Apartment Dogs: Living with Dogs in the City

A recent Sunday Real Estate Section in the New York Times focused on living with dogs in the city, specifically, how to navigate apartment life with a dog. One of the articles debated whether there's such a thing as"perfect" apartment dogs, and went on to list three expert opinions about the best breeds for city life.

Aside from the fact that two of the three experts suggested Golden Retrievers as ideal apartment dogs (I think they’re way too busy), I was disappointed that the Times didn’t take the opportunity to highlight the number of amazing mixed breed dogs that would be better suited to apartment life.

Calling out specific breeds that are already hyper-trendy (hello, Frenchies and Cavs) will only make the problem of over breeding worse. You’d think the Times would’ve been more vigilant about not promoting specific breeds as “ideal” after publishing their excellent expose about over breeding, “Can the Bulldog be Saved?”

In a perfect world, the article would’ve featured glossy shots of local shelter dogs that seem to have desirable apartment-life traits. Highlighting a few adorable adoptables might remind folks that there’s more out there than purebreds. And they could’ve given a shout out to a Frenchie rescue organization for those folks that have to have a French Bulldog.

I applaud the Times for addressing city dog life, but I think they missed an opportunity to educate about adoption. (Plus I think their experts kind of blew it on their breed selections, but that's just me.)