A dog for a small appartment?

Question

Could u please advice me on buying a suitable dog for my small apartment. It has to be friendly, have an initial cost of between £100 and £200 and be cheap to maintain

Answer 1

I'd need to know what your lifestyle is - kids or not? How much time are you willing to spend training, exercising and caring for the dog?

Get a healthy dog with a temperament that best suits your lifestyle. Since you have an apartment, you should avoid the scent hounds, terriers, herding and toy dogs that tend to bark a lot. Vizslas and Goldens are great if you've got the energy to exercise them. The bigger the dog, the longer they can go between walks and the easier they are to housebreak. Pekingese, ENGLISH Cocker Spaniels (not American!), Japanese Chins and Cavalier King Charles Spaniels are a great, friendly, quiet apartment dogs if you want something smaller.

Irish Wolfhounds, Greyhounds and Whippets are terrific apartment dogs, as long as you can take them out for a long daily run. They ARE couch potatoes (like our Borzoi - Russian wolfhound) and you won't even know they're around most of the time. They are quiet and easily housebroken and much better than most small dogs. Be careful if you're adopting a racing greyhound off the track (in the USA). They are often fine, but many have behavior problems (like destructive chewing) from being locked in a cage with little socialization. Also, remember that sighthounds are hunting dogs and some will kill small animals (cats, rabbits, toy dogs) if they haven't grown up with them.

Find a good breeder by going to kennel club website or talking to people at dog shows. You can also find info about the breed clubs on the akc site - they probably have a rescue group where you can get an older dog for less money. The best breeders will be members of their breed club, promoting healthy dogs with great temperaments. They should ask you a bunch of questions to make sure their puppy will be getting a good home. If all a "breeder" seems to care about is whether your check will clear, you can be sure he won't care a week later when the pup is dying from distemper or parvo and you want your money back.

Whatever you do, DON'T go to a pet shop, a flea market or buy one sight-unseen off the Internet!!!! You'll pay top dollar for what is usually a poor quality puppy mill dog. And you'll be supporting one of the cruelest industries in the country. The breeding animals are often kept in deplorable conditions - spending their entire lives in small wire-bottomed cages. They probably haven't been vaccinated against contagious diseases or tested for any health or temperament problems or genetic diseases - that costs money and cuts into their profits. A female is often bred every time she comes into heat. When her poor little body can't take it any more, she is often clubbed in the head and tossed into a dumpster or an open ditch. Most puppy mills ship their pups to pet stores at wholesale prices and many pups die before they even get there.

Answer 2

Three great small dog breeds to have with children are a Beagle, Cocker Spaniel or a Scottish Terrier. My sister has 2 Small kids ( a girl of 3 and a boy of 6) and they really get along great with the three dogs. They live in a house that's only like 1300 square feet and the dogs are just fine. The Beagle and Scottish Terrier are pretty laid back dogs, the Spaniel is a bit more boisterous but not bad. All three are basically just lap dogs.

Answer 3

Basic Training of the Puppy - Read here https://tr.im/rn8fI

The new puppy is certainly one of the most adorable and cuddly creatures that has ever been created. It is the most natural thing in the world to shower it with love and affection. However, at the same time it is important to realize that if you want to have a well trained adult dog, you need to begin the training process right away. The dog, like its related ancestor, the wolf, is a pack animal. One of the features of a pack is that it has a single dominant leader. Your new puppy is going to want that leader to be you, but if you do not assume that role from the very beginning, the puppy’s instincts will push him to become the leader.

The most important thing to remember about training the puppy during its first six months of life is that it must see you as the leader of the family pack. The essential thing is gaining the trust and the respect of the puppy from the beginning. You will not do this by allowing the puppy to do whatever it wants to do whenever it wants to do it. On the other hand, a certain amount of patience is required. Most people err in their early training by going to extremes one way or the other. Although you need to begin the basic training process at once, you can not expect your dog to do too much at first. Basic obedience training is fine and should include simple commands like sit, stay, and come. Remember that trying to teach the dog advanced obedience techniques when it is a puppy is much like trying to teach a five year old child algebra.

It is also important to restrain from cruel or abusive treatment of the puppy. You can not beat obedience into your dog, and it certainly is not going to engender feeling of respect and trust. House breaking is an area where this usually becomes a problem because of the anger that is triggered when the puppy fails and creates a mess inside the home. Although this issue must be addressed without anger, it most be addressed. If you allow the puppy to eliminate inside the house, it will continue to do so as an adult dog. The same thing is true of other destructive or dangerous behavior such as chewing and biting. Do not expect the puppy to grow out of it. You are going to need to train the puppy out of it, but you should do so firmly but with a sense of play and fun using positive reinforcement and lots of love and praise for good behavior.

Answer 4

No dog is "cheap to maintain". Accidents happen and you always have to be prepared for a LARGE vet bill to appear with little warning.

I'd look for an adult (3+ years old) dog who appears to have a laid-back temperment. You can't really go by size because some large dogs sleep all day and are fine for apartments,and some small dogs are balls of energy that will be pinging off your walls.

Answer 5

What about a pomeranian. They are very small and easy to maintain. They dont eat a lot and are really house dogs, so are not too fussy about going out for walks. Not sure of price in UK but here they are expensive.

Answer 6

Go to an animal shelter. Dogs shouldn't be too expensive there. Are you looking for a lazy dog or an energetic one? As for small dogs, Pugs are nice. Jack Russell Terriers are nice. Beagles are smart. Just go to a shelter and see what captures your eye!

Answer 7

Yorkie's are a good small dog but not sure what the price is where you live. You could always try your local shelter and rescue a little one that needs love and care. Good Luck.

Answer 8

Go to your local SPCA to adopt a dog. Small breeds are best but stay away from terrier and spaniels because they need room to burn energy. Mixed breeds can be really smart and, in my experience, sometimes smarter and easier to train than their purebreed counterparts. Also the nominal adoption fee will allow you to stay within you spending range.

Answer 9

Pekingese, Dachshund, Chihuahua, Beagle, French Poodle, Maltese, mini Schnauzer, mini Doberman, Cocker. etc-

Answer 10

A rescued Greyhound. They are LAZy in the house, but just need daily walking (as does any dog). They're fantastic pets, but can never be trusted off leash.