Apartment Pooch

Lonewolf

Lonewolf

Lonewolf

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Joined
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Manchester
Currently live in a two bed apartment/flat and the wife would like a dog, so I seek the wisdom of the OcUK community.

I'm sure many of you who own a dog also work and therefore leave your pet home alone and indoors. The dog won't be alone everyday but at least a few days in any week.

How does your dog cope being alone for several hours and which breed of dog do you own?
 
Lonewolf said:
Currently live in a two bed apartment/flat and the wife would like a dog, so I seek the wisdom of the OcUK community.

I'm sure many of you who own a dog also work and therefore leave your pet home alone and indoors. The dog won't be alone everyday but at least a few days in any week.

How does your dog cope being alone for several hours and which breed of dog do you own?
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Most dogs suffer anxiety when left alone for long periods. Might be a bad idea if you're both away often for long periods.
 
Don't get a dog if you live in an apartment. It's neither fair on the people you share the building with, or the dog.
 
tbh, it can depend on the breed and age of the dog, but general rule of thumb is if you're leaving your dog all day while you're out at work full time then it's not really fair on the dog.

Me and the wife have just dog-sat her sisters pooch for 3 weeks and luckily we have slightly alternate shift patterns so the dog wasn't left for too long, but there was the odd day that it was left for 6-8 hours which wasn't ideal, but the pooch was an older dog and slept quite a lot.
Add into that dogs can be quite binding and needing a couple of walks a day to get rid of energy/poop etc you'll soon realise how much time they take up.

I've had dogs all my life, up to leaving home & the wife used to work for the RSPCA but now our lives & work schedules just don't fit with having another dog until later on in life as it's not fair on them to be left too long.
If you're an active walker or outdoors kind of person then it could be good. But an indoor/sunshine only person would do best to avoid getting a pooch as rain, snow, hail or shine, the dog will need exercise and toilet relief.

Don't forget your poop bags too :D
 
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Don't do it, not fair on the dog or your neighbours who will suffer it barking all day. Get a cat and loads of air-fresheners instead.
 
Don't do it. You won't have the time to toilet train it and will eventually get fedup and get rid of the dog.

It disgusts me how some people see pets as disposable items rather than living things.
 
Agree. Dogs shouldn't be allowed in apartments. When I lived in a paper thin walled New built semi the people next door had 2 yapping dogs that woke me up. Soon moved out. People who work full time shouldn't have dogs it's not fair. It's like sentencing it to a life of confusing loneliness. Sorry to all those that will disagree but I do like dogs so only have their best interests at heart.
 
Lima said:
Lol

Hello, I would like to report a dog owner.

Ok, who are they and what's the address?

Ermmmmm I don't know, they post on ocuk.

:rolleyes:
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A dog and an appartment don't mix. A dog needs space, somewhere to go to the loo and exercise. It's not impossible, there are breeds that need less exercise, you can train a dog to tell you when they want to go to the loo and you can take them out, you can hire a dog walker but personally I think it sounds like a bad idea. You'll end up with a dog that is hard to house-train and under stimulated.

We have a cockapoo and when the wife and I were both at work I would walk him at 6am, we would pay for a dog walker to take him out for an hour at lunch time and I would often take him out again in the evening. He could cope with long periods at home but we didn't feel any longer than 3-4 hours was fair. A tired dog is a well behaved dog and a lot of behavioural problems (chewing,barking etc) come from being under exercised.

For a brief period we lived in a rented house without a secure garden and it was a total pain, everytime he needed the loo we'd have to go out with him on the lead and wait for him to finish up, sometimes he'd just go out because he was bored. You'd have the same problem in a flat - you'd have to take a dog out every few hours to go to the loo. With a garden you can just let them out and leave them to it.
 
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Please explain to us why you think this is a good idea, and why you think it is OK to keep a dog locked alone in a flat for half of its life?
 
as opposed to being locked in a house alone for half it's life whilst the parents are at work and the kids are at school.

you could always buy two and then it would never be alone :eek:
 
I've wanted a dog for the past 4 years after having grew up with dogs as a kid in my parents house.

I've held off because of the above, it's not fair if a) your going to be out a lot and b) there is limited space/no garden.

Wait until you have a house and more free time.
 
I live in a ground floor apartment, always got on really well with the prople above gone out drinking bbqs etc but a month ago they told us they were buying a dog a husky infact. I work shifts so sometimes nights and sleep during the day, the missus works from home 3 days a week and the people above both work.

Everytine they go to work the damn dog whined from the second they left till thr second one of them returned and if i go out in my garden the dog goes insane barking and banging around. Its so loud that we can hear it over the tv. Since the dog appeared weve gone from good friends to almost blows.

THey have now been given the option by the buildings owner (we all own our flats lease hold) after so many conplaints by the 4 other residents in our block and the house next door that either the dog goes (your not actually aloud dogs anyway acording to
The lease) or they will be taken to court in ciew of being evicted.

TLDR :- dont get a dog if you like your neighbours abd your apartment
 
I have a new pup, he is 7 weeks old. He is a great pup but we have one problem, he has separation anxiety. We live in an apartment and I've never had a pup before so I really didn't know what to expect. We both leave at 8:30 in the morning for work and as soon as we lock him in the kitchen he barks and whines and it's so loud that I can hear it from outside by my car. This is the only time he does this and I have no idea how long he does it for but it's so stressful in an apartment. We haven't had any complaints yet since it is the first week. I do walk him in the morning and we take him to the park everyday after work, I just really need help. It's become so stressful and hard to deal with. I can't just ignore it or wait it out, there's people around who could be sleeping.

So I guess you need to think twice before you leave your pet alone for an extended period of time.
 
martina.lo said:
I have a new pup, he is 7 weeks old. He is a great pup but we have one problem, he has separation anxiety. We live in an apartment and I've never had a pup before so I really didn't know what to expect. We both leave at 8:30 in the morning for work and as soon as we lock him in the kitchen he barks and whines and it's so loud that I can hear it from outside by my car. This is the only time he does this and I have no idea how long he does it for but it's so stressful in an apartment. We haven't had any complaints yet since it is the first week. I do walk him in the morning and we take him to the park everyday after work, I just really need help. It's become so stressful and hard to deal with. I can't just ignore it or wait it out, there's people around who could be sleeping.

So I guess you need to think twice before you leave your pet alone for an extended period of time.
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How long is your pup left for? Please don't say you are leaving a 7 week old pup for over 8 hours a day on its own?
 
For everyone saying OMG you can't leave a dog at home while you work.


What do you think the vast majority of owners do and have done for years?

I don't see millions of dog sitters all over the country.
 
Tefal said:
For everyone saying OMG you can't leave a dog at home while you work.


What do you think the vast majority of owners do and have done for years?

I don't see millions of dog sitters all over the country.
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You can leave a dog at home whilst you work. But you probably shouldn't dependent on the age/temperament of the dog.
 
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