I currently live in the 'burbs in a house that is way too big for me now that I’m divorced. Even besides the “too much house” part of it, I’m just not a suburbs guy. If it were just me, I would sell the house (I’m way right side up) and move to a condo in the Midtown neighborhood of Atlanta
But, it’s not just me. It’s also Mollie, the 40 pound collie/chow mix, and Charlie, a 48 pound lab/shepherd mix. Both are well, okay at least somewhat well, trained. But they do love a good spirited romp in my fenced backyard.
So, is anyone out there sharing a high rise condo with medium sized dogs? I’m curious about how (a) the dogs handle it, and (b) what is the general experience like on a day-to-day basis.
Collie. Shepherd. Chow. Lab. Those are not apartment dogs. They can’t get their spirited romp in your living room, unlike, say a couple of Malteses. Are you prepared to take them to the dog park every day?
I agree. Hopefully there is an off-leash park nearby.
And for the love of God do NOT use a retractable leash and keep the leash very short when near the elevator. I’ve read articles about dogs who dart into or out of an elevator while leashed and the door closes on the leash, elevator moves and the dog gets strangled to death. Terrifying and completely preventable.
Not a high rise exactly and not a medium sized dog, but I do live in the downtown core in a condo with a small dog and on our walks, we see a lot of people with medium and large dogs who live in apartments, condos, and high rises.
As you’ve figured out, you can’t just open the door and let them out into the back yard (or even better, let them use a doggy door) & they’re probably not going to learn how to use the elevator by themselves, so they’ll need to be taken out. At present, Lucy’s ok with 3 times a day (two longer walks, one short one), but yours may need to go out more frequently. Dog walkers and doggy-day-care might be good options for you. Before I had a dog, I knew that there was an official dog park nearby. After, I found out that there were several unofficial dog parks in the neighborhood where people can & do let their bigger dogs run. I don’t think I’ve seen any collies or shepherds, but I see labs & lab mixes all the time.
A lot of the newer developments in my area have dog areas as part of the building’s amenities (connected dog areas or rooftop dog runs and the like), as there are a lot of people who want to live in the city and want to keep their dogs. You may be able to find a dog-friendly building. You’ll also probably want to look for buildings that are within walking distance of dog parks. If yours won’t have a problem with significantly less indoor space, it can be done.
Not exactly a high rise, but I lived on the third floor of an apartment building with a Newfoundland dog, and had no problems. We had a larger complex, and plenty of places to walk. However, Newfoundlands are pretty lethargic compared to a lot of other medium/large dogs. I think someone in the complex had a great dane, also. I may be wrong, I’m not the best ad identifying dog breeds. It was a very large dog.
I lived on the 18th floor of a Manhattan apartment with an 80 pound boxer. It was no problem.
Except that time we were blacked out for three days. The dog was scared of the dark, and refused to walk down the stairs. He had to be carried. Every single time he needed to pee. 18 floors up. 18 floors down.
For a couple of years we split time between 2 residences - one of which was a 21-story building in the suburbs N of Chicago. ISTR we were on 11. We have a 65# golden.
The saving grace was that there were forest preserves right across the street, with fields to throw a ball, and paths to walk/run the dog, etc. On the other side, there was some vacant stretch of land along some disused tracks and under an expressway. At times I took the dog out that side of the building. There was a little square area designated for dogs, but I don’t recall ever using that.
So long as you are committed to taking your dogs out to relieve themselves 3-4 times a day, and to give them a good walk/run daily, it is definitely doable. If your dogs are loud when you are gone, I would anticipate neighbor complaints.
We spent a 9-month stretch living in a company apartment in a high rise building with 2 adult Irish Setters. They weren’t barkers, so that wasn’t a problem, but…Irish Setters. We had a nice park about 1/2 block down and hired a service to walk and exercise them in the early afternoon while we were both working, so we were able to make it work out. But it was far from ideal. The dogs got bored and bored Setters get destructive.