I have preiously asked this sort of question, but the house in question didnt work out, we now have a chance at an amazing terraced house, it has 4 levels so great for cats to play in, but the yard is very narrow but long.

Currently our garden is huge, probably nearly 2 acres of lawn and trees. What will my dog make of the bare yard?? plus my cats wont have that to explore anymore either, we love the house and feel its right for us, but i do worry about the garden. I know the cats will just go off and explore the neighbourhood so will adapt how they burn off all their energy but the dog...

My plan is to walk her more, and play/train in the house more too. The yard will only be used for wees first thing in morning and at night, or when she just wants to sunbathe.

Will she adapt like the cats?

to add - yard size would be 6ft wide and 20 ft long. we could ask neighbour if we could share both gardens as she doesnt use hers much apart from hanging up washing.. an idea if we get the place..

6ft wide and 20 ft long

The rear yard is feet wide that's about two door widths not even the width of the house ? wow that is small

Yep, the terrace is about 15ft wide! but very deep and tall...

Many years ago one of our many relocations meant moving from a house with a smallish garden but backing onto about 1,000 acres of woods and moors to which we had free access, to central London and a small paved yard (about 20' by 20') but close to parks. Our dalmatian adapted very well. The important thing is to be able to take her out for many more walks. :)

thanks jg, thats my main priority of course,and she is only small i suppose, at least i dont have a large breed- i was sensible in that way.

we dont plan to rent for long, we want to buy, people ask me why i got my terrier when im renting, and i started to regret getting her, but i never feel like that for long, you can always adapt and change your lifestyle, but our lives wouldnt the be same without her!
Maybe i could buy some interactive toys to put in yard, that would add some fun, put lots of grasses too- make it green..

Never forget that you're more important to your dog than the size of your garden. It's a case of "Whither thou goest, I will go". If you want it to work, and are prepared to make it work, then it will work. Dogs are great like that. :D

I'm moving from a house with a garden to one with only a courtyard.  However there are lots of good walks from the front door so will simply take Molly out for more walks.  She has never been willing to wee on concrete or paving, only grass or gravel though, so the yard will just be used for sunbathing and playing with flowerpots (her favourite game!)

ditto rosemarie, theres a park literally 2mins away, then theres a river 5 mins away, and fields 10mins away!
thats another benefit to this house- just got our fingerscrossed!

You are 'home' to your dog, quite frankly it won't care what size garden or home you have, lots of good walks and playing areas by the sound of it, so yes, your dog will easily adapt, will she get to run up and down some of the stairs too? :-D 4 floors That would keep me fit never mind the dog!

We've got a weirdly shaped but large garden. The bits that allow access directly onto the lane are fenced and gated but Nips has the run of the rest which includes a very tempting stretch of undergrowth to tunnel through and gain access to the enormous field that backs onto the garden. Despite the huge possibilities available to him his preference is for the sunny spot just outside the back door!

He's far keener on taking advantage of the great outdoors when actually out on a walk so I wouldn't worry too much about switching to a much smaller garden, chris. Provided there are plenty of good walking opportunities near your new house I reckon your dog will adapt pretty quickly and be just as happy. You are more important to her than any garden!

Had to smile at this post - my hairy bunch have free access to our paddock of more than an acre plus a 20x30 ft paved dog yard - yet they all stay just inches from the back door or our feet if possible - they NEVER use their excercise field unless we go with them and the couple of times that we've put them there and shut the gate they just crowd round the gate begging to be with us ! . As long as you give her plenty of your time and lots of walks she wont care about the size of the garden ;)

Yvonne

More or less what I was going to say. A garden is more for humans than dogs. With the worry these days of dog napping better the dog is inside with you. Then out and about with you for walks and exercise etc. Don't worry your dog and cats will adapt to whatever you provide. :-)

This discussion is going on right now at a breed list, with mainly US members, that I am a moderator of. I am horrified to find how many people think it is okay to have a secure back garden big enough for dogs to run in and therefore NEVER walk their dogs at all! :( The poor dogs, never get to see anything different. I wouldn't hesitate to sell a pup to somebody living in a flat even as long as everything else was right -sure housetraining is a lot harder (been there, done that when I lived in Sweden) but without a garden you MUST go for several walks a day no matter what! So ultimately I think the dogs are better off. It's so easy to get lazy with a large garden and if the weather is bad or whatever just forget a walk as the dog can still go out for a wee on its own.

This was a comment made to my mum when she enquired with a rescue friend about me taking a rescue dog on.  She agreed with me not having a garden the dog would have to be walked.  I knew I couldn't afford a house with a garden but always having a dog in mind picked this house as the park is literally at the bottom of the road.

I've known people who's houses i've been round to and never seen their dog because its holed up somewhere.  Unless you are happy to live in squalor then you would have to take a dog to the park more than twice a day if you have no garden.  Its a no brainer.

I'm hoping a home check will prove I'm not the living in squalor type!

It made me smile too.  We had a tiny patio area in our first house and an active breed dog.  When we moved to somewhere with a big garden we thought how lovely for the dog.  She wasn't interested in it at all unless we were out there with her.  Infact it was just a pain having to keep mowing the grass. :)

We have the tiniest back yard ever. At it's longest it is about 12 foot, and about 10ft wide at its widest, but it is shaped like a triangle and on two levels!! The 6 steps up take most of the space. Tansy goes out for a wee or a poo, and comes back in again.
She doesn't like going on concrete either and we grassed an old sink for her :rolleyes:
I used to worry about her not getting enough exercise, but beside ever increasing walks, she also has 3 flights of stairs to throw some wonderful and entertaining maddies on.(plus the sofa, chairs etc)
She is one now and as fit as a fiddle, so don't worry too much :-)

we got the house!!! yeah! we are already working out a new regime for Flo, just to make sure she doesnt get upset, im just so happy, everything was going wrong at one point, and now- well just fab!!