Renting With Rex: June 2019

Living in an apartment can be an enjoyable experience for both you and your dog. The following is a suggested list of good habits in order to keep an apartment experience fun.

1. Teach your dog a specific word for bathroom breaks so when it is pouring rain or you are traveling, you will need them to go quickly or in an unfamiliar location.

2. Keep your dog on a consistent and regular food because if your dog suddenly has a bout of diarrhea due to a sudden change in food they will not have much control to wait until you can take them out.

3. Provide daily physical and mental exercise for your dog.

For more information about the benefits of exercising your dog:

See Chapter Nine “Acclimating Your Dog to Living in an Apartment” sections “Socializing Your Dog with People, Other Animals and Noises”, “Exercise is Important for Your Dog’s Health” and “Mind Stimulating Exercises are Good for Your Dog”

4. Designate a space in the apartment that each animal can call its own that others do not share.

For more information on creating a unique space for your dog:

See Chapter Nine “Acclimating Your Dog to Living in an Apartment” section “Dogs Need to Have Their Own Space”

5. You can also designate your own space in the apartment that the animals are not allowed into such as the bathroom or kitchen for safety reasons or certain pieces of furniture. Baby gates are very helpful to block access to certain locations.

6. Since an apartment is small and limited on space and storage compared to a house, you will end of sharing a lot of space with your pet simply due to the fact that there is very little space to begin with. For example, it will be difficult to prevent your dog from being on certain pieces of furniture, especially if you don’t have a crate for your dog.

Author’s note: My dog, Scout, does not have her own crate and hasn’t since she was a puppy, but she has designated her favorite spot and sleeps in it religiously. It is a 1930’s oversized and overstuffed arm chair that belonged to my grandmother. I had it reupholstered several years ago when my mom decided she no longer wanted it. At first I was very stern about her not sleeping on it since I had just spent $700 to have it reupholstered. I did think ahead and had the material scotch guarded. Eventually she did end up sleeping in it, but I made the rule that she could only sleep on it with a blanket to give the chair some protection. That did work, and we made the compromise. Now, if I had been living in a large house, I could have easily been able to put the chair in a more secluded and protected spot and given Scout another place to sleep. However, that chair is the only place to sit in the living room since I don’t own a couch or love seat, and it quickly became a prized spot. Besides, my grandmother would be extremely happy to know that she made a dog happy with that chair since she was a big dog lover herself.

7. I have been able to apply the same rule to other locations that a blanket must be in a certain spot for the dog to lay on it, or they are not allowed. When the blankets get washed, then these locations are off limits. I will enforce this. I figure my dogs can wait a couple of hours until the blankets are cleaned and they do. The use of the blankets does seem to give the dog a clear understanding of when they can be on a piece of furniture and when they cannot.

Making a Walk Fun

Making a Walk Fun

Kathy Diamond Davis’ Fun Things to Do on a Walk

The work was originally published by the Veterinary Information Network (VIN), and is republished with VIN permission.

"Want to go for a walk?" At any given moment there are people all over the world asking their dogs this question. Whether for fun or practical needs, going for a walk is surely the top activity dogs and people do together. It's a misconception, though, that any person and any dog can just snap on a leash and walk out the door in any location and be ready to face the world.

Preparation

Certainly it can work to do a lot of your training with your dog outside the house on walks. That is, if you have access to suitable areas to work with an untrained dog or you have the handling skill to compensate for the dog's lack of training. Be careful about letting children walk aggressive or rowdy dogs in public. People can get hurt that way.

Enjoyable, safe walks require that dog and handler know how to walk with the leash loose. Otherwise you're both at risk of harm. Dogs are capable of exerting about three times their body weight in strength. Thus your 65-pound dog may put 195 pounds of pressure on the leash with a full-power lunge!

When you and your dog develop the teamwork to keep the leash loose, it protects both of you as well as people around you who could get hurt by a lunging dog. Most handlers need help from a trainer or class to achieve this training. A variety of training methods will work.

The key is to consistently act to get the leash loose every single time it goes tight. Every time you walk forward with your dog on a tight leash, you are teaching the dog that a tight leash is normal. That undermines not only the loose leash training, but also your dog's ability to pay attention to you. When you're able to direct your dog's attention consistently, handling and training become easy and pleasant.

You'll also need to choose a suitable collar, harness, or head halter to use with the leash on your dog. A trainer or class will help you make the choice and also teach you to use the device safely and effectively. Individual dogs are built and mentally geared differently, which is why they need different kinds of collars.

Any aggression issues your dog has will need to be worked out before you walk with the dog in public. Aggression gets worse without the right help. You will want to get help from a reputable behavior specialist promptly for this problem, before the habit becomes too strong to change.

Choose the safest area available to you for walking. Avoid anyplace your dog might be jumped by out-of-control, aggressive dogs. Avoid warm pavement and outdoor temperatures over 85 degrees Fahrenheit. Guard your dog's feet against caustic substances used to melt ice on pavement in winter. Put protective garments on your dog as needed for walking in cold weather.

Fun Things to Do on a Walk

As recreation, a walk with your dog is hard to beat. The price is right, too! Here are some of the things you and your dog can enjoy on walks:

1. Walk with friends. Perhaps a friend or neighbor doesn't have a dog and would enjoy both the companionship and the additional security of walking with you and your canine companion. This is a great way to help your dog get used to people, too.

2. Tour the neighborhood to see what's new, who planted a new garden or bought a new car. Catch up on the neighborhood doings. Your dog can gain valuable social skills in the process.

3. Enjoy a nature or walking trail open to on-leash dogs. Scenery is good for the soul.

4. Socialize where dogs are allowed, whether it is a park where families take their children to play, or the sidewalk in front of a neighborhood shopping center. Take your dog only where your dog is able to behave safely and courteously. Work your way up to the more difficult situations.

5. Sit awhile on a bench in a park and enjoy the sights, sounds and smells in the company of your canine buddy.

6. If you have more than one dog, walks are the perfect opportunity to give each of them one-on-one time with you.

7. Sometimes make it a ride in the car instead of a walk, or drive to a place where you and your dog can get out and walk. Think about ways to integrate walks with your errands.

8. Explore playground equipment when children are not using the playground. Be careful of your dog's safety, but use the opportunity to let your dog explore new shapes and textures.

Educational Things to Do on a Walk

1. Practice loose leash walking with fun maneuvers. Keep your dog guessing about what interesting movement you're going to make next!

2. Stop once in awhile to practice a sit-stay, down-stay, or stand-stay. If someone comes along to pet your dog while you're practicing, release the dog from the stay to accept the petting. That is, unless your dog should not be petted, in which case you'll want to choose more private areas for your walks.

3. Practice full-attention heeling for three minutes at a time. Keep it exciting, and give your dog a clear release from the formal heeling.

4. Take a long line or retracting leash with you, and practice come-when-called in safe locations.

5. Using a ball on a rope, dumbbell, or other item that will not bounce or roll out of control, practice retrieving with your dog on the long line or retracting leash.

6. Help your dog greet friendly strangers politely.

7. Have a friend bring a dog along for a two-dog, two-handler walk. This is a great way to introduce two dogs to each other.

Puppy Walks

Puppies are special when it comes to walking. Their experiences need to be especially positive and their bodies need extra protection.

Choose your puppy-walking route with great care. You don't want your puppy frightened or hurt by another dog, because that often causes a puppy to grow up aggressive toward other dogs.

Be guided by your veterinarian about when your puppy is ready for public walks where other dogs have relieved themselves. Until immunization is sufficient, this exposure could result in a fatal illness. Clean places are the rule for young pups.

Don't put your puppy in a situation that could injure growing bones and joints. This means no forced exercise. Be ready to carry the puppy home if necessary!

Since the puppy is learning about loose leash, plan on not really "getting anywhere" on puppy walks. Stay close to home or to your waiting car. Go as slowly as necessary to keep the loose leash habit. Keep the puppy happy with the amount of exercise, never tired to the point of refusing to continue walking.

Great Recreation

The company of a large dog (ideally a friendly one) makes it safer to get out and go for the walks you enjoy. Provided your dog is well behaved, people seeing you walk by probably feel safer, too, no matter what the dog's size. They won't worry that you're a burglar, because walking your dog is the obvious reason for your being there.

Dogs serve as wonderful social lubricants, making it easy to connect to your neighborhood and community. People will smile at your dog and include you in the conversation, too! It's a great way to meet your neighbors and improve your fitness at the same time. Your dog will feel important, and dogs need that feeling as much as people do. Want to go for a walk?

What Kind of Dog Does Best When I Live in Apartment?

What Kind of Dog Does Best When I Live in Apartment?

What are some common breed differences when living in an apartment?

All dogs can successfully be taught to live in an apartment. The success rate among dogs will be in the extra amount of time and effort that some dogs will need from the owner. Some dogs require more physical and mental exercise like herding, sporting and working dogs. Some dogs have longer coats which will require more brushing.

Breed aside, some individual dogs may have issues with being left alone in a house without causing destruction. If this is known prior to moving in, then some behavior modification and training will be needed before the dog is left alone. The dog can be taught how to be inside without causing destruction. Perhaps some time at a doggie day care a couple of times a week to relieve some of the tension would help the dog to adjust to the new environment.

If the dog is not 100% successfully housetrained than that issue must be dealt with. Perhaps working with a professional dog trainer or behavior consultant will help during the transition period.

If an owner is committed to daily exercise, stimulation with training and games, trips to the dog park and regular grooming, than any dog can live in an apartment.

Below is a generalization of dog sizes and their energy needs.

Small dogs

A small dog may need less exercise, depending on the breed. High energy terriers, like the Jack Russell or Corgi, will need more exercise than say a more sedate larger breed like a St. Bernard or Bernese Mountain Dog. Chihuahua, Yorkies and other less energy breeds will need less exercise, though there can be individuals within these breeds that may need more attention. However, all dogs will need regular daily walks

Medium size dogs:

Any sporting or spaniel will be very high energy and need long regular daily walks and runs and trips to the dog park. Any herding dog will be high energy and need extra exercise and physical stimulation.

Larger breeds:

Generally retrievers and any working dogs are more high energy and thrive on regular attention and stimulation. Sighthounds, which include greyhounds and Afghans, can be more sedate than expected. They don’t need the large amounts of regular exercise that, say, a Jack Russell Terrier will need.

Benefits of Living in an Apartment with Your Dog

Benefits of Living in an Apartment with Your Dog

Relationship

Since you don’t have a backyard for the dog to spend all its time, you spend more time with your dog. Learn to live closely with each other.

Your relationship with your dog will grow tremendously. You live 24 hours a day together in the same space.

Your dog will be much more adjusted if you want to take your dog on vacation with you instead of leaving him/her in a kennel or with a friend. Living in an apartment adjusts your dog to staying in motels/hotels and being in a crate in the car for long car rides. Your dog will be more used to being calm and better behaved around a variety of people and other pets so you can walk your dog in new cities and on trails. Your dog can more easily adapt to going to new dog parks and strange situations. Your dog will already be familiar with having to relieve themselves in a variety of environments which helps a lot while traveling. And, of course, your dog is much happier to be with you than in a kennel.

Health

You will get more exercise for yourself because the dog will require exercise.

Your dogs overall stress level will be reduced when encountering anything new or a change in its routine because the dog will already be fully adjusted to coming across on a daily bases all the different and challenging he/she encounters in their daily life at home.

Training/socialization

If you take your dog to dog parks for exercise, you will meet other dog people.

Your dog will become more socialized automatically as they meet more people on their walks. They will become more adapted to noises, machines and other animals. Compare this to a dog that lives in a house with a yard. The dog will rarely, if at all, be taken for walks, loosing out on the socialization and training opportunities.

You set an example for others to see what a well-behaved and well-trained dog can truly be like. I meet people all the time who were once extremely afraid of dogs eventually look forward to seeing my dogs, and my dogs loved to see them everyday, also, which made these people very happy.

Four Myths: It is Cruel to Keep a Dog in an Apartment

Four Myths: It is Cruel to Keep a Dog in an Apartment

This section is one of my favorites because I have been hearing these myths for many, many years. I think these myths originate from a person’s individual perspective. One of the reasons I am writing this book is to expand a person’s perspective on what can be done and to give a dog and owner the chance to experience a whole new perspective, and to say, “Yes! These things can be done.”

Myth One: Dogs Need a Lot of Space with a Big House and a Yard

Actually, having a large yard to keep a dog prevents the owner from spending quality time with the dog. If left outside, dogs will find their own entertainment which commonly comes in the form of digging, chewing, barking and fence jumping.

If you provide adequate outside, one-on-one exercise with a dog, the dog will come home and rest or sleep anyway.

Many owners use a large yard as an excuse to not spend time with their dogs since they feel that the dog is getting adequate exercise in the yard.

Myth Two: Only certain breeds can live in an apartment

Some people believe that some dogs cannot live in apartments due to their size, coat, breed or mix and other factors. However, that is not necessarily so. Rather, it is better to say that some breeds will certainly require more work and attention on the owner’s part in order to live in an apartment. Some dogs such as those from the herding, terrier, working, and sporting breed groups, will require more exercise than others. Examples of these breeds would be Border Collies, Jack Russell Terriers, Golden and Labrador Retrievers and Beagles. Some dogs will require more grooming to control shedding. This would include any of the Nordic breeds like Alaskan Malamutes, Siberian Huskies and American Eskimo breeds, as well as German Shepherd Dogs and many other double-coated breeds. Some dogs will require more socialization due to inherent shyness or aloofness like Border Collies and Sighthounds like Afghans and Greyhounds. Another group of dogs that would need more socialization would be dogs with a previous lack of proper socialization around dogs, people and urban noises like buses and traffic.

All dogs can be properly kept in an apartment. Some dogs will need more of a time commitment from the owner with more exercise and mind stimulation and grooming. If the owner understands this ahead of time, then any size dog can be kept inside an apartment.

The reason why some apartments only allow small dogs is because they falsely believe that small dogs cause less trouble. Since all dogs can bite, no matter the size, a poorly behaved small dog can cause a lot of problems. Some property managers allow only small dogs because small dogs leave smaller messes behind. If the management enforced that all owners clean up after their dogs, than the size of the dog makes no difference. Many apartment managers also seem to agree that only small dogs can be kept in apartments because they believe that medium and large dogs need an abundant amount of exercise. However, many small dogs, like terriers and beagles, need a lot of exercise.

Myth Three: Dogs can’t be happy in an apartment

Many people believe that a dog is only happy when they are running loose on acres and acres of open land. This misunderstanding may come from a past lifestyle in which somebody lived on acres of land and the family dogs were allowed to run loose. That is what they knew. Certainly, that is an acceptable way of life for many people and their dogs. There is nothing wrong with that. And I believe that if those particular dogs were suddenly transported from their country home to an urban apartment, the dogs, as well as the people, would go into culture shock and many changes would have to occur. However, the changes could be made. The people would adjust and the dog would adjust with the proper guidance. The change certainly could take place if somebody followed the steps describe in this book.

Myth Four: One might be OK, but more than one is just too many.

This myth comes from property owners who use this as an excuse to prevent renting to a possible tenant if they have more than one pet. Many property owners also believe that children can’t be happy in an apartment, but they can’t say that to a parent because it is illegal to discriminate against children in rentals. However, most laws don’t prevent a property owner from discriminating against a dog owner, unless you are elderly or disabled or living in assisted housing.

For more information on renting if you are elderly or disabled:

Chapter Ten “Elderly or Disabled Dog Owners”

Along the same lines are the restrictions that governments put on owners stating that only a certain number of animals can be allowed in a household. That restriction is illegal to make for children; however, it is not illegal to say about animals. Therefore, these restrictions are made because there is nothing stopping property owners from making them. The number of animals in a household has absolutely nothing to do with an individual’s ability to properly care for an animal. One person may not be able to care for a single dog on ten acres, but another responsible person can take care of five animals in a studio apartment.