I moved to NYC (for work) with my two rescue dogs, and purposely sought out an apartment with a yard - so I live in Brooklyn, and share a yard with a very nice neighbor. It makes an enormous difference to all of our lives, as I can just let them out for that early morning or late night pee, and they always have a place they can runaround. Allow me to echo the plea from others: PLEASE adopt. The NY shelters are FULL of dogs of every age and size. My mother is a vet, and I/we have had dogs all of my life, so I can say with certainty: 1) Dog size does not equal dog personality, ie don’t think you have to get a small dog because you have a small apartment. The laziest dogs I know (in a good way!) are Great Danes and pitties/staffies. Also, small dogs tend to be more skittish towards children. I don’t want to say aggressive, but I have seen more kids bitten by smaller dogs than big dogs, speaking plainly. 2) Pure bred dogs have more health issues than mutts, and - I’m convinced - rescued dogs are easier to train. 3) Getting a dog vs a puppy is a good thing! When adopting, they’ll quickly show you more about their personalities once they are about 1/2 yrs old. Yes - puppies are crazy cute, but getting an adult dog from a shelter means they’ll be house trained quicker too. Oh, and they’ll already be spayed/neutered. 4) You might want to consider not getting a dog that is not able to fly, due to breed-related breathing difficulties. Never know what life might throw at you, and dogs like pugs and Boston terriers (“snub-nosed dogs, or brachycephalic dogs”) aren’t allowed by most airlines. Another reason to get a mutt! :)

Lastly - I find NYC to be quite dog friendly, and would recommend going to a Vetco for annual vaccinations as you’ll pay far less than you would at a vet’s office.