[Jeff]

As Nostatic said apartments and dogs are not always a good fit and I agree with that, but if there is a will you will find a way to make it work.

As far as not getting a puppy because he needs to get out of his crate every 2 hours shouldn't be a concern. I received my puppy at 8 weeks and he would sleep through the night (7-8) hours with no accidents, so 4 hr stretches won't be a problem, just make sure he is walked regularly and let him free run once in a while. The key to crate training is don't get a crate that is too big or section off a larger crate. Give him enough room to stand up and turn around but not much more (until he is fully train, and that won't take long) or he will use the extra room as a bathroom.

I would not pass up the puppy experience. Very rewarding and the best time to train the dog . No need to un-train pre-existing learned behavior either.