take care of his business as he needs but another thing you can look into is getting a dog walker dogs who are not given enough potty breaks unfortunately end up having accidents in the home they end up with health issues like urinary tract infections and these are things that are very miserable for your dog to go through so please don't increase the likeliness of that happening to your dog also dogs are natural people pleasers no dog wants to intentionally go to the bathroom on your carpet or on your floor but if you're not meeting their needs by walking them enough and giving them lots of potty breaks it's bound to happen next i want to talk about two things the size of the dog and the size of the apartment apartments come in all shapes and sizes and so do dogs and once again i don't think living in an apartment disqualifies you necessarily from any dog but you have to find the dog his personality works for you i've met some tiny energetic little dogs who thrive in properties that are over one acre and i've also met some calm happy big dogs that thrive in apartments so it's a misconception that you can't have a big dog in an apartment but it's up to you finding a balance there if you have a small apartment then you want to make sure that you maximize the space to give your dog the best life possible and if you're a dog it's a great time to be alive because there's so many small space enrichment options there's two toys there's feeding puzzles there's dog treats and all sorts of things that you can get for your dog to give your dog an enriching life personally ansel eats every meal from a snuffle mat and that adds to his enrichment because it forces him to forage for his food a little bit and he really seems to enjoy it and keeping chew toys in your home will help save your furniture and it will help save your shoelaces and probably several more items in your home if your dog is just sitting at home all day bored in an unsimulating environment they might become a different dog than who you adopted suddenly your dog might become curious of what does the couch taste like and these are things that you don't want to go through and your dog is not trying to be a bad dog he's just legitimately curious of these things so you have to keep their mind occupied dogs are like people in the sense that they need a stimulating environment in order to thrive and when people don't give their dog a stimulating environment then the people suffer the consequences and end up blaming the dog when in reality all this could have been avoided if the dog had had a more enriching environment also on the topic of the size of an apartment if you are planning on banning your dog from places like the couch the bed the carpeted area the spare bedroom then you have to think about that if your apartment is already small you are single-handedly subtracting the square footage of your apartment personally i'm an advocate for letting my dog roam free in my home my dog can sit on the couch my dog sleeps in my bed and he's allowed everywhere where i'm allowed but my personal opinion on this is that your apartment is your dog's whole life sure you might be taking your dog on weekend hikes or long walks adventures visits to the beach but the apartment is basically their whole life that's where they live that's where they stay please don't ban your dog from certain areas if you already have a small space next i want to talk about a dog's reactivity level if you are getting a puppy you won't know what the dog's reactivity level is and if you go to the shelter all the dogs seem reactive because they all come and bark at you but if you are getting a dog from a rescue then this is something that you will have insight to i've never met a dog who didn't bark at a doorbell but the difference is how often will your dog be barking will your dog be barking all day at the slightest noise or does your dog have some threshold for controlling the reactivity in angel's case he barks when we have a guest he barks when the doorbell rings but he's able to quickly calm himself down and occasionally if he's staring at the window and he sees a cat he will bark but a solution that i found to that is to keep the blinds closed when i'm not here and that helps to prevent him from getting stressed out every time he sees a cat but by closing the blinds i can limit how often he sees a cat walking by and that helps to keep his stress level and reactivity a little bit more manageable if you're living in an apartment there will probably be more noises going on than if you lived in a house because there's other neighbors walking by in close proximity other dogs maintenance people maybe so my recommendation is regardless of what kind of apartment you're in try to find a dog that is more on the moderate end of the spectrum in terms of his reactivity and both you and the dog will have a much more pleasant living situation it's also worth considering a dog's exercise needs this one kind of applies to both apartments and houses and it's more specific to your lifestyle and how much time you have but when you're adopting a dog you have to think about how much effort you're willing to put into giving your dog the exercise that he or she needs i've known people with big backyards whose dogs didn't willingly want to exercise so this isn't just specific to an apartment but if you adopt a dog of a dog breed that is known to need a lot of exercise for example a healer or a husky or any big athletic dog and you have to be ready to give your dog extra long walks and if you're not ready for that especially in an apartment where you might have a small space then i recommend looking for a dog breed or a dog mixed breed that doesn't require as much exercise ansel is a poodle and he's happy with moderate amounts of exercise we occasionally go to the beach where he gets to run around or we take him on hikes but his exercise needs aren't the same as what a husky would require and it's important to keep up with your dog's exercise needs because otherwise your dog will end up having too much energy and it could also become a health hazard if your dog becomes obese which can bring on other medical complications bringing your dog into an apartment community means that your dog will be part of the community and this community might be made up of neighbors of other dogs and it might also include maintenance people and people who don't necessarily like dogs so you have to keep all of these things in mind if you have some insight into the dog's temperament and personality i recommend looking for a dog who is already relatively well socialized although you can do more socialization work with your dog progressively and every dog's training is a work in progress it doesn't end and speaking of neighbors sometimes your dog will hear neighbors and we'll have a lot to say about that hey by adopting a dog who already has some mild socialization experience you are going to have a much easier time integrating your dog into the community compared to if you were to adopt a dog that doesn't like other people or doesn't like other dogs a dog's reactivity to other dogs or other people isn't necessarily a disqualifier for an apartment but it will require extra time and extra work on your part to help make the experience better and less stressful for your dog another important factor about your dog living in a community is that your dog should be in good health and should be up to date on all of his or her vaccinations living in an apartment community your dog shares his bathroom space with all the other dogs in the neighborhood so if one dog gets sick it's likely that multiple dogs in the community will get sick so please do your part to protect your dog and your neighbor's dog by vaccinating your dog and being diligent on keeping your dog on the proper vaccine schedule another consideration for bringing a dog into an apartment is how much carpet you have in the apartment if you have a lot of carpet in the apartment then i strongly strongly recommend that you don't adopt a puppy if you adopt a puppy you will have to do a lot of house training which involves teaching your dog not to go to the bathroom inside your apartment and yes you can do things like crate training but it's unrealistic and sad to think that you would leave your dog in a crate all day and little accidents will happen along the way so again if you have a ton of carpet in your apartment please think twice before adopting a puppy no matter how properly house trained your dog is little things will happen to your carpet and you need to take this step to protect that if you want your pet deposit back my current apartment has mostly all hardwood floor except for the bedroom which has carpet although my dog ansel has never ever had a bathroom accident inside our apartment there's been a few times when ansel ate something that upset his stomach and unfortunately he ended up throwing up on the carpet and in addition to that it seems like he really likes carpet because whenever he gets a treat that he really likes he just takes it into the bedroom so i've learned that i can't give him anything messy because he will take it onto the carpet so if you have carpet in your apartment that's not a deterrent at all from adopting a dog but you just might have to take a little bit of extra precautions in protecting your carpet if you want your pet deposit back and you can do things like cut down pee pads if your dog has a little accents in the home or you can add in extra rugs to keep your carpet protected additionally if you have carpet in your home you should always have some kind of pet stain remover on hand if your dog has potty accidents in the home it's best to have something that is enzyme reactive so you can get rid of the smell and your dog won't think it's okay to just keep going in that same area just because they can smell it another consideration for bringing a dog into an apartment is does your apartment have stairs or hallways if your apartment has hallways i would strongly recommend not adopting a puppy because as you're working through the house training process your puppy might get confused about whether the hallway's inside or outside and some accidents might happen along the way stairs are not a disqualifier from having a dog in an apartment but i would strongly recommend that you avoid adopting a senior dog into an apartment with stairs if you don't have an elevator and if you're not willing to carry the dog downstairs and upstairs every time the dog has to go potty and the reason for that is because stairs can be very taxing on a senior dog's joints finally the last consideration i would have for if you should bring a dog into your apartment and finding the best dog for your apartment is having a space to give your dog a bath sure there's places like the dog groomer and places where you can give your dog a bath but this comes at a cost and you are limited to the operating hours of that location so occasionally there might come a time when the groomer is not available or these places aren't open and maybe your dog gets really muddy on a walk and has to get a bath if you have a stand-up shower that's not a disqualifier from having a dog but just know that you will physically have to get into the shower with your dog in order to give your dog a bath also you might be more constrained to the space of the dog when determining what kind of dog you can bring into your home if you have a bathtub type of shower then you're able to have more space to give a dog a bath which means you can accommodate having a larger dog in your home but something to think about here is that you will be bending down quite a bit and maybe spending some time on your knees so if you have any health conditions that prevent you from doing that you might want to consider not getting a big dog and if giving a dog a bath in the shower doesn't seem like a good fit for you then there's always a kitchen sink as long as you clean your kitchen sink beforehand you can get away with giving a small dog like under 12 pounds a bath in the kitchen sink comfortably a dog like a chihuahua or a bichon or a maltese can comfortably get a bath in a kitchen sink giving your dog a bath in the kitchen sink means that you don't have to bend down and you can use a retractable hose to spray down your dog and it makes it a much easier experience one final thing to consider on the topic of bad space giving your dog a bath is so important and it's not just for the sake of having a dog who smells nice or having a dog that's not leaving muddy footprints on your furniture but it's also really important for their health so please make sure that you have the right amount of space to give a dog a bath before bringing a dog into your home if you found this video helpful please give it a thumbs up as it really helps tremendously with the youtube algorithm and hopefully you can help other people to make more educated decisions when it comes to bringing a dog into the apartment and if you didn't find it helpful then feel free to give it a thumbs down that's fine too if after watching this video you are still feeling ready to bring a dog into your apartment then congratulations i am so excited for you and i wish you the best of luck in this journey of finding the best dog to fit your apartment and your lifestyle thank you so much for watching my video and i'll see you next time

Channel: Maria Workman

Views: 1,966

Rating: 5 out of 5

Keywords: Adopting a dog while living in an apartment, apartment dog, dog in apartment, adopting a dog, should i adopt a dog, adopting a rescue dog, puppy apartment, puppy apartment training, considerations for dog adoption, apartment poodle, dog goals, life with my dog, tips for dog life, tips for apartment dog, dog rescue, dog shelter, dog adoption, quarantine puppy, dog lessons, dog tips for beginners, rescue dog advice, dog apartment tips, big dog in apartment, pandemic puppy

Id: aZDb6HZu-Po

Length: 19min 13sec (1153 seconds)

Published: Fri Feb 05 2021