Raising A Borzoi Puppy In An Apartment?

[weebird]

Hello, does anyone have an experience on how to raise a borzoi/greyhound puppy in an apartment? And provide some feedback on how hard it would be? Any advice is appreciated.

 

Thank you!

Emma

[BatterseaBrindl]

No experience or advice, just , and

[GreyAcresMom]

My Borzoi was two when I adopted her. Was still a bit of a handful. I have had two greyhound puppies. All I can say is I kept the doggie door so they could run at all times of the day. A tired puppy and all that.

 

One time: we had just layed sod and planted two 6 ft trees. When my DH drove our property line to get to the driveway, there goes Jax, at 6 months old running down the fence with him carrying that dang 6ft tree in her mouth!!!

 

Greyhound puppies.....land sharks are not for the faint of heart...__

Edited January 19, 2019 by GreyAcresMom

[greysmom]

Puppies are puppies. Sighthound puppies of whichever breed are not that different than other large breed puppies.

 

BUT - you need to commit to taking them out every hour or two - day and night - for a good six months until they are potty trained. And you need to commit to regular exercise as least as much. They need to run and play and bite and chew a LOT. For many months. Our currant puppy is 11 months old. He's finally up to about 4 hours between potty trips outside, and can go all night without going out. He plays with our other three greyhounds, and we play with him the rest of the time - three play sessions outside and at least 2-3 hours of indoor play a day.

 

We've had two greyhound puppies and two Great Dane puppies and puppies are a handful. It's much, much, much simpler to adopt a young retired racer if you want a young dog. At two or even three years old they are still very much a puppy in an adult body, but they will already be potty trained, have a good base for learning, and be beyond many of the most annoying bits of puppyhood.

 

Still, there's nothing like watching a puppy learn and grow. They can be sweet and annoying and snuggly and bitey. They can destroy a shoe faster than a mechanical shredder then fall asleep in your lap. Then wake up and chew the corners off all your end tables.

 

So you *can* have a puppy in an apartment - people do it all the time - but think very very carefully about the time you will need to commit for the first couple years, and if you are able to give them what they need to grow up happy and healthy.

[kudzu]

Have experience raising a Deerhound x Greyhound x Borzoi puppy, Stellaluna or Luna for short, in a small home with a fenced in yard. That was work enough. However, a lot of her playtime and exercise was done in the house. When she got revved up, she would not just run on the seat cushions of the furniture but actually bank off the backs of the sofa and some chairs. She wantonly leapt up onto the bed, knowing that I would chase her off, and then gleefully leap off the bed, rush into the livingroom and start banking off the furniture again. It was insane and thus she was often called Luna-tic. We utterly adored her!!

 

For housetraining, you will be taking them out a lot in the first months. At about 4 mos old, Luna managed fairly well during a work day, but as soon as I was home the playtime began and as long as she was doing that she needed to go out a lot, like every hour for the first few hours I was home. After that things settled down. In truth, she was much easier than my retriever puppy had been. However, puppies of all types are very labor intensive and not for the faint of heart. It can certainly be done, and done well, in an apartment but it takes a lot of dedication and determination.

 

The first 6 mos are the most intense. Usually, much of the teething and housebreaking issues will be over by then. When I helped with all breed rescue, I took in several 6 mo dogs from people who finally gave up on them. I usually suggested they try a while longer as 6 mos is when things start to ease up. Sadly, 6 mos seems to always be the time when many have reached their breaking point. Have heard from many people that they strongly considered giving up their dogs at about this point. Thankfully, the majority of us stick it out and are glad for it. This isn't said to deter you. Just to let you know that many people go periods of, "Good heavens! What have I done?!" As an apartment dweller, you may be more likely to experience that earlier or for longer. If you can suck it up and keep going without taking it out on the puppy, you'll reap wonderful rewards.

 

Here are some questions to ask yourself. (You can also answer those here if you want feedback.)

How do you plan to contain a puppy in your apartment?

Will anyone be home during the day? If not, will someone be available to walk the puppy every few hours? If necessary, could you afford to pay for that service for a few months? How much time will you have for the puppy each day?

Are you prepared to take the puppy out during the middle of the night, sometimes twice, occasionally more?

What will you do if the puppy cries a lot, at least at the beginning?

If necessary, could you find and pay for appropriate day care for a time? That isn't needed or even appropriate for many dogs, but some do benefit from it.)

How much of a sense of humor do you have in regards to items getting destroyed in your home?

Are you able to truly puppy proof your apartment?

Are you physically active enough to satisfy the exercise demands of a young, athletic dog? Sighthounds are notorious couch potatoes as adults but they don't start out that way and may not get there for years.

How willing are you to commit to the basic training needed to create a dog who is welcome in the many circumstances where pets are allowed? Living in an apartment can mean a larger variety of encounters with people, other animals, and weird, potentially scary things. Do you have or are you willing to learn how to help your puppy comfortably adjust to all that?

 

Am not making any assumptions about your experience level, skills or preparedness. Those are just the questions that popped into my head based on my own experiences with dogs in apartments and puppies in small dwellings.

[krissy]

I've had 2 greyhound puppies. I really applaud anyone who successfully tackles raising a puppy of any size or breed in an apartment if it's not a main floor walk out. I stayed with a friend for a conference when Kili was about 5 months old. Due to some medical issues she struggled with housetraining (she had chronic UTIs so she understood the concept but had no capability of holding it long periods of time) and so even at that age I was having to take her out frequently and also overnight. My friend lived on the 10th floor. For our overnight trips I ended up just using a puppy pad on the balcony since it was only for a couple days, but it was even still quite the ordeal to rush outside every morning trying to prevent an accident in the hallway or elevator. I really don't relish the idea of having to do that every day!

 

Puppies are puppies. They're all basically the same regardless of breed. Larger breeds can do the overnight thing sooner than small breeds so that's beneficial for an apartment dweller.

 

The major issues with an apartment that I see are 1) housetraining 2) noise (how understanding are your neighbours/how thin are your walls) 3) exercise.

 

I think exercise is the least of the concerns though if you put in the effort. You don't have to have a fenced yard to raise a puppy (but it's a huge benefit, let me tell you) if you commit to walking and finding safe places to off leash.

[cleptogrey]

my good friend from art school has had borzoi for the past 45 years. lots of puppies with in that period. she lives in a walk up loft near city hall, nyc. never a complaint or problem. her dogs have all done well at the dog park near battery city park, love walks along the hudson river and thrive in the city. as to the dog parks she has a crew that she is very friendly with including other borzoi and they meet up regularly.

 

i had saluki pups when i was living in a 3rd floor walk up. never a problem, dogs house break by the time the loose all their puppy teeth. i also was much younger then and tolerated more than i do now. i used to close the gate at the local school yard and let them run at night.

[weebird]

Hello everyone, thank you so much for all the information and advice!

 

@kudzu:

Thank you for the questions, I'd like a feedback for sure, so here are my answers:

How do you plan to contain a puppy in your apartment?

We can close doors on all the rooms, also we have an enclosed closet for shoes and such, so the puppy would not be able to access it. But our kitchen and dinning/living are is one big space, so we are not sure how to deal with that, especially with regard to the kitchen. We were thinking about a pen, but then we know that borzois can jump amazingly high, so we're not sure how well it would work. Any ideas/advise from all of you would be appreciated

Will anyone be home during the day? If not, will someone be available to walk the puppy every few hours? If necessary, could you afford to pay for that service for a few months? How much time will you have for the puppy each day?

Unfortunately we both work full time, we're planning to take a bit of time off for the first week or so, but then we'll have to go back to work. We were thinking about maybe someone to come to let the puppy go pee while at work, and also thought about setting up a litter box for her/him. Anyone has an experience with litter boxes for borzois/greyhounds, any any advise for the best set-up? We definitely want to use something that can be composted, but also heard that you need to be careful that puppy won't eat the stuff, so maybe just newspaper in a tray or something like that?

Are you prepared to take the puppy out during the middle of the night, sometimes twice, occasionally more?

That's not a problem, although we do live on 5th floor, so were thinking that she/he might not be able to maybe hold it sometimes, so we could use the litter box at night

What will you do if the puppy cries a lot, at least at the beginning?

Crying during the day or night? We'll just have to wait until she/he is settled and content in the new surroundings. What else can be done? That also actually brings me to the point on how long does it take them to adjust for them being alone during the day. With our rescue greyhound we slowly left him alone, first in a different room for 5 minutes, then going to take a trash out, etc... until he knew that we'd always come back, and stopped crying. Would the same apply with a puppy?

If necessary, could you find and pay for appropriate day care for a time? That isn't needed or even appropriate for many dogs, but some do benefit from it.)

I'd like for the puppy to adjust and become comfortable being at home when we are away. We prefer not to use daycare services. If we'd need to go somewhere for longer than just normal working day, our family can help us out.

How much of a sense of humor do you have in regards to items getting destroyed in your home?

Generally we don't take it super tragically, again, we would keep everything away, but then puppy might potentially work on our furniture, and occasional accident is fine, but I'm thinking using a non toxic deterrent spray on some stuff, if it would get out of hands when we are away. Also, I wonder if leaving lots of toys helps, although I heard that you should not let the puppy unsupervised with toys, so that they don't swallow something?

Are you able to truly puppy proof your apartment?

Kind of covered in the above points. Any other things we need to be careful about? probably plants within a reach and food left on a kitchen counter?

Are you physically active enough to satisfy the exercise demands of a young, athletic dog? Sighthounds are notorious couch potatoes as adults but they don't start out that way and may not get there for years.

I think we are. We love going for walks, live in an area where there is many opportunities for walks, and we were also thinking to use playfield for the free run exercise, as well as there are place sin our area where dogs can run free and there isn't really any danger for them to run under a car or something like that. How long does it take for them to settle? ~2-3 years?

How willing are you to commit to the basic training needed to create a dog who is welcome in the many circumstances where pets are allowed? Living in an apartment can mean a larger variety of encounters with people, other animals, and weird, potentially scary things. Do you have or are you willing to learn how to help your puppy comfortably adjust to all that?

I believe this should not be a problem. We also want to socialize her/him well as that she/he are safe around small dogs etc, as there's lot of dogs in the neighbourhood.

@cleptogrey:

Thank you for this, that makes me feel better. Would you mind to provide more details on how your friend and you went about to raise your puppies in an apartment? I basically mostly worry about the fact that we work full time and the puppy needs frequent potty brakes as well as frequent play time. I worry because young pups have lot of energy, but also tire easily, then sleep then wake up in an hour again ready to play. So my plan was to take her out for a long walk in the morning so that I can tire her/him out, but how does it help if they wake up in an hour? I'm so worried what will they be up to during the day...

Then another thing is, as they get older, like 6 months or 1yr, and I hear they have this boundless energy, I am worried that we are getting in over our heads and that by us not having a huge yard, the dog will be uncontrollable.

The last thing is, I want to make sure that the dog won't attack other small dogs in a neighbourhood, cause there is so many of them here, but I'm hoping that early socialization will prevent this?

 

Also, as a side note, is it true that females have higher pray drive then males? Or is that just anecdotal?

 

Thanks!

[Rakete]

Just want to mention that a Barzoi is a sighthound but not to compare with a Greyhound in many respects. Maybe you allready have that in mind, but the Barzoi/Greyhound irritates me

 

Barzois usually bring way more territorial behaviour with them than greys. Tend to not like strangers (both human and dog) and a full grown especially male Barzoi, well, can be "problematic" for somebody who expects a grey with more hair and a noble nose. The full Barzoi personality will emerge around 3 and it may differ a lot from a racing grey.

 

Small dog safety is not only socialization, but it helps. Still prey drive is something you better have a look at, if sighthound and very small dog deal with each other. But...a sighthound puppy getting along with small dogs is...not that unusual and may mislead to tinking everything will be okay forever. Full prey drive kicks in when the are a little older.

[greysmom]

Prey drive isn't dependent on gender. It's as much a personality trait as activity level or friendliness. Socialization and obedience training will help but their full prey drive won't kick in until later on. Up until then you simply won't know if your pup is truly cat and/or small dog tolerant.

 

Two things to keep in mind regarding puppies in general: 1) most daycares won't take in puppies until they are done with their puppy shots; 2) rabies can't be given until 6 months of age.

 

Also a daycare *may* not take unaltered puppies over 6 months, while rescues/breeders are now recommending to wait until 18 months (give or take) until after the puppy's boney growth plates have sealed (indicating most growth is complete). It's a discussion you should have with your vet and whoever you get your puppy from.

[weebird]

Just want to mention that a Barzoi is a sighthound but not to compare with a Greyhound in many respects. Maybe you allready have that in mind, but the Barzoi/Greyhound irritates me

 

Well, I'm not saying borzoi = greyhound, but they are both sighthounds, and since this forum is primarily for greyhounds, for the purposes of what information I'm asking for, the similarity is enough.

 

And the breeder we've been in contact to get a puppy from breeds for temperament, and the dogs are definitely not hostile or unfriendly to strangers, no matter if female or male, and have excellent dispositions, and I've not heard of them being territorial.

 

Thank you for the warning about the prey drive, my thinking is that when puppy is exposed to and interacts with small dogs outside on a regular basis, then they grow into an adult dog who connects the small dogs with puppy play times, and won't consider them prey. But I might be wrong. I'm planning to ask the breeder about this.

[cleptogrey]

Finding a good dog walker will be essential, so do look for one in advance. As to prey drive my friends current borzoi plays with westies all the time. They grew up together at the dog run. What part of the country are you in. I just saw a listing for 2 west coast borzoi rescues. They are out there.there are slightly older borzoi out there looking for homes.

 

From what I have observed borzoi are not at all like greyhounds. They are clowns, great sense of humor, super clever and out think their owners

 

As to spay unless it has changed it used to be before the first season to reduce chances of uterine/ovarian cancer. Neuter one wants to let the bone plates mature. But it depends upon how well one can tolerate the horny puppy. Felix was neutered at 9 months since hormones were raging and he was he was regressing in obedience. Adolescence is far more trying on one's stamina than having a new born home from the hospital. It goes on for a long time. Large dogs seem to have more intense adolescence.

 

A reputable breeder knows their stock, lineage, temperament. Do your research very thoroughly and keep on asking questions.

[weebird]

 

 

Thanks, I didn't know that the prey drive develops later, that's a bit unfortunate then...But definitely good to know.

 

wrt to spaying/neutering, we know that it's healthier to wait until they mature, so we were not planning to do that until they are ready. And as I mentioned above, we don't much like the idea of the doggy daycare, so that the spay/neuter requirement doesn't bother us much

[weebird]

 

 

Thank you for the info. We are in Canada. We are going to start looking into the dog walkers then I think.

 

I don't know if you've seen my question above, but since you and your friend both have experience of raising puppies in an apartment, would you mind to provide more details on how your friend and you went about it?

- I mostly worry about the fact that we work full time and the puppy needs frequent potty brakes as well as frequent play time. I worry because young pups have lot of energy, but also tire easily, then sleep then wake up in an hour again ready to play. So my plan was to take her out for a long walk in the morning so that I can tire her/him out, but how does it help if they wake up in an hour? I'm so worried what will they be up to during the day...

- Another thing is, as they get older, like 6 months or 1yr, and I hear they have this boundless energy, I am worried that we are getting in over our heads and that by us not having a huge yard, the dog will be uncontrollable.

[Banjoman]

You say you intend to take the puppy out for a “long” walk before leaving it but it is recommended that puppies do not have long walks but several short ones / play sessions throughout the day.

 

How much knowledge do you have of living with dogs? If this is your first one I’m not sure that you understand what you are letting yourself into. Over the years as a stay at home Mum I have had four whippet puppies in a house with a small garden and have been close to tearing my hair out with the things they can destroy in the few minutes you aren’t watching them, I wouldn’t dream of disappearing off to work for the day and leaving any puppy at home by itself! Even at ten years old my retired greyhound can still surprise me at the speed she can find something to steal and chew on / eat that she shouldn’t.

[Rakete]

 

Well, I'm not saying borzoi = greyhound, but they are both sighthounds, and since this forum is primarily for greyhounds, for the purposes of what information I'm asking for, the similarity is enough.

 

And the breeder we've been in contact to get a puppy from breeds for temperament, and the dogs are definitely not hostile or unfriendly to strangers, no matter if female or male, and have excellent dispositions, and I've not heard of them being territorial.

 

Thank you for the warning about the prey drive, my thinking is that when puppy is exposed to and interacts with small dogs outside on a regular basis, then they grow into an adult dog who connects the small dogs with puppy play times, and won't consider them prey. But I might be wrong. I'm planning to ask the breeder about this.

Ok. Just wanted to make things clear if you are used to greys and expect them to act like greys - no, they are borzois (not barzois....grrrr...my English sucks...or my Russian)

 

Territorial is not be the right term here. They may show this tendency a little more than one is used to, who owned greys or galgos. It is more the being protective. May differ from line to line and within individuals, but I would call borzois a lot more serious and forward going than greys. Not every borzoi in every situation but the guarding and protecting (and going for larger prey) what they consider to be theirs is in the breed. They where not bred for being fast only.

 

If one loves this traits, perfect. If one struggles with a very large and fast dog that might, as example, try to get rid of strangers especially after dawn it could lead to trouble. Again - not every individual and a lot is up to the owner but still a adult barzoi could turn out to be more reactive towards other dogs or humans than the average greyhound.

 

As with every breed: you can be a borzoi person and get along great or you are not.

 

Ad small dogs: it is not only the dog itself that matters. It is the "trigger situstion".

A hound can be inter dog agressive but do not hunt smaller dogs. A hound can be dog friendly and hunt small dogs. Etc.

 

Getting to know different and small breeds at an early age is a good thing. But it does not always cover "reacting to fast movement on the horizon" or "hunting games in a group of hounds".

 

Example: my galgos are dogfriendly and live together with a very small dog. Still one of them reacts to smaller dogs when outside. The white fluffy ones or the fearful. He does not hurt them but he tries to chase them and what might look funny from the outside could turn to trouble the very moment.

So far he does not react to his housemate and realizes that small dogs are dogs but his prey drive might overrun his knowing the little thing is a dog under some circumstances. I would give him a dog friendly: 99%, small dog safe: 80% wich is okay but still nothing to not bother about.

 

 

Another question: At what age does the breeder give away the puppies?

Edited January 22, 2019 by Rakete

[BatterseaBrindl]

I have always had the 'advantage' of living in a singe family home with a fenced yard so I have no advice on raising a puppy in an apartment.

You have received lots of advice and ideas but I am curious as to why you want to get a large /giant breed puppy while living in a 5th floor apartment and working full time.

 

[weebird]

 

 

Okay, thanks, Rakete!

 

The puppies go to new families starting at 3 months.

[Rakete]

The puppies go to new families starting at 3 months.

Hm, this means at least 3-5 months, better calculate more, till the puppy is physiologically able to controll its bladder over a full work day.

If you hear of younger dogs being housebroken this just means that they go potty outside on a regular basis but with much shorter intervalls.

 

To train a very large puppy to release itself inside. Well, this is quite a lot if pee in your apartement every day. Even with pads or whatever is used.

 

Oh and might turn out very complicated or impossible to retrain your hound to only go outside when older. From my personsal experience with fosters that where kept inside only, they had big issues with getting reliably housebroken even as adults with fully developed nerval bladder function.

 

So no, I would not recommend that.

 

One week off work to introduce a young puppy to its new home is, well, optimistic. It may be due to working conditions in the US and Canada that the people here in this forum seem to leave newly adopted adult hounds alone very early (which leads me to thinking this might be why seperation anxiety is such a big topic here. But its just a guess).

 

Different continent, different thinking.

 

 

I raised 2 puppys (small and medium breed) and kept up to 3 dogs together in a small apartement, so yes, it works. And yes, I work. Part time mostly.

 

But every puppy entered this home when I had lots of time off. Looking for a new job or during pregnancy and staying at home because of not being allowed to work in my field as a pregnant woman. So every puppy had at least 4 months of almost fulltime human around. I am pretty sure they needed it.

 

Being left alone for a full work day at such a young age could lead to destructive behaviour or worst case: some sort of deprivation. Nonetheless many people have kept (and will keep) puppies like this. Some have turned out good others did not.

 

I would not do it. I find it somehow cruel to leave a social babyanimal on its own for such a long time (What means fulltime in your job and how long are you away in total ech day? 9hours? 10? More?)

 

When I was a kid we had this 9 week old puppy that grew up nearly on its own outside in the garden. Seemed to work. Became a great dog. But at least it had an inspiring environment, the cats, chicken. It was usual to keep a dog like this these days.

 

I do not know for sure how much this dog suffered when it was a tiny pup away from mother and siblings, thrown into a completely new world all alone, but I guess it did.

On the other hand: it had a job and was able to move around freely,do doggy things all day long and go potty whenever it needed to, so I think it was far better off than a puppy in an environment like an apartement that is meant for humans.

 

Another thing: 5th floor. Hm...elevators I guess? If not: lots and lots of stairs for growing hound and its growing joints. Carrying a dog that large and heavy, eveb as a puppy, is challenging. Leting it climb the stairs is prone to future problems in a breed that suffers from many other health problems even if it is raised properly.

 

So all in all: No. I would not give it a try. Not with a puppy. With an adult dog I do not see that much of a problem. If I read it right, you allready had an adopted greyhound, so you managed it with an adult before.

Edited January 22, 2019 by Rakete

[fastpointydoge]

Just going to throw in a few thoughts on things.

 

Litter box: Only recently have I heard of this. Some people swear it works, others swear it means the dog won't be able to differentiate between when it's ok or not ok to potty indoors.

 

Time alone/dog walker: If you work full time, ideally you could get a dog walker to come twice a day so that the puppy could go for a potty break and have a short playtime, never being alone for more than 4 hours. That could work out well for the first few months, then cut back to one mid-day walk when the puppy is able to make it for longer.

[krissy]

I would not do puppy pads. I do know people who have done litterboxes. What *I* would do is make a patch of indoor grass for your puppy... that way it's one less thing for them to adjust to with going outside because the substrate will be the same. And I would only use the indoor grass for when you absolutely can't take puppy out (if you work and have to leave pup for the day, or overnight since that's a huge pain in the butt in an apartment vs a house), and then I would be taking pup outside regularly in the morning, evening, and on weekends.

 

I have the luxury of working in a pet industry so I have always just taken puppies to work with me for about the first year of their life. However, there are MANY households that raise puppies that work full time (one might even argue that most dog owning households work full time) and so it is do-able to raise and housetrain a puppy even if you have to leave it alone for a full work day. Get a copy of Ian Dunbar's "Before and After You Get Your Puppy" - lots of good, practical tips in there. He's a bit alarmist about puppies having accidents - in my experience, even very well supervised and managed puppies have a couple accidents. Kili had MANY accidents because she had chronic UTIs as a puppy, and even she housetrained easily once we got the medical portion resolved. So I wouldn't get too worked up about what he says about never letting a puppy have an accident, but the rest of it is very, very good... and he discusses set ups for leaving puppies home alone.

[cleptogrey]

I disagree with Rakette Pups and owners learn and revise new behaviors all the time. Being flexible, cleaning up with the knowledge that this is NOT forever, stairs(Yes I have lived in walk ups), and puppies survive just about anything. I did have wood shutters on the lower half of my 3rd floor cold water flat when my salukis were pups. Yes, my plants were transplanted by those mischievous critters, yes my shoes were injested, refrigerator opened and cleaned out....SO NOT LEAVE A DISH TOWEL ON THE HANDLE. And yes, I still have dogs and have owned 3 dogs under 12 weeks of age and survived.and never used puppy pads, they only proved a great source of entertainment when shredded.

 

I ton of good insight has been posted. Please keep us updated.

Edited January 24, 2019 by cleptogrey

[weebird]

Hello everyone, thank you for more good suggestions.

 

Time alone/dog walker: If you work full time, ideally you could get a dog walker to come twice a day so that the puppy could go for a potty break and have a short playtime, never being alone for more than 4 hours. That could work out well for the first few months, then cut back to one mid-day walk when the puppy is able to make it for longer.

yes, we're looking into this, we found this website called Rover, where you can find people in your area that can come to take your dog out, or even keep them at their home during the work day. I'm thinking that would be actually good for the puppy for first few months, and then one mid-day walk should be okay. I'm just a bit worried if the puppy will get too attached to that person if they would be with them 3-5 days a week during the working hours...If that would cause some issues later?

 

krissy

Yes, we wanted to do the litter box only when we are away or at night. So I think there won't be an issue of them not knowing the difference between this and when going potty outside. I don't know if I like the fake grass idea, I was thinking what would be a good alternative for litter box that is safe for puppy but compostable too. Do 3-4 months old puppies also poop more often than adults? or it's just the bladder thing?

 

I now have a copy of Ian Dunbar's "Before and After You Get Your Puppy" book you suggested. Will read through it, looks like lot of good advise there.

 

You've mentioned that you would take your puppies to work with you, how did that work for you? Hubby might be able to take ours to work on some days, but we're not sure if the puppy is going to be all over the place distracting everyone and if that would be a problem then haha.

 

cleptogrey

Thank you cleptogrey for encouragement. Yes, we don't mind cleaning up. I know the accidents are to be expected. What I actually worry more about is the puppy being bored and then destructive or sad as a result of being alone. I really want them to be happy. Of course we are planning to get a dog walker or 'babysitter" for first maybe 2 months, but then we'd like to gradually do less and less of it. So I'm thinking what would be a good idea to keep them entertained, some toys like kongs or squirrel dude maybe? and some cardboard for them to destroy? maybe a radio or tv left on? they would also have great view of the windows, because they are almost to the floor. If anyone has some great ideas I'm all ears!

[weebird]

Another thing I wanted to ask you all, and that's about puppy proofing our apartment:

We can close doors on all the rooms, also we have an enclosed closet for shoes and such, so the puppy would not be able to access it. But our kitchen and dinning/living are is one big space, so we are not sure how to deal with that, especially with regard to the kitchen. We were thinking about a pen, but then we know that borzois can jump amazingly high, so we're not sure how well it would work. Any ideas/advise from all of you would be appreciated. Do you have experience with pens? I feel that pen might work for a 3-4 month old puppy, but by the time they are 6 months old, they would probably easily jump over even the tallest ones?

Of course we plan not to leave any stuff on the floor when not at home, probably move plants out of reach as well, and not leave food on a kitchen counter I suppose...

Any other things we need to be careful about when puppy proofing?

 

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some additional notes:

for those concerned about amount of stairs, we do have an elevator, and very conveniently close to our apartment, so the growing puppy would not be running up and down 5 flights of stairs every day. The fact that we live on 5th floor we've never even considered to be an issue, and still don't.

 

and yes, we had a greyhound previously, we adopted him when he was 3.5, and loved him dearly!

Edited January 28, 2019 by weebird

[Milashkaborzoi]

@weebird

I know i am very late on this topic, probably too late by now. But i just thought id chime in here. Im currently raising a borzoi puppy in an apartment. He is about to hit 9 months old and in our opinion is doing very well. I work from home so our biggest problem has been with being alone. Our puppy seems to have formed some seperation anxiety, but we luckily have some understanding neighbours who have two dogs of their own. We found with toilet training a litter tray was quite successful. We dont have a balcony but we do have a spare room. Our puppy has a large tray about the size of a coffee table, and reusable puppy pads. Artificial grass smells very quickly and cleaners dont work very well at all. The tray is raised slightly and the pads are patterned. He seems to know the difference about where to go and when to go. He holds it in the car and he has been to a couple of pubs for lunch and holds it and waits until we go outside. Its on your half too to watch for signals. If your inside somewhere and he is sniffing around then just nip him outside for a wee. The pads are changed daily and the tray cleaned with industrial strength kennel cleaners. We hose the pads down and put them in the washer on the highest setting with the kennel cleaners. However we've found that sometimes he waits to go outside anyway. We had a few issues with puppy proofing since before we know it, he can reach stuff anywhere we put it. We found that putting blankets over bookshelves and putting things in the kitchen where our dog isnt aloud worked out best. We also got a cheap pet camera since he likes to eat things. Not just chew them. No matter what it is he will swallow it whole. So we like to keep an eye on him just in case. We trained him from the minute we bought him home and he picked things up very quickly. They are a very smart ver quick breed to learn,but incredibly stubborn. For example our boy knows, sit, stay, wait, laydown, up, spin, paw, high five. He sits and waits to cross the road, and the same before he gets his food. However he often wont do them unless there are treats involved. We find keeping a pocket full of treats at all times when raising them helps correct them quickly. Our boy is unfortunatly so stubborn that sometimes he will not listen no mattee what even with a treat unless you shout. We know borzois are sensitive and dont like shouting but its like we dont exist unless we shout sometimes. He also isnt so sensitive and has always loved rough play. But not all borzois are the same. When it came to exercise, our boy loves it. We started off small and gradually built up his walks. When it say 20mins twice a day is enough. Its never enough. A big risk is over exercising borzoi puppies but ive discovered our boy will let us know when hes done since if we only go out for half hour its seems like hes just got started and its worked him up more than its worth. He comes home full of energy and bouncing off the walls. We either go for a slow walk on lead for about an hour. Or we do a 45 minute walk and a 15 minute of crazy run arounds off lead. We worked on recall with him the second we got him and now can have him off lead in places that arent fenced in. But we find that if  he goes to run off, and you go towards him, it gives him the go ahead to keep going. And then he will ignore you. Its best to just keep walking or stand still and call him from where you are. When he realises youre leaving or not 'accepting' whatevers taken his fancy, he soon runs back. Its different for every dog and is a big risk with borzois, but he has picked it up well overtime. Dont expect them to be as laid back as everywhere states inside the house. As a puppy they are very hyper when the want to be and it is always at the wrong times we find. He will sleep fine all the way through the night. From about 11pm until 11am he is completely out of it. But we need to be asleep by about 8pm since my OH gets up for work at 3am. But he is very hyper at about 9/10 pm and will bark until you play. This is just a case of us changing our routine and doing some training to get him out of this habit, but it is one thing to keep in mind. Our pup also does like his space and loves to sleep in his bed, but when given the opportunity is straight into our bed and will not budge. He got a little food aggressive for a few weeks but we trained it out of him by holding treats and food near his bowl when he eats so that our hands were exciting not scary. Other than that, he has never shown any signs of protectivness or aggression or anything towards toys or food. Unless he has got hold of some food that he shouldnt and then he will growl. He has got hold of pizza when he was 5 months old and gave us a quick bite when we tried to take it out of his mouth. He can bit a bit akward around other dogs, he has always been introduced them and never held back from them but still is a little shy. He will bark and pull when theyre from a distance but as soon as they get close he runs the other way. He will say hello but often cowars, and doesnt quite understand play unless its another sighthound. They are very over dramatic. Be prepared for screams and cries over nothing. Sometimes if our boy cant get up cos hes been laying on his legs so its all akward, he will just lay and cry at us. If we stand still for too long he will cry cos he wants to go an explore. It is a breed thing and it is normal. If you step on a paw by accident and he screams for a long time, it probably wasnt that bad, but he will scream anyway. Our boy is okay being in the car once hes in it. But he cant get in. We have to lift him in since he will refuse. We also have pet rats and birds so he has grown up with them so isnt too bothered about chasing them outside sometimes, but given the opportunity outdoors he will give it a go.

All in all, id say its possible. They are amazing companions! So loving and cuddly and happy to be around you no matter what. They love being outdoors and indoors. A good run and a good cuddle they will be fine. Mines a big explorer so some interesting walks keep him active. 

I will say just keep in mind, anyone unfamiliar with the breed will not understand! They are big dogs and people often think he is a fully grown lurcher. So when he gets excited or puppy plays people are alarmed quickly that he may be aggressive. We have people put theyre dogs on a lead when they see him coming because he looks like and uncontrollable adult dog. In fact we have complete control of him and hes only a pup. But people will not understand. We often explain and say "oh no hes only 8 months old hes just very excitable...." etc and they relax then. They are a peculiar breed with a mind of their own, and some people wont like him. So be prepared for judgement, confusion and a lot of misunderstanding. We keep him on lead around other dogs and people just incase since its normally people that are weary of him. 

But otherwise,raising a puppy in an apartment is definitely do able if you have the time to commit. We have other sighthound owners compliment us on him regularly because we put the time in. If you work full time a borzoi may not be best since they are so stubborn and free minded.