Caring for boxers living in an apartment with an 8 to 5 job

[George Gauci]

It is nice to have a large outdoor place where one can let their dog run freely, but not every one is so blessed to have such a facility. I would like to ask those of you that live in an aprtment, who have adult dogs and 8 to 5 jobs whether they have created some sort of pen, what is the recommended size and how do they manage dog caring in general

 

[Bathel]

It is nice to have a large outdoor place where one can let their dog run freely, but not every one is so blessed to have such a facility. I would like to ask those of you that live in an aprtment, who have adult dogs and 8 to 5 jobs whether they have created some sort of pen, what is the recommended size and how do they manage dog caring in general

Can't answer your questions... but I would think a boxer in an apartment with no yard and a Human with an 8 to 5 job would be a difficult idea...

Not saying that it is impossable, but you'd need to find a place where your pup can open up and run and play. It would require a good bit of effort on your part to keep the energy requirements of the boxer pup in check.

Maybe the use of a doggie day care would be best???

My 2 cents.

 

[Gatorblu]

I used to live in an apartment and granted I didn't work but it was in FL during the summer so the dogs weren't going out midday. I found a dog park that had a great group of owners. We would go every evening and let them run wild. There were 3 or 4 other boxer owners there that did work. I would let them run to their hearts content and they would burn up any pent up energy.

 

[Mega's Mom]

I live in a townhouse with a very small backyard/patio and work 8-5. When Cornelius was a puppy I had a dog walker come in every day (as I was on crutches with a torn achilles). When he got older he was going to daycare 3x a week. On days he wasn't going to daycare he would get walked before work and long walks after work. On weekends I would tire his butt out (still do) I think it can work!

 

[CuervoMom]

I live in a duplex with a fenced yard, but I work so I know the difficulties. Axel is carted during the day but I come home at lunch and my mom lets him out in the afternoon. We also have a big dog park nearby where he can run and be crazy. I think if you can get him or her out sometime during the day and then make sure he or she gets a good play/exercise in the evening, you will be okay. Axel also goes to daycare one day a week which really wears him out, so I highly recommend that.

 

[CoraBoxer]

I live in a dt condo with a 3 yr old boxer. On occasion I watch a second boxer as well. I leave for work at 6:30am and get back from work at 3:20pm - so about 9 hrs. I work about 20-30min away so its possible for me to get home for lunch if he isn't feeling well and I need to take him out mid day. Also there are a ton of dog watching/walk services in the area. A lot easier to find/hire someone good to come by during the day in the dt area. We get about a 45min walk in in the morning before I leave. He goes in his crate for the day completely on his own. When I get back we spend about an hour or two outside. After that he's completely pooped so I can go about doing other things. We either do a jog or bike ride in the afternoon or spend time off leash. I never knew how much green space and open areas there were downtown for the dog to run free until I moved here. Its actually a lot easier to let the dog run than when I was living in the suburbs. I also find that dt (my city) a lot more dogs are well behaved/socialised as compared to suburbs. There are actually a ton of dogs in my building and dt in general. On weekends I try to bring him to my parents place who live outside the city and have a yard so he can play with his sister. He gets a bit more time with my on weekends.

I think sometimes people think they can take it easy, not worry about the dog as much because they have a yard. I can see it being easier/quicker to let the dog go pee/poo, romp around or sun tan but imo they really are not a substitute for dog walks/exercise. You still need to get out with the dog. So long as you are consistent with that it's really not that hard to live in a small space with no yard. Suppose it can be different depending on the dog but thats my experience with the 2 boxers in my life. One raised from puppy other an adopted adult rescue.

 

[Jan]

It is possible to have a pup when you work all day. You set up an exercise pan, with the dog bed on one side and a puppy pad on the other. Expect to come home and find the puppy pad torn up and maybe the dog bed too. For example: Boxer Dog Photo Gallery & Postcard - Moto with his destroyed bed. :(

House training will take longer and you will need to dedicate your life to your dog. You can't expect to go to work all day and then go out at night. That's not fair to your dog. I would recommend that you plan on getting a dog walker as it's not fair to expect him to hold it all day. With Moto, he started to hold it during the day, so I had to set it up so that he could go out the dog door during the day. My situation was a little different as I have a house and a yard.

Good luck with your decision.

 

[RockyCody]

We live in a house with a small, fenced in yard - but we got Rocky as a puppy and we both leave by 7:30am and don't come home until 5:30pm. One of us tries to stop home at lunch so they get a potty break but sometimes it doesn't happen and they are alone for 10 hours.

We used a kennel for Rocky at first in order to potty train him.....then we started letting him roam the house while we were gone around age 1. Dharma and Rocky both have free run of the entire house while we are gone - but let me just reassure you that sometimes we do come home and silly little things must have happened - for example on today's lunch break there was some paper towel from the garbage on the floor....I'm betting Dharma did that one.

Mostly though - they lay on the couch or bed - and watch the cars and people walk by and bark all day....

I think you can do it but you have to dedicate yourself to exercising before you leave AND after work. I'm lucky - both of mine are lazy so they dont' get am walks...in fact I have to pull them out of bed for breakfast and potty time and then they go right back to bed while we are getting off work. It all depends on the personality of your dog.....

 

[Sansal]

Agree to everything already said. I live in a house with fenced in yard now, but we lived in apartments before with only very limited yard space and always made it work. Like others have said, you need to make sure you exercise your puppy in the morning before you leave and when you get home as well as spend A LOT of your free time with the dog. Personally, if I have to leave my pups alone for longer than 8 hours I get a dogwalker for mid day. With a young puppy you would probably need at least 2-3 potty breaks during the day. Maybe in your situation it would be easier to rescue an adult dog that is already house trained.

 

[XxATCxX]

I lived in a tiny 1 bedroom apartment for 2 years with my boxer. My job gives me odd hours, with one week being 0530-2 and the next week 2-10. I would take Cerbi on 1-3 miles jogs just about every evening (in Florida you have to do it at night or early morning) and to the dog park or beach every weekend. She would still get bored in the apartment but nothing that a little tug of war or wrestling couldn't fix. And this was when she was in the 8mo-2 yr age range so her energy was not lacking!