7 Tips for Dog Apartment Living
Dog apartment living can be a bit more challenging than detached home living. In an apartment, your neighbors are so close and you share the same stairwells, hallways and entrances. All of this adds up to creating an uncomfortable environment for you and your dog. I’m sure you’re probably already aware of these issues, so hopefully these tips will make dog apartment living a bit easier for the both of you.
1. Always Keep Your Dog on Leash
As apartment dwellers, there’s a tiny tinge of guilt you feel when your dog must be leashed at all times when outdoors (I know the feeling). It’s important to understand that a leash keeps your dog from running away, walking into traffic or harassing other people and dogs. Basically, your dog’s leash is a safety line.
While we envision our dogs yearning to run freely in a never-ending pasture of green grass, most dogs would rather sniff and explore. Walks are important for releasing pent-up energy, but allowing your dog to stop, sniff and explore will mentally tire her out too. When your dog stops to sniff, she’s basically checking her social media page. She’s finding out what’s going on and who’s doing what in the neighborhood. She may respond back by marking the area. Overall, allowing her to sniff and explore is vital for dog apartment living.
2. Create a Sound Barrier Inside
Apartments share walls, elevators and entrances, which can all cause some creepy sounds. When not home, play soft music or a sound machine at medium level. Creating a calming sound will drown out any other noises and ensure your dog sleeps soundly while you’re away.
If your neighbors are loud, even when you’re home, turn on a portable fan to drown out the noise. I find portable fans provide more white noise than a ceiling fan. By drowning out typical apartment living noises, you prevent your dog from barking when they hear these sounds. Check out the benefits of calming music for dogs.
3. Make Weird Noises Fun
Some neighbors are so loud that even white noise can’t drown them out. In order to combat this, make it rain treats next time. Keep a bowl of tiny, super yummy treats near your chair and toss your dog a treat when a neighbor slams his door. When a nearby dog barks or people argue loudly in the hallway, toss your dog a treat the moment the sound begins. By pairing good things with sounds, you’re teaching your dog that weird sounds will make it rain treats, which prevents barking or stress.
4. Check Out Entrances & Exits
When walking out of your front door, or through the building entrance, take a moment and make sure the coast is clear. As you approach an entrance, ask your dog to “sit” and “wait.” Now, peek out the entrance to make sure other dogs or people aren’t approaching. Once the coast is clear, tell your dog “let’s go” and walk through the entrance way.
Checking out all entrances and exits before walking through them is so important for dog apartment living, especially if your dog reacts to other dogs or people. We lived on the 7th floor with two Rottweilers, and we learned quickly that rounding the corner with unsuspecting people approaching us will cause screams, spilled coffee and frowns.
Our Rotties were super sweet, but they scared our neighbors, so just taking this extra step reassured our neighbors that our dogs are polite. Afterwards, we witnessed many smiles going forward. Make sure the coast is clear every time.
5. Keep Your Distance
I can’t say this enough: not all dogs want to meet other dogs. Just because you pass another dog walking around your apartment building, it doesn’t mean your dog wants to meet the other dog. I’m pretty sure you don’t shake hands with your neighbors every time you see them because that would be a bit creepy. It’s the same thing for your dog. If a neighbor with a dog makes a beeline for you and your dog, just tell him you’re training a new dog behavior and don’t have time to chat, but thank him along the way.
6. Pick Up Your Dog’s Poop Every Time
Pick it up every time despite rain, sleet, monsoons, hurricanes, blizzards and heat waves. If you forget a poop bag, bring your dog upstairs. Afterwards, grab a poop bag and head back down to pick it up. When this happens to us, I place a stick vertically into the ground that’s right next to the poop, so I can find it easier. Plus, by flagging the area, your neighbors will know you’re coming back to pick up your dog’s poop—because we all know someone is always looking, right?
7. Play Dog Apartment Living Games
Walks are good, but sniffing opportunities are better, so make sure your dog has fun sniffing activities in your apartment too. Toss out your dog’s food bowl because feeding your dog in a bowl is so boring and a huge waste of an enrichment opportunity. Instead, stuff your dog’s food in interactive toys.
For example, hide bits of kibble behind furniture or scatter your dog’s kibble in a shag rug. This encourages sniffing and hunting, which is excellent mental stimulation. For games that don’t involve food (because some dogs are watching their waistlines), grab a bottle of dog-friendly bubbles and play bubble games, or play a fun game of tug. Inside your apartment, your dog can run freely and play, so take advantage of it.
