14th Amendment

Owning a dog while living in an apartment

Most renters do not think that there is anything wrong with owning a dog while living in an apartment. While owning a dog can be very fun and rewarding, most renters do not consider the downfalls of a furry companion before they bring home their pet. The three most common downfalls of owning a dog in an apartment are dealing with the inconvenience of not having yard, dealing with the neighbors complaining about the barking, and dealing with any damage the dog may do.

The first downfall of owning a dog while living in an apartment is having to deal with the inconvenience of not having a yard. When the dog needs to go outside, the owner must put their shoes on, put a leash on the dog, and hurry down several flights of stairs to get to ground level. Once they have reached ground level, the owner has to walk their dog a half mile just to get to the designated patch of grass that the apartment complex assigns for pet use. Although, this may give the owner some extra exercise, it is also a major inconvenience when they are running late for work in the morning or if they are trying to get ready for a date. In addition to having to walk the dog when you are already running late, dogs often have to go outside in the middle of the night. A night time outing becomes more of a challenge, because the owner has to maneuver their way around in complete darkness to try and clean up after the dog. However, if you had a yard, you would not have to worry about any of these issues. If the dog had to go outside, all you would have to do is let the dog out your back door.

The second downfall of owning a dog while living in an apartment is dealing with the complexes management regarding complaints about the dog's barking. When living in an apartment, the only thing separating a renter from their neighbors is a thin wall. Since renters live so closely to one another one must be respectful and keep all noise to a minimum, including the dog's barking. The task of keeping a dog quiet is not usually easy since most dogs instinctually bark when they are scared, when they are being playful, or when they are just happy to see someone. In some apartment complexes, when a neighbor complains about your dog's barking, it may not result in just getting a phone call from the management asking you to keep better control of your dog. Many apartment complexes have strict policies regarding noise complaints. After the management has received several complaints about the barking, they may just ask the renter to get rid of the dog or they may even ask the renter to move out.

The third downfall of owning a dog while living in an apartment is the headache of having to deal with any damage