Keeping everyone happy in our new apartment. Advice?

Situation: My boyfriend and I are moving into an apartment this week. And for the past 8 months our dogs have been accustomed to 8 acres of land. They go on long walks at least every two days, if not every day, and on days off we go to state parks, swimming, the beach, etc.





About my boyfriend and I: We both work full time, some days 8-5 and some days 12-9. We both work about 5 minutes from the new apartment, which is great so our dogs won't be alone for more than 4 hours at a time.





About our dogs (a lot more interesting to read about than our work schedules): Josie is an australian shepherd / lab mix, year old, around 55lbs. Positives: she's intelligent, amiable, completely housebroken, and a great walking dog. Not-so-positive: She doesn't like to listen when there's a lot of people around, ';come'; doesn't apply when she's more than 30 ft away, and she gets VERY destructive when she's bored. Just last night we moved the couch we're taking with us into the shed by her runner. 15 minutes from putting her out there she had taken a huge chunk out of it and was pulling out stuffing. We were originally thinking that she could just sleep out in the living room, but if that's a sign of things to come I don't know.





Next is Zoey, a 5 month old american staffordshire, about 32 lbs right now. She's almost completely housebroken. We're still in the process of training her (which has been sidetracked due to medication we've had to put her on). So pretty much, she knows how to sit and jump. Opposed to Josie, she prefers to be inside and on the bed, and cries after 5 minutes of being on the runner. She also has a destructive streak, knocking over trash cans and playing with toilet paper. But she is a sweetheart, and not nearly as oral as Josie.





Plan of action: Taking them out when we wake up and after they eat (as we do now). A little late, but we have started getting them used to crates. Feeding them in their crate, walking them in and out with treats, and I've been advised to play music for them while we're gone and never to use their crate as punishment. Also been advised against toys in case of choking. We will have a balcony, which I already know Josie will love to sit out on, and Zoey will be unsatisfied and scratch on the sliding glass door. As far as crate time, I'm sure Josie will get restless in, and Zoey will probably cry-- a lot. And they will get lots more walks, and a lot more time with us after the move for various reasons.





Any ideas as far as extended obedience training, crate training, entertainment, or houseproofing would be GREATLY appreciated. I've always learned from experience, if I could skip that and keep accidents from happening I would be very grateful =)Keeping everyone happy in our new apartment. Advice?
Have you considered doggy day care?





That way they will be supervised during the day, given lots of exercise and play time. Since they are transitioning to such a new situation, having them supervised and active during the day and learning to adjust to the apartment in the evening when you are home, I think doggy daycare would be a good idea.





Especially be careful with the dog that vocalise's. You will not be home to correct the behavior and the neighbors will probably complain and in many cities you can be cited and fined for prolonged nuisance noise, esp with dogs. You don't want to be on the wrong foot with the neighbors from the start.





Personally, I would give the dogs a stuffed kong while in their crate, but that is your choice. You know your dogs and know what they could/would swallow/destroy. Also, if noise is going to be a problem, you can try one of those gizmos to discourage barking. It emits a high frequency squeal (or a citro spray) until the dog stops. However, try that at home first.





I'm not agaist dogs in apartments. I have one. It is just important to keep them both physically and mentally stimulated. In apartment living, that can take effort. Walks alone are not enough for most dogs, so finding alternate ways...bicycling, locating a decent dog park, or dog swimming area, finding fenced areas for them to play...regularly is very important. A tired dog is a happy dog and asking a dog to crate all day





You might also consider enrolling them in dog sports like agility which will exersice both their brains and their body. Brain stimulation for a dog asked to sit all day is also important. I enjoy doing tricks training in the evenings as brain exercise since space is smaller.





Personally, I think the highest success rate is going to be doggy daycare.Keeping everyone happy in our new apartment. Advice?
rehome your dogs, or don't move into an apartment. sorry, that's it if you really want the dogs to be happy and healthy.
The first week or so that you are not home in your new place, if the dogs are used to their crates, I would crate them like you said you planned on doing. 8 hours a day, five days a week is a lot of time for them to spend in their crates, so ideally this would not be permanent, so hopefully over time you will be able to confine them to a specific room. I own an Aussie mix as well who is highly destructive when she is bored, and the best thing I have found is to make sure she gets lots of exercise before I go to work. I'm not much of a morning person, so I have had to make quite an adjustment to get used to not only walking both dogs in the morning, but going an extra four blocks to the dog park so I can play frisbee with the aussie mix and really tire her out before I leave. I also found a great toy that keeps her busy, its a dispenser that you can put a few kong toys in filled with treats and it dispenses them one at a time every hour or so, you set the timer on how often they come out. This provides a great way to keep giving her new toys when you are gone. Good luck!
For entertainment, I'd personally find the nearest dog park and take them there (by walking, preferably) as often as possible. This will help keep them happy and stimulated by breaking up the daily boredom with social interaction with new dogs every day. It'll help you make friends with other dog owners and find out some other tips too :D
I strongly recommend keeping them both crated while you aren't home; it's the only way you can be sure they're safe and the house won't get destroyed.





It's great that you're working so close to home; you can come home on your lunch breaks and take the dogs out, let them run around a little. This is a Great Thing.





I once raised an Aussie by myself while working full time; he spent too much time crated, but I couldn't help that. When I got home from work, I spent at least an hour in the back yard with him, running him around, throwing a ball for him, doing obedience routines, exercising his body and his mind.





Before bedtime we did it again, and in the morning before breakfast we'd spend as much time outside as we could. He was a great dog. I miss him.





Good luck.