Apartments & German Shepherds

[LaRen616]

My house is 800 sq feet. I have a very big front yard and Sinister gets lots of exercise so the size of the apartment/house doesn't matter. It's me, Sinister and 3 cats. The cats have their own room and Sinister and I share a bedroom. We have plenty of room

[JKlatsky]

Originally Posted by jimmyhasadog

Susan, thank you so much for this post. I think something to mention would be I spend 9 hours at work, 5 days a week. I was planning on getting the dog on one of my off days, so that I could at least be there those 2 days to help adjust, etc. Would that be a good idea?

Thank you again so much everyone!

Are you thinking of adopting an adult dog or getting a puppy?? The only reason I ask is that if you are gone 9 hours a day, you are going to eb very hard pressed to housebreak a puppy. A puppy simply cannot hold it for 9 hours, more like only 2 or 3 in the beginning.

Adults dogs have the bladder control necessary to be OK for that length of time.

And yes I would absolutely try to have as much time as possible off to help your new dog to adjust. I usually try to aim for holiday weekends if at all possible or school vacations (I'm a teacher) So I'll take off Friday, have Saturday, Sunday, and then the Monday holiday...which gives me 4 days to get my new dog settled in. It can take some time and you have to feel out how the new dog reacts to things.

It also does not hurt to be on good terms with your neighbors (and hopefully those neighbors have dogs!)

[jimmyhasadog]

Originally Posted by JKlatsky

Are you thinking of adopting an adult dog or getting a puppy?? The only reason I ask is that if you are gone 9 hours a day, you are going to eb very hard pressed to housebreak a puppy. A puppy simply cannot hold it for 9 hours, more like only 2 or 3 in the beginning.

Adults dogs have the bladder control necessary to be OK for that length of time.

And yes I would absolutely try to have as much time as possible off to help your new dog to adjust. I usually try to aim for holiday weekends if at all possible or school vacations (I'm a teacher) So I'll take off Friday, have Saturday, Sunday, and then the Monday holiday...which gives me 4 days to get my new dog settled in. It can take some time and you have to feel out how the new dog reacts to things.

It also does not hurt to be on good terms with your neighbors (and hopefully those neighbors have dogs!)

Oh no, definitely _not_ a puppy. At least not at this point in my life. I'd love too, but it's not the right time. I was thinking possibly 2-3 years old. Do you think this would be an okay age, or should I shoot for maybe 4-5 years old. I was thinking by 2-3 they would be hopefully house trained and okay with being alone for awhile.

I could definitely always take some extra time off, maybe a couple extra days on top of my weekend as well. By the time I get the dog (crossing my fingers it might be sometime this fall) I should have more PTO time built up.

[GROVEBEAUTY]

I agree with most of the other people on this forum. The size of the apartment is not as important as what it is close to. If it is close to a park or dog park then that will make it more convenient to exercise them. As long as the dog gets plenty of exercise they should be fine. I also use a treadmill for exercise, as well as letting the dogs swim for exercise.

[jimmyhasadog]

Originally Posted by GROVEBEAUTY

I agree with most of the other people on this forum. The size of the apartment is not as important as what it is close to. If it is close to a park or dog park then that will make it more convenient to exercise them. As long as the dog gets plenty of exercise they should be fine. I also use a treadmill for exercise, as well as letting the dogs swim for exercise.

Yeah, we have a bunch of dog parks here, so that'll definitely be one place to take out some energy. Also plan on going for runs/walks as well. How much exercise do you give your dog per day, 1 hour? Or more?

[Melina]

When I was living in Santa Barbara I was living in a 1 bedroom apartment with Riley (My Sheltie mix, I didn't have my GSD Koda yet), a smaller foster dog, two cats, and my boyfriend at the time. Granted, the dogs were smaller than a GSD, if you add them together with the two cats, you can probably make a GSD out of it. Point being, it was completely fine. I took the dogs out all the time, brought them to the beach to run, walked downtown with them (I could even bring them into Border's to read with me, that was cool), took them on hikes, etc. As everyone has been saying, unless you intend to live in a closet with this dog, we're pretty sure you'll be fine so long as you get him/her out every day. A yard isn't even a necessity so long as you stick to a routine as far as exercise and potty breaks.