Dogs and Flats - Bad idea ?

viktory

Two thins to consider would be noise and toileting. Floors would have to be covered with carpet to cut down on noise and you'd have to make sure the dog didn't bark or whine you you are out. Bear in mind that if you are ill (flu for example) you still have to get dressed and take the dog out three times a day and if the dog is ill there may be accidents all over the aforementioned carpet.

Dogs in flats can work, but I think the work load definitely increases considerably. There is nothing quite like getting up and simply flinging the back door open for the dogs!

foreign_correspondent

If you had a dog that barks when left in alone, it is likely to upset more neighbours than if you lived in a house... also toilet training ca become very hard work. A mature rescue dog who is ready housetrained, and happy to be left alone for a ew hours may be a far safer and less stressful bet than a pup!

You may also need permission to keep a dog in a flat... do check out any rules re: pets in the lease / contract etc if applicable.

katie1234

thanks for all your replies. i own the flat and have checked with the management company about a year ago who said it was fine as long as no other neighbours had any reasonable complaints like noise etc. it does say in the lease no pets though but other flats have cats/ dogs and so far no complaints. most people in my block are out all day with work so noise shouldnt be too much an issue anyway. the toilet is my biggest worry. no children really live in the whole building and it seems to be a popular spot with dog walkers anyway due to the grassy areas. my last dog i had before i left home had a bladder the size of a peanut and wanted out constantly. was also not great at holding it in either so id worry id end up with something similar. ive decided to leave it til next year and see how the prospects of moving are then (clutching at straws there though), if no better il probably just give in after that!

Raggs_2

On the comment about dogs needing a lot of space. Half the time, when they have a large garden they lie down in one spot for hours on end. They don't run about all over the place (especially the calmer ones).

A further consequence from this point of view (though only from ignorant pet owners, not suggesting this is the case of the poster), is that people assume that just because their dog spends it's day in the garden, it's fully exercised and doesn't need to be taken out/actively played with.

Histemic

A friend had a dog in a one bed ground floor flat in london. It was a lab cross, so was quiet big. Though the space in the house was limited there were large parks close, so it could do all the running it wanted. I think it had quiet a nice time all in all.

Doom_and_Gloom

Raggs wrote: »

On the comment about dogs needing a lot of space. Half the time, when they have a large garden they lie down in one spot for hours on end. They don't run about all over the place (especially the calmer ones).

A further consequence from this point of view (though only from ignorant pet owners, not suggesting this is the case of the poster), is that people assume that just because their dog spends it's day in the garden, it's fully exercised and doesn't need to be taken out/actively played with.

I know how dogs can act thank you as most of my life I've had a dog but as my partner and I are in a flat we don't have one and wouldn't even if we could.

As for the other comment we always walked our dogs plenty and only didn't when the vet said they had to be in issolation as they were ill.
I'm sorry but dogs do need a lot space, if they use all of it or not is a different matter. I know they will find one spot they like and lay there for hours as the dogs we had did this also but that does not excuse the fact that they do like exploring which takes space! We also played with our dogs.

Don't presume that people that believe dogs need space just use that space to then abuse them by not walking/spending time with them :mad:. Owners of animals should understand that the more space the better. Very few dogs are suited - size wise - to flats.

foreign_correspondent

katie1234 wrote: »

thanks for all your replies. i own the flat and have checked with the management company about a year ago who said it was fine as long as no other neighbours had any reasonable complaints like noise etc. it does say in the lease no pets though but other flats have cats/ dogs and so far no complaints. most people in my block are out all day with work so noise shouldnt be too much an issue anyway. the toilet is my biggest worry. no children really live in the whole building and it seems to be a popular spot with dog walkers anyway due to the grassy areas. my last dog i had before i left home had a bladder the size of a peanut and wanted out constantly. was also not great at holding it in either so id worry id end up with something similar. ive decided to leave it til next year and see how the prospects of moving are then (clutching at straws there though), if no better il probably just give in after that!

.. all these dogs come ready housetrained!
http://www.dogsblog.com/tag/house-trained/

myothercarisaferrari

Hey Doom and Gloom - bit put out by your comments. I have two dogs (a terrier and a collie x) and I moved into a small flat in Jan this year as its all I could afford.
Do you think I should have rehomed them?? No, because I love my dogs more than life itself. I am heavily involved in dog rescue, I do flyball and agility with my collie, I often have overnight fosters and am out at 6:00am with them, then 5:30pm-7:30pm every single day.

I have a small yard and a small flat, but its our home and my dogs are happy. Dogs do not need loads of space as you suggested. My dogs are proof of this and if you want to give me an extra £100 a month towards renting ahouse with a garden, I can PM you my bank details:D

Doom_and_Gloom

myothercarisaferrari wrote: »

Hey Doom and Gloom - bit put out by your comments. I have two dogs (a terrier and a collie x) and I moved into a small flat in Jan this year as its all I could afford.
Do you think I should have rehomed them?? No, because I love my dogs more than life itself. I am heavily involved in dog rescue, I do flyball and agility with my collie, I often have overnight fosters and am out at 6:00am with them, then 5:30pm-7:30pm every single day.

I have a small yard and a small flat, but its our home and my dogs are happy. Dogs do not need loads of space as you suggested. My dogs are proof of this and if you want to give me an extra £100 a month towards renting ahouse with a garden, I can PM you my bank details:D

If space doesn't matter why have all the shelters that we have adopted dogs from (or looked at dogs in) always checked that the house and garden is of suitible (sp?) size before allowing to take a dog home? If the place/garden isn't big enough they won't allow an adoption. The way I see it is if they won't allow it, it is for a reason as shelters do not want to hold onto dogs that can be re-homed/. Would you disagree with this?

Even if we could have a dog here I wouldn't get one because we don't have the space and we couldn't afford the pet plan/vet bills. If you can't give an animal what it needs (and dogs do need space) or afford the vet bills that can come with them you shouldn't have the animal.

ali-t

I disagree about dogs needing a lot of space, mine are in a fairly large 3 bedroom house and rarely move from their chosen spots!

I brought one of mine up in a flat and the other in the house. Housetraining is much harder IME in a flat but my dog got much more exercise when we lived in a flat as I couldn't just open the door and let the dog in the garden.

Living in a flat also meant my dog got more socialisation as having a garden was, for me, the easy way out and the dogs got out less. As a pup in a flat it was out every hour (where possible) for 5-10 minutes so we got to know loads of people, dogs, met bin lorries, buses etc but in a house we go out on set walks. I know I could have operated the same way in a house but convenience was easier and my dog brought up in a house suffered.

Bringing a pup up in a flat is very inconvenient but definitely did her good. Although I have positive experiences of flat dwelling dogs I wouldn't have my youngest dog if I lived in a flat. I would be wary of damaging my large breed boy's hips trecking up and down 3 flights of stairs every hour and at 7.5 stone and still growing there is little chance of me being able to carry him.