Trying to pick a breed

Hello!

My fiance and I were looking to adopt a dog soon and I was wondering if I could get your input and recommendations!

We live in Savannah, GA in a 1,200 Sq. Ft. 2 bedroom apartment. We don't have a yard, but our apartment complex does have a dog park. We work off schedules, so Thursday and Friday, I'm off and home, and Saturday and Sunday, my fiance is home. Monday through Wednesday, however, the dog would be alone from about 10am when I leave for work to about 4:30pm when she gets home.

We're fairly active and enjoying going for walks and getting out, but we're not marathon runners or anything. Mostly, we're looking for a cuddle buddy who would work well with first-time owners in an apartment. No children or other pets.

We have some ideas, but I wanted to see what you guys said.

Thanks!

You live in an apartment without a yard. Oh boy. My immediate and initial (and somewhat flippant) response would be - get a cat. Even in winter my dogs go into our garden at least five times a day. Are you really willing to get up and go out with your dog every time he needs to? If you are, then that's great, I couldn't commit to that.

Thinking about it, if you get a small or toy breed, then training it to use a litter box (like a cat) might be possible. You say a 'cuddle buddy', which fits with any of the lapdog breeds. A dog that enjoys walks - pretty much all of them, but you might want to stay away from the short nosed, such as Pugs or Boston terriers, because high temperatures and humidity are hard for them.

For first time dog owners I would probably say look at a Cavalier, and see if you can manage the grooming (couple of times a week). If the coats not a problem, maybe a Shih Tzu or larger Lhasa Apso. If a short coat is preferred, perhaps a Staffordshire Bull Terrier or a Jack Russell. Other possibilities are the smaller breeds of gundog (might want a little too much exercise) or smaller hounds. I have a soft spot for Papillons because I have them, but they fit too - one of mine has trained herself to use the cat's litter box when she doesn't like the weather!

Unless one of you can take a chunk of time off, please, please do not get a puppy. A puppy will not cope well with being left for 6 hours a day, even if you get someone to come visit.

And of course, you have the option of finding a potentially perfect pooch in a shelter or rescue centre.

Hope some of this fits with your thoughts. All spelling mistakes and typos donated by the cat.

First get accommodation suitable for a dog, ie a house with a garden at least then have someone there during the day when your not at home as dogs need human company.

My dogs used to be left for longer than that. It just depends on the individual dog and how they view separation from the humans. If they're OK with it - great. If not, then a lot of training needs to be put in place to teach them.

Not having a yard does not need to be a problem either. We lived in a flat in London, we had a communal garden but I wouldn't dream of using it as a dog toilet. So we had to take the dog for walks. In the initial stages, just after rehoming her, we took her out several times a day.

Few short walks, one long one, in the local park, where she met and played with other dogs. After a while, she only needed to go for toilet walks 1st thing in the morning, mid afternoon and late evening. If we took her out more, she enjoyed the fun of the walk, but clearly not needed them for toiletting.

So how much do you want a dog? How much are you prepared to work on any problems that might surface? Are you in a position to hire a dog walker/sitter or use doggy day care if they would be beneficial? What about a trainer or behaviourist - could you afford them? Are there any good ones close to you? You might be lucky and get a dog who will fit in with your lifestyle perfectly or with minor adjustments. But maybe not. What then?

I don't have any recommendations for type of dog but I don't have a garden and don't find it a problem taking my dog out early morning or late evening for toilet breaks plus his walks during the day. Maybe it's because I've never really had a house with a garden where I could just open the door and let the dog out. Sometimes dogs who live in flats get more walks than dogs with gardens.

Get one from a shelter and make sure that they you only look at the low energy dogs. No Collies, Shepherds or ABD's!

Wow, I kind of find all the remarks on "get a house/garden; get a cat because you have no yard" to be a bit ridiculous (and don't get me started on this whole "dogs can never be left alone" thing). I adopted my first dog when I lived in an apartment. We had no yard to speak of. We went out 4-5 times a day with our dog. A couple pee walks and at least two longer walks. Every day. And that means every day in a winter most folks here probably have never ever experienced (125 inches of snow on average, one year we got 180; many days below 0F - that's around -18C). And she was super happy and healthy. Even now, with a house and a yard, she never goes out into the yard unless we're there with her.

So it is entirely possible to have a dog in an apartment.

AND she was a Border Collie/Golden Retriever mix. Fairly mellow for the breed mix, but still had a lot of exercise requirements (which come to think of it, might have been why she was so mellow).

My best suggestion? Don't worry about breed. Worry about personality and what you want in a dog. Consider mixed breeds and purebreds alike. When we were considering getting our first dog (and then our second dog), we made a list of three things:

1. Things the dog absolutely MUST HAVE/BE. Things that we could not compromise on. This could be everything from the size of the dog to temperament to silly things like coat length or color and big things like medical issues (e.g. we knew we could have a deaf dog, but not a blind one) and behavioral issue (e.g. I could deal with fear, but not separation anxiety).
2. Things that the dog absolutely COULD NOT HAVE/BE. Again, things that we could not compromise on.
3. Things that you can compromise on. Maybe you'd love a short coated dog, but if the dog with the right combination of traits has a longer coat, that's ok too.

And then go to shelters, talk to rescues, meet dogs that might fit.

We did this both times and ended up with amazing dogs who fit into our homes and lives perfectly.

Also my dogs are regularly left home for 6 hours a day. They sleep while we're gone and when we get home it's happy fun play time. Dogs sleep a fair amount and so this idea that they have to be with someone non-stop is, IMO, absolutely wrong.

I would definitely consider an adult dog. They're easier to house train (if they're not already house trained!) and a 2-3 year old dog has already gotten through all those puppy crazies and is starting to settle a bit. And I would consider a medium energy dog. If you like to take walks and get out, you don't want a couch potato who won't want to walk more than around the block. But you probably don't want a high energy dog who may need a few hours of walks a day or some serious games of fetch or a lot of training because they need a job (e.g. Border Collies, some BC mixes, a lot of the Retrievers, and Shepherds, to name a few).

Good luck! Getting that first dog is tons of fun! Getting the second one is even more fun. lol