Since we have 15 dogs and we crate most of them when we are gone, we have been able to make some observations.

We just adopted a 6 month old hound mix who is a joy and while usually I have the summer off, this summer has been different and I have been taking inservices and doing homebound teaching so both of us have been gone all day for 8 or 9 hours and Sammy has not made a mess in his crate (or anywhere else for that matter)

On the other hand Max, the Weim, makes a mess in a crate whenever he can, but, if we leave him out of the crate, he's fine.

I would say, it really depends on the dog. Most dogs will not make a mess in their crate because they view it as their domain.

We feed our dogs as close to 5 pm as possible everyday and they are fine during the day the next day, if that helps.

Since you live in an apartment, I would read up on the different breeds that are better for apartment living, for example, I would never get a Jack Russell if I were living in an apartment. But then again, I am especially partial to mutts.

Our preference has been to get more adult dogs for a couple of reasons. We don't want to mess with the puppy stage and there are so many adult dogs at shelters that get overlooked because they're not all cute and cuddly anymore.

I hope that helps!! Sorry I was so long winded.