Dear all, I have a Labrador retriver 2 months old. This Forum has been very useful for me and I have made some very small progress in bonding with Labrador during my first days,thanks to your suggestions. My question is, Do I have to be concerned that I live in an apartment and perhaps it is not the best for a Labrador? Do you think it will be ok if we will have a walk in the parks for one hour every day? Or Labradors need absolutely homes with garden? We are waiting to have the second vaccine after some days and it is really difficult for him and us too to stay at apartment during all these days. I have not at all experience with dogs and I am thinking during these days, if living in an apartment will be a problem for my dog and me in the future. What changes with a Labrador with passing of months and years and how it effects living in an apartment and vice versa? Thanks a lot Aurela
I think dogs can adapt very well to apartment life. One challenge I can think of though is barking and disturbing neighbors. If that is something you can control it shouldn't be an issue. Another thing is having a small outside area to take pup out to potty. Other than that I don't think living in an apartment is much different than living in a house.
I have a back garden. My dog lets herself out to go to the toilet (and to check whether any wallabies have been eating grass in her territory. The cats have to be shooed off too. And the birds too. She is very possessive about her property.). I have never lived in an apartment with a dog. I would imagine it might be useful if the dog would toilet on the dog equivalent of a litter box located on the balcony.
I live in an apartment with my 11 month lab. It is certainly doable, and from his perspective he is perfectly happy and healthy. The one drawback is of course that I have no garden, which means every time he wants/needs to go out, I have to get my shoes, jacket etc on and go with him, which gets a bit exhausting. So as long as you're prepared to do this (bear in mind in the early weeks you could be doing this as much as every half hour) then there should be no issues.
Up to now barking is not a problem but in the future I hope to control, but as I told you I do not have experience with dogs. Thanks for your suggestions.
I'm sure you'll do fine. There are some great dog trainers on this site. If you have an issue just post your question and they're very willing to help..
I have my 5 month old lab in an apartment. Everything working out pretty great, he's a pretty low energy lab and loves to cuddle on the couch. Labs adapt very well and the small space isn't an issue for him. I live on the first floor so he goes out on the balcony to do his business. I bought one of the fake grass mats from Home Depot for him to use and I'll switch it out in a few few weeks. The one things that's awful is his barking. He used to be quiet but around 4 months he really found his voice. It's hard with the alarm barking since there's a lot of movement around but we're slowly getting better. He also barks when I leave for work still (it's suddenly also gotten much worse) and thats a big source of anxiety for me since I don't want to get a complain filed against me.
Does he have free run of the house? If so maybe try putting a gate up to a small room with no windows he can get to. Also leave the TV on or get Dog TV. You can play Dog Relaxing Music. I do that for our dogs when we leave the house. Have you tried stuffing a Kong and freezing it? Our dogs love them.
He has a crate attached to an x-pen. I know he doesn't mind the pen because he goes in it all the time to sleep with the door open. unfortunately my apartment is kinda open concept so I can't really block out a room, and we're surrounded top and 3/4 sides by other apartments. I've been putting dog tv on for him but not sure if its working...I might have to play around with some different channels. He also unfortunately won't really touch much when I leave, he barks until he sleeps, then to my knowledge, he sleeps the whole time. This week I'm going to try to give him one of those raw butchers bones when I leave since he loves those and see how he does. Right now I'm also trying to decide if he needs more exercise before I leave or more time with me. He's a very low energy dog, and sometimes he does better settling without exercise just couch time next to me. But he's also had success settling with no barking right after the dog park so idk.
I know it's a little frustrating when you can't figure them out. Before you leave for try five minutes of training. Mental stimulation is very tiring for dogs. You could also hide biscuits through out the house just before you leave. That will keep him occupied for awhile and also tire him out.
We are in a terrace house with a small courtyard and it isn't a problem. As long as Chewie gets 2-3 outings a day and some training/play with us he is content to just nap near us most of the time. The barking is worrying to all of us who live in close quarters- Chewie barks when he gets excited (which is quote frequent at this age!) and out of frustration. It is still a work in progress, but I think if you explain to your neighbors that you have a young dog and are working on it most people are quite understanding. We have had 0 complaints so far. Good luck!
I have a 12 1/2 year old who has lived in an apartment since I brought him home at 7 weeks old. Your dog will be fine as long as you walk him and exercise him regularly.
