Do Dalmatians make good apartment dogs? It’s an important question to ask if your near-future will involve both of them! This article covers everything you should know about Dalmatians living in apartments.
Although Dalmatians can live in apartments, it’s hard to make it work well. Dalmatians are extremely active and they aren’t small dogs. For it to work, you’ll need ample time to take your Dalmatian outside every single day.
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Making The Case That Dalmatians Can Live In Apartments
I’m not going to be a party pooper just yet. It’s still possible for a dalmatian to live in an apartment, so let me explain how.
If you work from home, are a freelancer, or for whatever reason are able to spend the vast majority of your time at home, then you are in a better position to make this work.
Dalmatians are highly energetic and need to be stimulated in many ways from physical exercise, mental stimulation, training, general interaction, and attention. They are not a breed that can be left to their own devices.
So if you ARE at home ready to properly take care of your dalmatian’s needs, then it really doesn’t matter whether you live in a mansion or a one-bedroom apartment.
The limited space will make your life more difficult with a big dog like a dalmatian, but I don’t consider it impossible.
Is it ideal? likely not, but I know people who live in apartments with big dogs and make it work. But their day involves taking their dog outside much more often than most would consider “normal”.
When Dalmatians And Apartments Don’t Mix
Let me explain when this combination likely won’t work.
First of all, whether you live in a house or an apartment, leaving a dalmatian home alone for extended hours is always a recipe for trouble.
However, leaving a dalmatian alone in an apartment could be seen as even worse due to the greatly limited space he has to at least roam around himself. Spending excessive amounts of time in small spaces can cause stress, affect his behavior, and reduce the overall quality of his life.
Two Further Points To Consider
Remember you share walls with other people.
It’s always important to consider the other tenants around your apartment. Large dogs make loud noises, and considering that some apartments have thin enough walls to hear each other’s conversations, imagine a huge bark or persistent whining.
This is particularly important for those who are considering leaving the house for many hours at a time. With boredom comes frustration and your dalmatian may end up whining or barking for hours on end.
Are dalmatians allowed in your apartment complex?
Some apartment blocks actually have a list of dog breeds that they do and don’t allow. As it happens, I know some friends living in apartments where dalmatians are on the list of disallowed breeds.
Why? Unfortunately, due to dalmatians being a hard breed to raise, many of them grow to develop behavioral issues and have made a name for themselves as being an aggressive breed. Yep, this is very unfair, as it’s not the dalmatian’s fault in how they were raised. But at the end of the day, this is the reality of it, and they are frequently added to the disallowed list.
Potty Training Your Dalmatian In Apartments
Potty training is a big talking point when it comes to owning dogs in apartments.
One of the obvious benefits of owning your own home is the private yard that comes with it (usually). This will allow you to teach your dalmatian to pee and poop outside instead of waking up to nasty-smelling surprises on your floor in the morning.
Most apartments don’t have a private yard. And even if they do, won’t let tenants take their dogs there to do the deed.
This means you’ll have to find a spot in your apartment. The best you can do is to invest in a potty pad and train your dalmatian to pee and poop only in that location, by following typical potty training.
It will work eventually but be prepared for some unwanted gifts around your apartment until training really takes effect. And even once he’s trained, the smell will remain.
This is one of the huge downsides to owning a dog, in an apartment.
You could avoid many potty mistakes by frequently taking your dalmatian outside. But pretty it’s unrealistic to think you’ll be able to save your floors from every single pee and poop. It will happen eventually.
Dalmatians Living In Apartments WITHOUT a Yard
The yard comes with obvious benefits like the one we just mentioned about potty training. But is it essential to owning a dalmatian?
Honestly, no. The yard is more of a convenience than a necessity.
After speaking to countless dalmatian owners about the importance of a yard. They all quickly agreed upon the same thing. Their dalmatians hardly cared about going outside in the yard, unless their owners specifically went out there to play with them.
This is good news for future apartment owners. But it signifies one major point, dalmatians want to be entertained. They want interaction, engagement and to go outside on walks and “do things” as one owner stated.
Having a yard doesn’t mean they are going to be okay. They need their owners and family to be there with them, entertaining them.
So once again, it seems that having adequate time is more important than having space. This is fundamental to the original question.
Spending Sufficient Time Outside Of The Apartment
This article would not do dalmatians justice if it didn’t mention their exercise requirements.
There aren’t many breeds out there that need more exercise than a dalmatian. They need a solid 2 hours of intense exercise every day, and for some dals, that may not even be enough.
I know what you are thinking, it doesn’t really make a difference whether you live in a house or an apartment for this one. Dalmatians need exercise either way. And that’s true.
But I would say one thing, apartments are generally smaller, and if your dalmatian is not going outside enough, then a small living space can quickly become a stressful place.
This is exactly why my friends take their big dogs out for exercise up to 5 times per day. Not only do they need that kind of exercise, but the small living space does not help.
Popular Dalmatian Articles:
● Why Your Dalmatian Is Smaller Than Average
● How Much Exercise Do Dalmatians Really Need?
● When Will Your Dalmatian Calm Down?
Here’s What Other Dalmatian Owners Had To Say
While doing research for this article, I spoke to several dalmatian owners at the dog park, but thankfully, due to the power of the internet, managed to find some contrasting opinions that I can quote for you here.
Check out the following responses from dalmatian owners to whether or not dalmatians can live in apartments.
● By BaronVonHomer on Reddit: (possible)
“These are smart dogs and shouldn’t be left alone all day, they need interaction and stimulation. But I see no reason as to why you can’t have a happy dal in an apartment if you commit to the exercise requirements!”
● By Nicklekw on YahooAnswers: (not possible)
“In my personal opinion, I don’t think a dalmatian would do well in an apartment. They are extremely energetic dogs and even with the jogging they are heavy chewers as puppies because they have a lot, and I mean a lot of energy.”
● By llazyiest on YahooAnswers: (not possible)
“I don’t think it would do well in an apt. They were bred as coach dogs.. to run along with horse-drawn coaches. They have good endurance but I don’t know that going running once a day would be enough”
● By Thulit on Reddit: (possible)
Living in an apartment is not bad for a Dalmatian. If you exercise it, it will be perfectly fine living in a shoebox. Currently, I live in a house with a garden, but our dogs are totally fine with living in a tiny apartment as long as they get the same exercise.
● By VividLotus on Reddit: (possible)
I completely agree that it’s totally possible to have a super high-energy dog in an apartment. For the first almost-year of my coonhound’s life, we lived in an apartment. And she was just fine. But that’s because she went for a super long walk/hike plus a trip to the dog park every single day
The verdict?
As you can see, the only two dalmatian owners who had something negative to say, based their answer entirely around the exercise factor. (And this was also the case for many others who disagreed with the idea. It was purely based on exercise.)
But as many other owners rightly pointed out, living in an apartment with a high energy breed such as dalmatian is completely possible, so long as you exercise them sufficiently and have the time required to properly fulfill their needs.
To Summarize
As long as you have the available time and your daily schedule allows you to be at home, then owning a dalmatian in an apartment will be completely possible.
It’s not really about the space, its more about how you are able to give them their required exercise, training, engagement, and general attention.
If this is met, then living in an apartment will be okay for a dalmatian.