I know exactly what you mean, tiamat.
I owned dogs for twenty years. Then sold my house and bought an apartment. And, even though dogs were allowed in the building, I thought it would be cruel and usual punishment to raise a dog in an apartment. Last summer the board amended the by-laws and no more "pets" are allowed, although so far no one has complained about my adorable parakeets.
I suppose you could do a dog in a aprtment IF you were very diligent about making sure that he got to run every day.
( And I think I would go for a small dog under those circumstances! )
MOST, ( Not all ) apartments will let things like a hamster, a parakeet, a guinea pig slide, so long as no one complains.