GSD in apartments/condo? - Page 1

Hey guys, my 11 month old GSD and I currently live in a house with a backyard and I have roommates who take her outside for potty breaks when I'm not home. She is crated when I'm gone and at night, and has not had a potty accident in the house since she was a baby.

My situation is changing, though. I must now move, probably to either an apartment or condo without any roommates. I will also be working 12 hour shifts for the first time in my life and there will be nobody to take her out when I'm gone. What do other people in apartments and condos do? Where will she go to the bathroom when I'm gone? Btw I will not leaver her crated for 12 hours, I'll figure something out for her to stay inside. Do I need to train her to use pee pads, and if so, do they work for training her to poop on them too? That's my biggest concern cause I've never had a dog in an apartment before, but I know tons of people do and they make it work. Please give me suggestions on what you other apartment/condo dwellers do. This will be for about 6 months until I finish college and move (to somewhere with a backyard of course! haha)

Ps. she will get tons of exercise and continue to train in schutzhund and for shows, etc. Everything I do revolves around her haha.

Pps. This is her at 11 months old last week after a bath. Excuse the poor stack :)

with a female is easy. mine after her first year last 12-17hrs sometimes.

Good morning,It is possible to have the dog in an apartment as long as you take the time to make sure her blatter is nice and empty before you leave.You are going to have to take some time in the morning before work and give her a good bit of exercise and give her lots of  time to fully empty her blatter.When you return home then you can let her drink some water and perhaps leave her some in her crate so she can at least wet her mouth.I have a friend that  leaves his dog for 12 hours at a time everyday and he is ok.I dont agree with some of the things he does but thats a whole other story.Good luck

You could get a dog walker to come and take her out at least once.
They're not really expensive.  I've paid $14 for my dog walker to come and take my pup out if I couldn't.
She walked her,played with her and let her do her "business".   A small price to pay IMO for peace of
mind that my pup was not in her crate all day and able to pee & poop.
Jen

What is a young GSD going to do alone for 12 hrs in an apartment? I can only just imagine, never mind the bladder issues. I think the whole idea just stinks! Hire someone, please.

Hello,
Timing the feeding is the key. If you feed kibble, you probably would not want to feed her in the morning. It would make her thirsty and then if you gave her water she would drink a bunch and have to pee. I crate my dog while I'm gone (about 9 hours a day) because she barks. I feed her in the evening, and add alot of water to her food, so that she has plenty of time to let it run it's course. I then make sure she runs for an hour or so in the morning.
My other dog stays loose in the kitchen while I'm gone, and I use a gate at the door. Never had an accident on the floor, but if she did, at least it would be on the tile. They both seem comfortable still when I get home.
Candy

Me and my guy live in an apartment. To me it sounds like your work schedule is more of the problem, and that would occur in a house too with 12 hour shifts and no one to let the dog out. If you can't find a way to sneak home on lunch, or during class breaks, I would hire a walker, although I'm certain you'll meet new friends in your building that would be willing to help out with the dog.

There are, however, a couple of other things you'll want to consider. This list is simple, but a few things I can think of off the top of my head.

1) My guy rides the elevator up to 10 times a day to get in and out of the apartment. You'll have to make sure your dog is accustomed to being in tight spaces with other people, small children (and sometimes other dogs) brushing up against her. I live in a large building with lots of people traffic so my guy, from the very beginning, was trained to sit while we wait for elevators, in the elevator, at doors, etc. It makes entering and leaving the building during "rush hours" less strenuous for both me and my fellow tenants.

2) There is usually a lot of hallway traffic in an apartment which can make for a very vocal dog. How will you deal with the barking? On the same note, there might be sounds coming from other apartments, above and below.

3) Flyers. Sounds like a small thing, but many apartments have people dropping off flyers door-to-door constantly. If your dog already has issues with the mailman....well you get the idea.

4) As for using pee pads, etc. I wouldn't even consider that stuff. I wouldn't do anything that will encourage your dog that it's okay to go inside. You just have to be committed. Like it or not, I have had to occassionally get out of bed in the middle of the night, get dressed, and take the dog, with the upset tummy, out in a snow storm. Shit happens, but I made that committment when I got him.

5) Finally, if your dog is well excerised you shouldn't have many other problems. I don't really see the difference whether my guy is in a livingroom in a house or in an apartment when he's flaked-out after a good work-out.

Good luck with the transition.
Karen

I just moved my dog into an apartment with me. My dog is not a puppy like yours though--she's eight now. I take her out for walks/to potty twice a day, sometimes three times. She can hold it up to 16 hours, but I try not to make her go any longer than 12. I make sure when I take her out that she's tired when we get back. We just got back from a 3 hour walk/hike and she's pooped. I also pay a dog runner to come once a week to take her for 30 minute high intensity runs. We typically go for long hikes on my days off of work (like today). I always get compliments on how young-looking and fit she is. One of my friends lives in the same complex and she lets my dog out for me if I need her too, I also let her dog out. The dogs get along fairly well so sometimes I even bring her dog over to my place when she's gone and I'm home.

I was really worried at first about whether she would be able to hold it all day because she's always had someone home to let her into a backyard for the last 3 years. But I think she is actually happier with walks twice a day than just going out into the yard to potty. She did have one accident so far but she had diarrhea and vomiting and really couldn't hold it. Of course she chose to poop on the carpet and not the linolium. I guess carpet feels more like grass....

Another idea to consider based on my experience is go to uniformly weighed portions of a raw diet. My dog went from 2-3 bm's per day on kibble, to just one on a raw diet. That occurs like clockwork about 8:00 p.m.