Today people who live in flats number in the millions, something that is completely logical since more than half of the world's population lives in cities, since that is where they have found work. But, can you have a dog in these homes?
The answer is yes, as long as the owner makes it clear to you 🙂. If so, read on to find out how to teach a dog in a flat.
Give him food and water
It's very basic, but it's important to say: the dog must have clean and fresh drinking water always available. In addition, it is necessary that we feed him with a high quality food, that does not contain cereals or by-products, as many times as necessary depending on your age, health and daily activity.
To avoid dirtying the floor, in pet stores we will find some types of mats (similar to those sold in computer stores for computer mice) on which we can put the trough and trough. They are very easy to clean and will prevent the animal from leaving traces of food where it should not.
Train it from an early age
The dog needs to learn a series of things to be able to live in society. Therefore, you have to start teaching them as soon as possible, and what better way than to do it inside the home where there are not as many stimuli as there are outside. But how to do it?
- Always use the same word for each order. For example, if we want him to sit, we will say "Sit" or "Sit", or if we want him to be still, we will say "Quiet".
- Avoid saying your name before the order, as it may not respond to us. It is better to say "Come Kira" than "Kira come". Why? Because his name is a word that we will repeat a lot throughout his life, and it must have a neutral meaning for him.
- We will use the furniture to show you things. If there is something that the furry loves and that also relaxes him a lot, it is sniffing. Therefore, we can hide treats between the cushions or under the furniture (always in an accessible area), say "Search" and see how you enjoy.
- In the event that we do not want him to get on the sofa or bed, we must not let him do it for a single day. Every time we catch him in one of these pieces of furniture, we will make him go down by pointing a finger at the floor and saying "Come down". If you ignore it, we will take a treat that we know you like very much, we will place it in front of its nose and, as the animal moves, we will lower the arm so that the treat is on the ground. When the dog has finally gotten off, we will give it to him and take advantage of it to caress him and say "very well".
- We never have to hit or mistreat you in any way. If we yell at him, hit him or treat him badly, the dog will live in fear of us, of his family, which means that he will not live in peace. It will be an animal that can bark from feeling lonely, that can destroy everything it finds in our absence, that can become ill due to accumulated tension and stress. If we are going to have an animal in these conditions, it is better not to have it.
For more information, we recommend reading this article.
Teach him not to make noise
The dog expresses himself with his body language, but will sometimes use barking and whining as well. It is completely natural for him, and it would be very cruel for us to deny him the right to express himself that way. In fact, removing the vocal cords is prohibited in countries like Spain.
What you have to do is teach him to be happy. This way he will hardly bark at night or when he is alone. To do this, what we must seek is take him out for a walk every day and dedicate as much time as possible.
Shell him to avoid unwanted litters
Dog overpopulation is a problem that is far from being solved. There are many people who want to raise their dog and then do not know what to do with the puppies. Many of these little ones will end up on the streets or euthanized in kennels.
To avoid it, we have to get our dog neutered when it is six months old if it is female, or seven months if it is male.
Don't leave it out
The dog must live with us. Even if we have a balcony or a patio, the dog deserves to live as a family, with the family. If we leave him outside all day, he will feel bad and could hurt himself.
With these tips, our dogs can live happily in an apartment.