It is a myth that is repeated very often. Whether or not the dog is unhappy does not depend on the apartment size. But, of course, in a cramped cubicle, he will be less comfortable (just like us, and yet no one considers it inhumane to build studios).
Imprisonment is a punishment, especially in a cramped space with no way out—both for the dog and the human. Therefore, people and dogs need to get out of the house, meet friends, exercise and entertain.
Thus, the walks (their length and quality) and social contacts determine the quality of a dog’s life to the greatest extent.
If the dog is provided with the right portion of exercise and activities – at home, he mainly sleeps (an adult dog sleeps 18 to 20 hours a day). So if we take our ward for long walks, during which he can run, smell and interact socially, he will lie down and rest after returning home.
So if we provide our dog with two one-hour and one 30-minute walks a day, we already have two and a half hours of activity. So only 1.5 hours of daily activity remains. During this time, the dog eats, barks when someone passes by the door, assists us during the morning gathering for work, greets every returning household member, takes care of a chew toy or other toy, etc. For this kind of activity, he does not need much space, right?
If someone has a dog that goes crazy at home, he should look at how his walks look like, count how much the dog is active during the day, and how much he sleeps. If he sleeps too little, it means that something is not right. It could be a lack of exercise, activity or too much stress.*
*This text appeared years ago on my blog “MÓJ PIES KUMPEL, czyli MÓJ KUMPEL PIES” (MY DOG BUDDY, or MY BUDDY THE DOG). So I let myself post it here, with only a slight correction.
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