Transitioning Dog From House To Apartment Living

[fungrzz]

Hi everyone,

I recently bought an unit and will be moving into it in a few months. I have a 7 year old Maltese who I'll be taking with me. It took a lot of begging/grovelling to the body corp to get them to agree to let her stay there on a "trial basis" so is there ANYTHING that I can do to ensure that the transition is as smooth as possible and minimise the chance of her being kicked out?

She's generally very quiet (unless there's a cat on the lawn) - but what I'm worried about is her potentially barking at unfamiliar noise of people walking in the common areas to get to their unit. We will be on the top floor with only 1 other unit on our side so hopefully there shouldnt be TOO many instances of people just milling around... but any ideas how I can prepare her for that?

Thanks in advance!

[Guest donatella]

I have a Pomeranian (known to be the yappiest of the yappy dogs) in a unit and she's surprisingly okay when it comes to barking, only barks when someone comes to the door.

When i'm not home I make sure she has nothing to bark at though, so the wooden front door is closed and the back blinds are closed, but I leave the radio on and give her lots of toys to play with and other forms of stimulation (don't want her necessarily yapping at passing birds etc). A maltese should be ok though, i didnt think they were too bad in terms of barking.

[MalteseLuna]

Hi everyone,

I recently bought an unit and will be moving into it in a few months. I have a 7 year old Maltese who I'll be taking with me. It took a lot of begging/grovelling to the body corp to get them to agree to let her stay there on a "trial basis" so is there ANYTHING that I can do to ensure that the transition is as smooth as possible and minimise the chance of her being kicked out?

She's generally very quiet (unless there's a cat on the lawn) - but what I'm worried about is her potentially barking at unfamiliar noise of people walking in the common areas to get to their unit. We will be on the top floor with only 1 other unit on our side so hopefully there shouldnt be TOO many instances of people just milling around... but any ideas how I can prepare her for that?

Thanks in advance!

I used to have a Maltese in a unit, though this was when she was a puppy.

The first thing I would do would be talk to your neighbours and let them know that you have a dog and could they please let you know if she makes any noise or disturbs them and you will do your best to fix any arising issues. This way hopefully the neighbor will approach you if there is a problem and not the body corporate. It will also let you know what she is doing when your not there.

Would it be possible to lock her into a bedroom or study further from the front door? Or gate her into the kitchen etc - whatever room is furthest from the hallway.

If there aren't many people on the floor I should imagine she won't bark too much. Mine didn't even bark at people walking past the door (only if they knocked on the door).

Does she like kongs? Giving her toys that have food in them might help distract her from anything outside etc.

In all reality she will probably just sleep whilst your at work ;)

[Nushie]

Agree with what most people have said, block off areas that she might be able to see out and bark at people going by etc.

Jager used to bark at other dogs barking. We solved it by leaving the radio on, seemed to fix that.

In our complex there is a dog that barks at everyone walking down the hall, so i would suggest blocking off the door area so that she cant get to it. Also make sure she is super tired when you leave. A tired/sleepy dog is generally a quieter dog.

[kiesha09]

Maybe try a DAP diffuser for a few weeks before you move and then a couple of months once you move to decrease any anxiety she may be having... not sure if it would work but I'd give it a go just in case it did.

[jacqui835]

I had a doberman in an apartment for a while (he wasn't allowed there but I was suddenly homeless and all of my friends lived in rented apartments or terraces in Sydney). I didn't notice any change in his behaviour, but I did make sure to give him that little bit of extra exercise so that whilst I was out, he was happy to sleep.

I think talking to your neighbours is a great idea. Now in our new house, I have made a huge effort to introduce Sammy to all our neighbours, and ask them every now and then whether he complains whilst I'm away. I would much prefer they came to me than go to the council or something.

ETA: I did this as well because we have a lot of dogs in our neighbourhood, and because mine is probably the biggest, people tend to think of him first when they hear barking (even though he rarely barks at all). I'm not sure if yours is the only dog in the apartment complex, but you certainly don't want your dog copping the flack for other dogs barking.

Edited December 6, 2011 by jacqui835

[Aziah]

Hi everyone,

I recently bought an unit and will be moving into it in a few months. I have a 7 year old Maltese who I'll be taking with me. It took a lot of begging/grovelling to the body corp to get them to agree to let her stay there on a "trial basis" so is there ANYTHING that I can do to ensure that the transition is as smooth as possible and minimise the chance of her being kicked out?

She's generally very quiet (unless there's a cat on the lawn) - but what I'm worried about is her potentially barking at unfamiliar noise of people walking in the common areas to get to their unit. We will be on the top floor with only 1 other unit on our side so hopefully there shouldnt be TOO many instances of people just milling around... but any ideas how I can prepare her for that?

Thanks in advance!

I assume you'd be going with her

Get yourself a nice little radio and have it on during the day as background noise and most certainly when you're out, this should stop the dog becoming fixated on every little sound she might hear.