good apartment dogs?

AgileGSD

If being overly "needy" or having separation issues is a potential problem, starting with the dog as a puppy you can help condition them to be comfortable being left alone. Having people around nearly all the time with the dog from the time the dog comes into the home will promote separation issues though. Unless of course, the people really put in the effort to make sure the dog learn to be comfortable with being left alone.

I just want to chime in with my two cents here. My opinion is that whatever special privileges you give a dog or puppy when it is first introduced to your home automatically become perceived as its "entitlements." This includes constant together time and attention. My bf allowed Mingus to go everywhere with him and sleep on the bed from day one. He immediately saw that as his right, not a privilege. When I first brought Ty home from the SPCA as a puppy, I had him sleep in our OUTDOOR kennel in the backyard, even though he was a precious furry cuddly puppy. He eventually graduated to sleeping inside on the bed, but he had already learned how to sleep alone outside and didn't make a fuss when kenneled, as opposed to Mingus the Destroyer, who would gnaw wood and demolish chain link to escape and return to his people.

I'm just saying that I think you can condition a puppy or dog if you're mindful about it from the beginning (and assuming it doesn't already have a lot of issues to start with). Another example: Rey is crated while we're at work. I've never said goodbye to him or even acknowledged that I'm leaving b/c I don't want it to seem like a big deal. I just walk out and leave. When I come home, I walk right past him into the house without saying anything. He gets plenty of play time and attention before I go and after I've returned in and settled in. But I've conditioned him not to make a fuss when I leave or arrive and he doesn't. Some people overcompensate when they get home by making a big fuss over their dog and letting it get all excited. This just feeds the separation anxiety I think.

Condition your puppy to be comfortable being alone from the beginning. It's much easier to add privileges as you go along than to take them away after the fact.

Liesje

When we were apartment shopping, I found the higher end the place (like nicer townhouse communities), the tighter the restrictions both on breed and size.  Looking at 2BR, 1/1.5bath lower end apartments it seemed they either allowed dogs or they didn't. 

LIes makes another super good point here which is part of what I was talking about.  But I actually forgot to spell out (imagine that .. ME?  forgetting to SSAY something *sigh and rolling eyes*) 

 Unless you have lived in various different parts of the country (or even in other countries) one thing that may not be at all obvious (and which is also at the heart of this) -- when I lived up in Western NY State and Rochester, if you wanted an apartment it was usually part of someone's house.  Apartment "complexes" were pretty much unheard of -- or VERY pricey -- maybe someone's rented out condo??  In Rochester I lived in a small apartment building -- maybe 14-15 small apartments in one brick building, but not a complex of 10+ buildings under one "complex" rule.  But mostly "getting an apartment" was a couple of rooms in a house MAYBE with your own entrance -- maybe a duplex or the top floor in a house or something. 

But here in the urban south?  That doesn't even exist.  Most people wouldn't even contemplate renting out part of their HOUSE ... egad NO.  Here in Florida a "basement" doesn't even exist and 2 story homes are rare (yeah, they really are) so an "apartment" is virtually always in an apartment complex.  

SO you get something like a manager who lives "onsite" or a group of people (sometimes an owner or company who is far far away) making "rules" simply based on what is acceptable (and cheap) insurance wise NOT an individual landlord who may bend this way or that.

Now that may be unheard of for some of you, but I know Erica knows what I mean.  Here apartment = an apartment complex and very often those are owned/managed by some other company and either rules are enforced, or maybe aren't.  Then you run the risk of coming in and signing a lease (which "lease" was an unknown concept where I lived up north -- no one had them!) but here you may get into a lease under one property manager and then suddenly a few months down the line a new manager takes over and decides to "enforce" rules you didn't even know were there and suddenly you get a 3 day notice to leave because you have a pet that isn't acceptable (even tho you may have had that pet when you moved in).

Someone above made the point  of how much different locales may see this and that has been my major point.  Some of you may never have moved from state to state, or from suburbia to city or country residential, but wow, it can make SUCH a huge difference.  I think that's obvious in the completely different answers that have been given here -- for some having a big dog has never been a big deal.  For others (and Laurelin made the point in a stallar way) even going from one small dog to two can RADICALLY change how easy it may be to get a place to live.

We have both here.  The "apartments" I have lived in and applied for have been apartment complexes (ie, 3 stories high, 12+ units per building, a club house with a property manager), but there are also larger houses downtown sectioned into "apartments".  In my experience, ANY property (apartment, house, duplex) owned by an individual and not a company has been more willing to negotiate. 

And like someone else mentioned, I am always watching rentals.  Our current place (a duplex) has been for sale since we've lived here and now the landlord has a realtor.  So I am always scanning postings for back up options.

Liesje

and now the landlord has a realtor.  So I am always scanning postings for back up options.

wise woman ... just because you have a lease honestly doesn't protect you if the property is sold (or a lot of times even if new management takes over -- you can 'win a battle but lose the war' in those situations easily if they decide to enforce a rule a 'different' way)