How To Train an Apartment-Friendly Dog

Living in an apartment can be an incredibly rewarding experience for dogs — especially those who enjoy the high-energy lifestyle of downtown city living. 

Before you bring a four-legged friend in to be your roommate, though, here are some training tips to help you make your dog as happy as possible in an apartment setting. 

Training tips for apartment dogs

Train them for close encounters with humans

Living in an apartment means living in close quarters with strangers. And, depending on how many entrances there are in your building, you may end up passing by a decent amount of people every time you go in and out your building. 

For your own happiness and the happiness of your neighbors, it’s important that you train your dog to stay calm and quiet when passing strangers — especially in a hallway, an elevator or a stairwell.

A big part of this training is socialization. Having your dog get used to crowds of all sizes is a good first step, but mix in some basic obedience training to give them some structure. Your dog should be okay with people coming around corners unexpectedly, children running down a corridor, big groups of people or close encounters in confined spaces like elevators. 

Train them for close encounters with animals

Just as your dog should be okay with other humans in close quarters, they should be okay with other animals, too. 

This does end up being a little trickier to control, however, as you can’t necessarily rely on the other animal to keep their cool in an encounter with your own pet. The best thing you can do is to have some well-practiced obedience training ingrained in your dog so that they can fall back on it when you need them to. 

Potty train them

This is one of the most important parts of living in an apartment with your dog, but it involves a lot more than just trying to keep your floors clean. 

First, you’ll need to train them to recognize where a potty area is and to use it when they’re there. Establish a routine that they can catch onto, and then you can start training them to alert you to when they need to potty. 

Potty training also involves training them to stay calm when other dogs are around, as it’s likely that your go-to potty spot is also shared by other apartment dwellers’ pets. 

You may have to walk down hallways, stairwells or on elevators on your way down, too, so part of potty training may include getting your pet comfortable with other people and animals. It may also help to teach your dog to walk loose-leashed so that they aren’t pulling you down in their rush to get out. 

There’s a lot involved with such a simple task like taking a dog out to potty, but you’ll be all the happier for it if you put in the work!

Train them to stay calm with foot traffic

If your walls and doors are thin (and even if they’re not), you’re most likely going to hear foot traffic in your apartment. There will always be people walking past doors, windows or in an apartment above you, so train your dog to not bark or get overly excited at hearing foot traffic or conversation outside your apartment. 

A lot of this type of training will involve rewards for staying quiet, as well as following the “leave it” command. Positive reinforcement is the key to success here, but it will come only with plenty of diligent practice!

Train them to not bark 

Training your dog to not bark might be a long, hard process, but you’ll feel the rewards in all areas of life — even outside your apartment!

There are plenty of methods for teaching your dog to resist the urge to bark. First, ignore their barking and refuse to reward their barks with attention; eventually, they’ll understand that barking equals ignoring and that staying quiet is the way to go. If your dog barks at mealtimes, wait to feed them until they are quiet, and if your dog barks when you've got a toy in your hands, wait until they’ve quieted down before giving it to them.

You can also introduce the “bark” command. This may seem counterintuitive, but teaching them when and how to bark will more firmly implant the complementary “quiet” command. Plus, they’ll understand that they should only bark when you ask them to, rather than whenever they want. 

Other methods of training include socialization (both with humans and other dogs) and regular exercise to keep them regulated and mentally stimulated. 

Train to loose-leash walk

Living in an apartment building means that your dog will spend much of its time outside your home on a leash — so it’s worthwhile teaching them to wear it properly!

Use a comfortable harness and a 4-6 foot-long leash in order to keep your dog as comfortable and secure as possible. Get them used to wearing both the harness and the leash inside your apartment, so that it’s an easy transition going outside. 

Most of all, though, train your dog to walk calmly beside you on a loose leash. The last thing you want is to be pulled along every time you take your dog on a walk, which will make the experience unpleasant for everyone involved. Calm dogs make for calmer owners, and doesn’t that sound like a nice way to live?

Whether you are a brand new pet owner or have been rooming with a four-legged roommate for years, living in an apartment doesn’t need to be a difficult thing. These tips are a good place to start no matter where you are in your journey of pet ownership, so good luck!

Pin it!

Featured photo by Madalyn Cox on Unsplash