Posted by Lynn on December 02, 2002 at 07:06:03:
In Reply to: Re: want a calm, little dog posted by kasia6901 on December 01, 2002 at 17:22:29:
Hiya! I live in a 900 SF mobile home and work, go to school and volunteer. My house does not have a yard to speak of, so I think I can sympathize. My pack includes a corgi/sheltie mix, age 4-5, a female chow mix who is at least 12, and 2 male greyhounds ages 3 and 7 1/2. As far as breeds go, as long as you don't get a hard-wired working dog, you should be fine. If I were you I would look for a dog aged 3 or older. That is my criteria for my pack, and I personally prefer "older". That said, there is NO question who's dogs they are or that their personalities aren't just wonderful. I would love to get ahold of the idiot who coined the phrase "You can't teach an old dog new tricks." Even my ancient girl learns just fine. She rules the house and the other dogs as a matter of fact. Anyway, I say 3 and up because 90% of dogs by that point will be out of the obnoxioius puppy/high-energy phase and more than content to settle down in your house with you. Even my 70 and 80 pound greyhounds are total speedbumps when it's not playtime. That's the nice thing about older dogs. When it's time to play, they can lay it on as hard as any puppy, but when playtime's over, they are perfectly content to form a pile of snoring bodies in the middle of the floor (or bed, or couch, or kitchen :)
In short, if you "up" you age requirement a tad, you'll also have a little more leeway on the size preference, because you're much less likely to have a dog bouncing around and throwing that weight around. IMO, the ideal apartment dog is a 7 to 9 year old, big, male greyhound. I'm just partial to the boys, as females in my experience tend to want to "rule the world" while males just don't care. Good luck!!
Lynn
