Quote:
Originally Posted by
SonicEarth 
I'll most likely be moving into an apartment after I graduate and am considering getting a dog. I don't want any toy dogs. I've been looking at whippets, and they seem fairly well-suited for apartments. The only problem is that I will be away at work for eight hours a day. What are some good breeds for apartments?
I haven't read through all the posts yet (the first reply sure got me riled up enough!

) so I don't know if you made your final decision yet or not, but let me throw my suggestion into the ring:
A golden retriever.
That's the dog I have. They are amazingly adaptable. They are a breed that would be equally happy in a house with a big back yard or in an apartment. And while I live in an one bedroom apartment with my dog, we get plenty of exercise outside walking around the apartment complex and going to the park, so it's not like he's confined to a small area all day every day.
Now, most apartments will have size restrictions on dogs. I found that those can be negotiated. My dog was the first large breed animal my apartment allowed, and now there are probably a half dozen or so pet owners here with large breed dogs.
The benefits for an apartment manager to permit large breed dogs (just my list, IMO)
1) large breed dogs tend to be more quite. Smaller dogs tend to bark more.
2) large breed dogs can hold their bladder longer. That's something to consider if you got a small dog and had to be at work for 8 hours a day.
3) large breed dogs tend to be more docile. Contrary to popular belief, they do NOT need large spaces to run around. My dog really doesn't run around that much at all when I take him out to play. Small dogs seem to have more energy to burn.
4) Small dogs tend to be more destructive. Any dog can cause damage, but that energy in a small dog has to come out some how. That's not a blanket condemnation of all small dogs, but that's just an observation I've had in my life where my family has had a good number of dogs over the years.
My point is large breed dogs can be good residents in an apartment, and I don't see any quantifiable reason apartment managers should put size limits on dogs. It should be considered more by breed. A beagle, for example, might be more docile than a dalmation, though the dalmation is considerably bigger than the beagle.
But I'd recommend a golden any day to a person who had to leave the animal alone. If the apartment manager says the dog is too big, there are more in depth articles on goldens and how suitable they are for apartment living that you can find online. Show them to the manager and make your case if they say no at first. My dog gets no complaints around here, he's a model resident.
Buy a Kong or get some good chews for the dog to play with when you leave for work (I advise STRONGLY against rawhides, however...they can easily get lodged in a dog's throat and cause them to choke. It happened to my dog and good thing I was home when it happened or he would have died.) But get a Kong, fill it with canned dog food, peanut butter, their favorite treats, and they will have something to preoccupy them when you are gone to work.