Best dogs for apartments
Small footprint, low noise, happy indoors — ranked by barking level, energy and adaptability, plus what apartment owners actually report.
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The ranked shortlist
Hand-picked by our editors using breed trait profiles — scores are out of 5.
1. Cavalier King Charles Spaniel
5/5A silky-eared lapdog with a spaniel's heart — sweet, gentle, everyone's friend.
2. Greyhound
5/5The 70 km/h couch potato — a gentle sprinter who mostly wants to nap.
3. French Bulldog
4/5Bat ears, big charm — the clownish city companion of the moment.
4. Pug
4/5Multum in parvo — 'a lot of dog in a small space', wrinkles and all.
5. Bichon Frisé
4/5A cheerful powder-puff — low-shedding, people-loving and endlessly merry.
6. Whippet
4/5A pocket Greyhound — sweet, quiet, and astonishingly fast.
7. Italian Greyhound
4/5A Renaissance sprinter the size of a cat, built for sunbeams and speed.
8. Shih Tzu
4/5A lion in miniature, bred for a thousand years of laps.
9. Havanese
4/5Havana's silk-coated charmer — a small dog with a headline personality.
10. Bulldog
3/5A wrinkled, snuffling softie — stoic, stubborn and endlessly loveable.
11. Coton de Tulear
3/5A cloud of cotton with a comedian's timing.
12. Japanese Chin
3/5A silk-robed courtier that thinks it might be a cat.
What actually matters in a flat
Square footage matters far less than three traits: barking level (thin walls), energy (a tired dog is a quiet dog), and adaptability (tolerance for lifts, hallways, and being left alone). A calm giant can suit a flat better than a wound-up terrier.