I ask the question because having taken Sal for a run this morning (her running not me) I meet a couple with  7 dogs. 1 Yorkie, 1 x Mongrel,  2 x GSD's, 3 x Cockers. They all live in relative harmony it seems and the Mongrel bitch is "top dog". 5 bitches and 2 dogs. They are getting a Lab puppy next week.
  It makes me wonder what is your "doggie cut off point?" How many is too many, or is there no such thing?
And are 2 harder work than 1?
Karen
 

I've got nine at the moment, sometimes I wonder what it was like to just have one.....

Geoff :)

With me it would be size of the house rather than anything else. At the moment (and probably for the next6 years) we are in a small 3 bedroomed house so to have any more than say 2-3 Malamutes would simply be impractical .....WHEN we move though .......

;) :D

Unfortunately my husbands cut off point is 1 at the moment. :(  while mine would be one already installed gorgeous Springer :) and a much wanted (rescue) Lab. 

We had 3  dogs for a while when I was in my teens and I don't recall them being any more work than 1 is. I suppose "too many" is 1 more than you can cope with for your circumstances. :)

Kath.

Two is enough for me - certainly at the moment. Perhaps if they ever calm down, then may be :) There must be a point at which the balance swings, where the dogs become so much work that everything else has to take a back seat. I don't think that I would want that. My dogs are part of my life - not the other way around :D

Daisy

I have 2 at the moment with another planned for this year and another when the time is right and the right dog is available.Hubby has said 4 is the limit...since we started off with him not wanting any.Had Archer and then he asked if I wanted a dog to show(along came Asa),then I bought him his dream motorbike so he said I could have another dog(along came Kasper),then he said we could manage 4...so the next addition was planned.Last year we lost Archer and hence at some time I will make the numbers up to 4...
I'm glad I've got him to keep me under control or I'd have a house full and 4 dogs is (realistically) enough
Archer

4 is definately my cut off point.  Although there is 2 of us to look after them and we probably could squeeze in another one, with 4 I am able to take them all out on my own without problems. I think 5 would be stretching it (not to mention my arms :D :D) slightly.  Each to their own and I suppose it depends on the size of the dogs, but if either one of us is unable to come for a walk then at least the other is able to take them all out.
Clair

We only have a two bed house at the minute so 2 is our cut off point.

My mum has a 3 bed house with a very large garden, if I lived in my mum's house I'd probably have 5, that would allow for another lab, a german shepherd and a border collie.

I live in a 3 bed terraced house with a small garden and i have 5 dogs, i am very lucky that i live near a forest and maiden castle, our house is not huge so i had a conservatory built for the dogs so they have their own space, they do come in doors, but only when they are clean and dry. i had to persuade hubby to have dog number two, but five is enough for me.

For me it is the number that I can walk together in one go.  If I had to do walking in rotation then I feel the dogs would miss out, as they would be getting half of what they otherwise would get, and Elkhounds will take as much excersise as is offered, even the 12 year old (though I won't take her out for more than an hour and a half now).

They are quite good as they are happy with the odd day of a quick walk of half an hour if there is some reason I can't give them more, but I like them to have all the walks I can give them.  It is bad enough when someone is in season, as it means I have to do the road walking, take in season bitch/es home and then go for a proper walk, where I could have combined the two.

As for room in the house I think that the 5 now is really the most I would choose to have, and still leaves room for a puppy coming back for a while, as I have found that I can manage to walk six at once.

So my rule is no more than 4 dogs under 12 years of age.  My lot are 6 months, 4, 6.5, 9 and 12 years old.  I had planned not to keep a pup until the end of this year, but my bitch was not easy to mate, so kept pup from first litter, rather than the more sensible longer gap.

:) I live in a 3 bedroomed semi detached house ...not big by anyones standards...i have 3 children as well as my husband and i ...i have 5 dogs of my own and usually 2 or more foster dogs for the rescue i work with.
We are lucky in the fact that just across the road from our house is a playing fields and river walk ...i take the dogs in relays sometimes 2 lots sometimes 3 lots.
It can work well...i think you need a lot of time on your hands and a large walking area close by or i know i couldnt do it.
Donna x

We have just 1 at the minute, a 14 week old lab but i have been looking at rescue. I want 3 my husband has said 2. We live in a large 3 bed detached house with a big garden and lots of parks ect to walk in.
I have decided to leave it a few months untill Buffy (the lab) is bigger and then get another one.

If it wasnt for the fact that i have 4 kids i would probably have 5-6 dogs, i also have to be realistic about vet fees and we could only afford 2 comfortable and 3 at a struggle.

Debbie

my limit is one unfortunately, the reason being vet insurance, food, collars/leads, kennels, toys, wormers etc etc, we could afford another dog but then Toby wouldnt get as much and he is spoilt rotten, if i won the lottery then i would have a kennels built and have loads of dogs,

Heidi

Four is plenty for us.we have a lab cross, 2 labs and a staffy pup!!they are all bitches and live together really well without any hassle.Poppy the lab cross who's nearly 7 thinks she is the boss, but i suspect candy whos only 12 weeks old will soon be the boss as she's a proper little madam!!The only probs we've ever had was when we had milo (my friends dog) for a while, he was forever hassling the girls, so i would never be able to keep an entire male at our house!!

at the moment i have only got one dog mollie but i am getting my puppy in may / june  cant wait
i am used to having more then one dog before  i had two dobes and mollie but sadly they (dobes)both died within a year of each other .dad is thinking of getting another dobe in a year or so but not until we move to a house with more land etc

For a long time my limit was eight, then it became nine, then ten.  Don't think it was ever eleven though Now it's twelve and I have definately drawn a line under it. Like Geoff I often wonder what it would be like to have one dog but I have no regrets at all.  We have a slightly larger that average house and 6 acres.  My work involves the dogs very often and if I only make enough money to pay for their food and vets bills then I'm content.  I have a husband for everything else.  ;)
Sally

This is a really interesting thread :) Am I the only one who feels that I would have difficulty dividing my time between more than two dogs ? I am lucky in that money and space are not a factor (well OK I wouldn't like to put 8 dogs into kennels when I go on holiday - but then I suppose if you have that number of dogs, you don't go away ), but, as I did when deciding how many children to have, I don't think that I would be able to give them individually the attention and so two is enough.

Daisy

Well, I've got 4. I have in the past had 5, and although I could manage them all on walks together then, I wouldn't want to try it now (out of practice!). Although we'd love another dog, we've decided to wait till at least one of the existing ones has moved on. As the eldest is only 11, that shouldn't be for a while yet (I hope).

Two was certainly no more work than one. Three starts to get awkward because there are fewer places to stay that will accept 3 dogs, and with 4 you're even more limited. However, with 4 it works out cheaper to get a sitter in for the dogs when you go away, rather than putting them into kennels, so there are benefits in numbers!

That's fine if your dogs will let a sitter through the front door :D

Daisy

I'm currently on 7. However I don't really think that it's the number of dogs that's the issue. Mine are 1 Irish Setter, 2 clipped off American Cockers and 4 fully show coated Americans too. The coated ones each require bathing and drying once and sometimes twice a week. That's around 2 hours each bath, mutiply that by up to 8, and you get 16 hours a week of coat care, on 4 dogs, and it's more if any of them are being trimmed. So it's time that limits me, not numbers. I sometimes imagine how easy life would be if I kept Whippets.
Dawn R.

I have 5 and thats enough (we use to have 6 till our shepherd/collie passed away 2 years ago)....After this no more then 2, alot cheaper and I can spoil them more....I think two is a nice number and easier to take every where....Don't want any of mine to pass on any time soon....Mind you they are all small except for Taz who is 152-158 pounds, couldn't imagine all big dogs though. I think it depends on the person....I have one friend that keeps taking in dogs even though the one's she has is enough-think she's becoming a dog horder, I always talk her out of it so far.

I started with one, having had one before - my husband wasn't keen on having two.  Then a guest dog came to stay for a while - after she'd gone, Spooky seemed rather sad, so when Mum bred a litter, Raider came to live with us with the other half's full agreement.  Husband now says I can have another, but he will be packing his bags!  I'm hoping to have my own litter this spring, and we'll find out whether he's serious or not!! ;-)  There just wouldn't be room here for more than three.  Even I know that.

We could end up with 6 dogs, 1 for each family member. Fortunately Silverback is able to control our urges ( he remembers saying hed like 2 kids and ending up with 4!). Id like to foster/rescue dogs as there are so many needing homes but fear the housing association might get tough. Too many neighbours fail to control their dogs or pick up after them, so the housing association will probably crack down on the numbers of dogs in the development.

Hello
I have 2, one staff and a little jrt x. I have always had just 1 in the past but that was when ex husband was around. Now hes gone I have moved on to 2 and found it much better than 1. Have just applied to foster rescued Great Danes and am waiting for home check. Would like to adopt one really but havent got the finances so will foster for now. The thing that worries me though is if I have one for a while I might find it hard to let it go.

Personally kizzistaff great danes are no more of a financial burden then small dogs, apart from vets fees but as long as it came from healthy lines, you would only expect normal routine bills like worming/innoculations etc (cost me i think just under £50 last time).
My dad has a jack russell that has 2 tins of ceaser a day and i buy mine in bulk so it ends up costing roughly the same. The exercise is considerably less than my dads dog too.
Sarah
p.s mine is insured at £20 a month and my dads is £12 (i think or less no more though) oh and they take up more couch :D

We have 6 dogs at the moment 2 newfies, 2 Douge de Bordeaux and 1 yorkie and a Tibetan spaniel, after Crufts we will have another 2, then in October another 1, I am lucky we live in the middle of nowhere surrounded by fields and walk by the side of the Dykes, also my daughter lives nexted door do she is built in dog sitter, and assistant walker, we have avery large garden

I have at the moment 6 staffords but could end up with 8 by the end of this year.All my staffs get on well. My other half never says no, we both take care of the dogs walk and feed. If i didnt have my dogs i could give up work altogether but then i would be bored with no dogs to look after.

I have the perfect answer - my husband (& the bank balance!) will only allow me to have 1 dog so I look after everybody elses! I have a license to look after 6 dogs in my house so I get know all about different breeds of dogs and not just my own springer which is excellent for my behaviour course and when I get fed up with them, they all go home. Great!
Daisy M

Hi all, i have 3 at the moment but would love to get my bullie boy and i feel when i see the boys at crufts its going to make me worse :D . OH is fine about having another one and i manage to take all mine out together, but i am having to save for my boy and also waiting for the right one to come up. In the mean time i keep doing all the silly things like trying to decide what i would call him lol, sad eh !! , Emma.

We have just one dog at the moment but 2 kids. Hopefully we will be adding another member to our family - of the dog kind - later this year. Does anyone have 2 kids under 3 and more than one dog or are we mad?! :D

We have three doggies at the moment, A Jack Russell X, Border Collie and Siberian Husky, hopefully will be another one joining the gang soon, another sibie.

Jenna

At the moment I have two dogs Saffy(boxer) and Max(Dalmatian) but Im hoping to make it 3 dogs in the next few weeks when I go look at a beautiful Great Dane at the weekend.  It all comes down to whether you are prepared to put in the time walking, feeding and caring for your dogs rather than whether you live in a palace or a little house with a small garden.  A man who lives down the road from me owns 7 English Bullterriers and they are the best kept dogs for miles even tho he only has a small backyard.  He takes them out everyday for long walks in the countryside.

I think I'd struggle to cope with more than 1. Last summer I looked after a freinds 2 retrievers for a day. I took them, with my dalamtian for a walk - it was dreadful. We came to a footbridge on one of our normal routes and the retriever dog wouldn't cross - he just sat. My Jasper was in the river underneath and the retriever bitch faithfully at heel. After ten minutes of coaxing I decided we weren't actually all going to get across the bridge so headed for home through the local woods. At every tree two dogs went one way around it and one the other resulting in a stop to untangle leads. When we got home me and two retrievers were completely cream crackered but Jasper was still bouncing round the garden.

Later in the evening they kept starting each other barking (urrgh the memories). Eventually I called them all together, sat them in row and wagged me finger at them tell them each in turn "you're a bad dog, you're a bad dog and you're a bad dog too". The retriever bitch put her down and looked sheepish but the dog and my boy just sat grinning as if if to say "yeah we're bad dogs!".
After our friend had taken them home I asked my wife to remind me of that day if I ever suggested getting another dog.

Im with you there just the one,  the one Ive got Im struggling with.

LOl at bullphi :D Its not just me who gets into trouble then! Can just see Jasper laughing " Oh yeah, daddy Im BAAAD!" :D

Your not mad. I don't think there's a lot of difference between babies and pups. Their needs are the same. My 20 month old daughter and my 6.5 month old Staff pup get along like they're both the same species. I just had 2 piddling on the floor at the same time :)

TWO DANES ARE TWO TOO MANY :D :D :D

i'd love another dog, just got one at the mo, rottie, but i also want a baby, OH says its one or the other, I dont know which though :D

Now come on ChloeH you know u would love at least 6 Great Danes!!!!

Yes, but only if you kept them all at your house for me :D :D

Im up for it Chloe but in return you will have to look after my OH, as long as you have a good barn to keep him in and lots of Landrover parts he will be happy, you dont need to bother feeding him I dont. 

I've only got one at the moment, that's enought to start with but would like to get a second one in a couple of years time.  I went to see Barneys breeder last week, she has 9 blue roan cocker spaniels (7 of them have long coats and 2 of them are clipped).  She told me that the more you have the easier it gets.
Jax  :)

Having one, planning to have more, and the limit is 4 or 5.