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How Many Dogs Can Someone Own?


snow_wolf
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I have 5 Toy Poos, am renting but they think I only have 1 dog. I live in St Kilda and only have a small courtyard, it's basically a toilet for the dogs. The living room looks like a bit of a kennel as I have 2 PP40s, a show trolley and a large Crate on top of the trolley. The show trolley door is always open as they like to lie on the plush faux fur matt that's inside the trolley.I have all that set up for their dinner time, as my show girl Twotty, eats too much & I have to watch her figure. Most of the time they're sitting on the sofa with me and at times I tell them to all get off as I need my personal space.

I don't walk them every day but when I do, I cause a bit of a sensation. You just don't see people walking 5 at a time, (except dog walkers) especially Toy Poos, 2 in show coat. I get so many smiles & lovely comments about them,I love the positive energy I receive, but I'm sure people think I'm the crazy poodle lady.

I want more but where I am, 5 is definitely my limit. They all follow me to bed and find their positions.

I hope to move further north sometime in the future, with a yard with cooch grass and bangalow palms and have imagined myself with 10 or 12, but I sure won't be walking them all at the same time.

I have thought long and hard about this. Set up properly, I think I could manage. I've even thought about how I could cuddle them all at once. I'd have to lie on the ground and they would all rape hug me. I want more dogs, I just don't have the space atm.

People can have a dozen kids, why can't I have a dozen fur kids, they're way less maintenance, even though I have a high maintenance breed, I know I could manage in the right space.

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We have 3 at the moment.

When the youngest turns 4 or one of our current 'older' two retire (whichever comes second) we will consider another. Living with them is the easy bit. Finding time to train and give them enough attention is where I would struggle with another at the moment - especially when the puppy is only 10 months.

Yep i agree, i find living with my guys easy, meal times no problems at all, even exercising everyone is fine. It is finding time to train all 3 dog's that are still competing hard, running 3 dogs all day at a Flyball comp is a full on workout. I would maybe love another pup, but would not have the time to train it (although it would be breaking my 4 dog rule anyway).

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Variable according to time,space, finance & ability & how many people in family to help.

I manage 5 easy but not more than 8. In the city, average size 600 metre block, I walked mine almost daily in pairs, living rural, on more land, I don't regularly.

Being a small breed but needing much grooming that's enough for me. Only had 2 dogs when I had a big breed.

I still keep them in small groups, them being together only when I am supervising. Think it is stress for them all to be together all of the time especially with more than 1 entire male. They need some peace & space too.

When it gets to numbers like 20 & more I don't know how each dog can get individual attention & being on 20 acres etc is not much help really as most of the time it is not safe or the kind of area one would let dogs roam on unsupervised.

It is how the individual manages more than how many to a degree.

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I think there are so many factors to this, the type/size of the dogs, what you do with them and their purpose in your life, your aims for them and their ages.

For me I know 3 is my limit - currently I have 2 and it is great I can give each one so much individual time. My oh has one - who I also walk and train so really I have 3, I know 1 is his limit, he could never own 2 at once.

But a general crazy dog lady limit??? I agree with the theory of one more than you can handle.

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We have 4 and live on an acre and manage easily. They are labs and all get on well and are easy going. They usually play non stop so wear each other out so I don't have to be pedantic about exercising them, but I am at home most of the time anyway. I could easily manage more girls, it is the entire males that become PITA at times. We are moving to 8 acres soon, so I will probably keep 1 or 2 pups (girls) this year depending on what pops out!.

My eldest dog is 4, so all are young and healthy at the moment. I think having an ill or special needs dog would limit the number you could adequately cope with.

Four Labs - sigh our absolute dream :rainbowbridge:

At the mo we have two 13mnth Labs and with just OH and I that is enough for us.... but with no kids and both working full time our restrictions are more land and quality of time for them issues... more than two for us now would be detrimental to their health and happiness.

BUT we are looking to move onto 5 acres within the next 12 months and when I can eventually move to a part time job closer to home then I think we could easily stretch to another Lab and maybe one more down the track... Although saying that i would like to adopt adult Labs in order to give them hopefully a forever home where they can run around with our two and have lots of fun and love.

After having our life turned up side (in a very good way) by two 8 week old labs - i think i would like to be home full time and a bit older and Lab puppy wiser before we go down that road again :rainbowbridge:

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I'd like to eventually have somwhere between 4 and 6. But no more than my current two until I atleast have a rental history and no more than 3 till I own somewhere. It seems like the line other people draw between dog interested and crazy dog lady is when you go past 3.

Oh, wow. You have 2 dogs and you're renting?

I've been looking for a place to rent, need to take 1 of the dogs with me. But i am having an impossible time finding a suitable house, that allows pets.

I have and am renting with 5 dogs. It's a regular suburban block. Our landlords and neighbours have always been fine with it (I hate barking dogs and will not tolerate it from my own).

As for how many dogs is too many, I would say I'm well over my limit and will be keeping it down to 2 when my current dogs pass on. I have very strong bonds with 2 of my dogs and feel guilty that I don't get to give as much attention to the other 3 because my 2 entire boys demand so much of my attention.

Snow Wolf we're currently renting with 16 sibes!!!!!!!

I think one of the biggest things with multiple dogs is having adequate fencing, yards etc where you can separate them if you need to.

We have 6 smaller yards, where they are in groups of 3, sometimes this changes, as well as a large exercise yard where most of them send time together when we are home.

Our numbers will be going down a little in the next few months but not by much :-)

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Hard to say really. I said I'd stop at three but I'm getting a fourth (hopefully) next year.

OooooOoooh, is it a baby Evil Beagle?

LOL Rach! Not this time (I can't deal with the shedding anymore). I'm looking at a field ESS :shhh:

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Hard to say really. I said I'd stop at three but I'm getting a fourth (hopefully) next year.

OooooOoooh, is it a baby Evil Beagle?

LOL Rach! Not this time (I can't deal with the shedding anymore). I'm looking at a field ESS :)

Oooh, exciting! :(

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When i foster a dog under 2 yrs of age, it all becomes too much so I rarely do that now - i find the young ones very demanding in terms of attention needed.

I take old dogs and usually, once I've housetrained them it all goes well until they find a new home. I've had varying numbers here, I own 4 small dogs (4-6 kilos) who aer all over 10 yrs of age but two of them do like a piddle and one is cranky on the lead! Sometimes my fosters are easier.

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I regularly groom for a lady who has 11 dogs on 1/4 acre. She has tibetan spaniels and pappys. I personally think she is crazy, but whenever I go there, every 6-8wks, the dogs are always well fed, well loved, no fleas/ticks in sight. All dogs are desexed. Her house is always clean with no "doggy" smell. She says she has to vacuume and mop every night as all dogs live inside. So from the outside looking in she seems to manage quite well. They do get a little rowdy when the doorbell rings, but that is about it. She is a pensioner with extra income from rental houses, etc, so is home 90% of the time with them. In addition to the dogs, she also has 6 cats.

So I really think it goes to show that everyones individual capacity is quite different. Having said that... I wouldn't be caught dead in her situation!!

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I would hate to rent with dogs.

That is an interesting comment, as you never know what situation you might find yourself in. I've rented with dogs and found it to be ok, it was sometime ago though.

We had three here and now just have the two and I find it to be a better number. As a pack of three one tended to set another off and it would circle, where as just the two they are quite calm and not reactive (bark) to moving cattle/horses ect in the paddock.

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I would hate to rent with dogs.

That is an interesting comment, as you never know what situation you might find yourself in. I've rented with dogs and found it to be ok, it was sometime ago though.

I hate the idea of renting full stop, I have never done it :laugh:

I just think that I would find renting with dogs really stressful.

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