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Raising a great dog in a small space

Honest, road-tested guides for apartment and first-time dog parents, potty training that sticks, calmer barking, gear worth buying, and the daily routines that keep a city dog content.

Start here, new owners Apartment dog guides

211 in-depth guides · written by city dog owners · updated regularly

A Labrador leaning out of an open apartment window
Photo: Rennett Stowe (CC BY 2.0)

Where do you want to start?

Five corners of city dog life. Pick the one that itches most today.

63 guides Apartment Dogs Small-space living, potty routines, and the breeds that thrive without a backyard. Explore → 24 guides First-Time Owners Everything nobody tells you before the puppy comes home. Explore → 37 guides Behavior & Training Barking, leash manners, separation anxiety, fixes that actually hold. Explore → 68 guides Daily Life & Care Feeding, grooming, vet visits, and the everyday rhythm of dog ownership. Explore → 19 guides Family Dogs Kids, babies, and multi-pet homes, a dog the whole house loves. Explore →

Fresh off the leash

Our most recent guides.

Just got a puppy?

Read these three first, they save the most tears (yours and theirs).

Every guide, one place

From crate training to choosing a city-proof breed, browse the full library by topic.

Apartment Dogs First-Time Owners Behavior & Training Daily Life & Care Family Dogs

What does CityDogsLife cover?

CityDogsLife is a guide to keeping a dog in a city apartment, written around the problems that come with thin walls, neighbors and a lease. Articles fall into five areas: apartment dogs, behavior and training, daily life and care, family dogs and first-time dog owners. Together they cover barking and noise complaints, leash pulling, separation, feeding, grooming, walks in bad weather and the gear used every morning. Free tools help before you commit to a breed: an apartment dog breed finder, a barking guide by breed, a list of low-shedding breeds and a breakdown of what a dog costs. All of them sit on the dog tools page. Subscribers get a monthly letter, and new owners can ask for a free eight-week puppy schedule.

Who writes CityDogsLife?

CityDogsLife is written by the City Dogs Life editorial team, a small group of dog owners, and published by OmniLearnConsultingCommerce LLC. None of the writers is a veterinarian. When a question needs one, the article quotes a vet or a veterinary body and links to the source so you can read it in full. Articles carry the team name instead of individual bylines. Some links are affiliate links: a purchase through one pays the site a commission and costs you nothing extra, and the affiliate disclosure explains how that works. The About page describes who runs the site and why. Questions, corrections and tips reach the team through the contact page or hello@citydogslife.com, and a person reads every message.

How does CityDogsLife handle health and product advice?

Advice starts from published sources: breed standards from national kennel clubs, position statements from veterinary and animal-behavior organizations, and the manuals that come with the products. Each tip is then held against a real apartment, with shared hallways and neighbors on the other side of the wall. When an article gives a number, such as hours a dog can stay alone or minutes of exercise a day, it shows the reasoning behind it so you can adjust it for your own dog. Older articles are reopened and marked as refreshed when the facts change. The site cannot examine your dog. If a dog stops eating, limps or seems to be in pain, call your vet or an emergency clinic before reading anything else online.

What do readers ask about dogs in apartments?

How do you train a puppy to not pee in the house?

Take the puppy out on a fixed schedule: after waking, after eating or playing, and every hour or two at first. Reward the moment it goes in the right spot, right away. Clean accidents with an enzymatic cleaner so the smell does not pull it back to the same place, and skip punishment, which only teaches a puppy to hide it.

How long does it take for a dog to adjust to a new apartment?

It varies, from a few days to a few weeks. Keep feeding and walking times steady, put the bed in a quiet corner, and let the dog sniff the new place on a leash first. If a dog still will not eat or panics when left alone after a few weeks, talk to a vet or a trainer.

Can I be kicked out of my apartment for my dog barking?

It can lead to a lease violation notice. Most leases carry a noise or nuisance clause, and repeated complaints give a landlord grounds to act. Read your lease, deal with the cause early and keep a record of what you did. Rules differ by state and city, so a local tenant rights office can say what applies to you.

How to stop a dog from barking?

Find the trigger first: noise in the hallway, boredom or being left alone. Remove or reduce the trigger, give exercise and a chew before you leave, and reward quiet. Yelling usually adds to the noise.

What size crate to get for a dog?

The dog should be able to stand up, turn around and lie down comfortably. Measure from nose to the base of the tail and from floor to shoulder, then add a few inches to each. For a puppy, buy a crate with a divider so it can grow into it.