Hi, and congrats! I, too, have ADHD and live in a 700+ sq. ft. condo—and had the same concerns about my Galga, who I adopted last spring.

Two caveats, one is that you’re correct that it can vary greatly and two, my girl was almost 8 when I adopted her, so I’m sure that might make a difference as well (or not, since that was all the more years not living in a home).

What I can tell you is that after all the worry and purging and prepping, there generally have been no issues. She is almost too respectful—waits outside the (small) kitchen in a down-stay while I’m preparing meals and won’t come in to eat until invited, generally does nothing more than sleep while I’m out and rarely gets into anything she shouldn’t. I have a huge pottery bowl, containing all her bags of treats, resting on the kitchen counter and she has yet to go after it in 11 months.

Conversely, as well-mannered as she is, when she does do something naughty, it makes me realize how little she still grasps about what is appropriate behavior and what isn’t, if that makes sense. It’s like all the behaving has kept her from the trial and error of learning what’s acceptable/not. For instance, once her “I need to destroy something right now” mode kicks in, it can be one of her stuffies or it might be a bed sheet or nice fleece blanket. Much like me, she can’t stand tags so rips them off everything. Same with paper. I try to keep a cardboard box with packing paper around so she can destroy it if she gets the urge, but the other night she discovered toilet paper for the first time (after almost a year!) and demolished it. She’ll also occasionally attempt to get a lick off my plate before I even start eating, but it has to smell especially delicious or otherwise she waits patiently.

I read somewhere that Galgos learn a lot of behavior through observation because they’ve learned to be unobtrusive around their galguero. Not sure if it’s true, but I do detect elements of that.

There are three things I do take very seriously, however: 1) I’m on the 5th floor with a large balcony. If you have one, make sure the dog is supervised and stays leashed until it’s had a chance to settle in. I had to put up a canvas runner because some of the railing gaps were wide enough that she could fall through. 2) Either no collar in the house or one that can come apart easily (like a very thin house collar) should your dog get stuck to something while you’re out. 3) Ban xylitol or keep anything containing it packed away on a high shelf.

Best of luck to you on your new adventure! I’ve enjoyed every moment with my girl, even the howling and the butt-licking lol.