How we navigate apartment life with a high-energy dog

(Note on outdated information: We moved into a house in the spring of 2021 and into our van full time in 2023, but I’ve left the below article from summer 2020 intact as it still accurately sums up what life was like in our old building.)

When I adopted Scout, I was 21 years old. I’d graduated from college about eight months prior. I lived in a 700-square-foot apartment — with a roommate — on the third floor.

I wasn’t exactly an “ideal” candidate for Australian cattle dog ownership.

Many people don’t think heelers should ever live in apartments. In fact, most shelters and rescues (especially breed-specific ones) won’t even consider adopting cattle dogs out to people who don’t have yards. Given their high energy levels and herding instincts, I understand why!

But nothing is black and white, and Scout and I don’t just “make apartment life work” — we actually love it.

That’s not to say I go around recommending heelers as apartment dogs to everyone I know. Each dog and owner is different, and …