There are several things you need to check on if you’re planning to get a dog or dogs and you live in a townhouse, apartment, etc.

• If you can have dogs
• If there is a limit on the number
• If there is a limit on the size
• If there are rules on pet waste disposal

Can You Have Dogs?

I don’t understand why, but I hear that there are some places where you’re not allowed to have dogs.   Make sure you don’t live in one BEFORE you decide to get a dog and bring it home.

I would guess that rules like these come from people a long time ago who had dogs, but didn’t take care of them and/or forgot that they had 6 billion neighbors.   They likely let their dogs bark too much and didn’t pick up their dog’s poop.   Both of these things probably annoyed the neighbors which resulted in new rules that said dogs were no longer allowed in the complex.

The moral of the story is…. if you do live in a townhouse, apartment, etc where your neighbors are close and you ARE allowed to have pets, make sure you are a responsible pet owner.

Is There A Rule Against Having A 2nd Dog?

I’ve heard that there are dogs around who actually like to live with other dogs.   Well… I’m not one of them.   Check out The Real Story to see why but I can tell you the short story is that my life was great, then the boss brought home this new dog who bites my ankles all the time.   I’ve heard that things get better once they get out of the puppy phase, but we’re soooo not there yet.

Anyway, if you live in a place that has pet restrictions, make sure that having a two dogs isn’t one of them BEFORE you decide to take the plunge.

Is There A Size Limit?

Another thing you need to consider is whether there are rules about the size of the dog.

You will definitely need to know what you’re working with before you get the new dog.   Size can be a little tricky.    I was the runt of my litter and we thought I was mostly done growing when I came to live in the townhouse.

I’m a small for being a Labrador Retriever, because I only weigh about 50 pounds (depending on how much time I’ve spent at grandma’s house recently) but that is still about 10 pounds more than we thought I would weigh.

Luckily our weight limit is 50 pounds so it’s ok for me to live here.  I would be really, really crabby if I had to leave after I decided I liked it here just because I grew too much.

The other dog that lives with us now (Scout, because I get in trouble when I don’t use her name) came from the Animal Rescue League.   She was part of an “unwanted liter”.   They knew she was half-Lab, but didn’t know what the other half was except to know that because of her size it was obviously much smaller than a Lab.

She only weighed 9 pounds when she came home at 10 weeks old.   At 11 months she’s under the limit but has surprised everyone by growing to 45 pounds.

So while all dog breeds have average sizes, it’s good to remember that each dog is different.   We have two female Labs in our house but instead of the average size of 65 pounds we’re at 50 and 45.   We could have just as easily been 65 and 70.

Are There Rules About Pet Waste Disposal?

Dealing with your dog’s poop and getting enough exercise for dogs are the two biggest issues for dog owners who don’t have a huge back yard.   We’ve got a lot of information about both topics on the site to help you figure out the best ways to handle this.

It is critical that you have a plan for how you’re going to handle pet waste disposal BEFORE you bring the dog home.

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You really can successfully live with dogs in an apartment, a townhouse or a house without a yard, it just takes a little preparation and planning.   So… make sure you know the rules and regulations from the apartment/townhouse Association before you bring home a new dog.   Also make sure you’re willing to live with whatever rules they have.

Let us know what you think about having dogs in apartments, townhouses, etc.