I ask because today (I was dogless for once ) I saw a couple
with 8 dogs. 

I approached them and they they said the number just built up.

They had 2 x GSD's, a Border Collie, Jack Russell, Std Poodle, Peke,
Mongrel and a Bullmastiff.

What would be your limit on dogs?

Karen

6 is enough in this household 5 fcr 1 swd,out of that 5 bitch 1 male,in the futuer go back to having males and 1 bitch,
boy are so much easyer.

Have had up to 10 dogs at one time when we used to show & we are now down to one.

I think for me personally (mainly because of work comitments) 2 would be the most I'd want in the near future. - I am lucky enough to take my dog/s to work with me, so 2 is enough to be "tagging" around with me all day!

Quite happy with one for now (although my cat population seems to keep growing! - they are so much easier IMO) :-D

I set myself a limit of 4 dogs under 12 years of age.  An absolute limit of 6 (it has been known for my breed to live up to 17 years plus). 

At present I have five with the oldest 12 1/2 and the youngest just turned a year.

It was three but i kept a puppy from my youngest girls last litter, well i just couldnt part with him lol
plus my eldest isnt to good health wise. but thats my limit four boxers is more than enough

Yes Brainless I can see age being a big factor my plan was to have Gyp who would have been 12 in June next year and Sal who would be 2 now plus pup 16 weeks but sadly fate took a hand and I lost Gyp just before I picked up Sal, but I agree a big age gap is nice. I like having oldies with the youngsters.

Karen

I love hgaving a multi generational dogy household the relationships are fascinating to watch, and the pup knows to behave carefully with great great grandma, pesters Great Gran into playing and isn't afraid of a telling off from here, as she knows she is all bark and no bite, wouldn't dare do such things with her Gran who is boss dog, she will deign to play with her on her own terms strictly by invitaion, and rough houses like anything with her Mum who is very tolerant of her, even though she has always been rather full on until now.

Hubby has set me a limit of 2, but personally I like 3 max.  Anymore than that, with a family becomes too detached and becomes a pack in its own right IMHO.

Sounds wonderful brainless. Just what I wanted
Karen

I have 2 and my landlord has said thats the limit!!!!!!!!!
I think if I had my own home I would get a full young Rottie in a year or 2. Or if circumstances change a Rottie puppy.
But would leave it at 3. I dont think I would want anymore than that.
My Mate has 8. She did have 12 at one point at the begining of the year.
The most I have looked after is 35 :O  But only 8 were in the house. ( farm house)
Lea :)

Three is certainly the max for me.  I can't manage three leads without it turning into spaghetti with our young pup weaving in and out.  Two didn't seem much more work than one but three is definitely much more than two.  We didn't really mean to have three but ya'know how it goes?  You need to ensure that you have them all fully under control when you have more than two as it can be quite intimidating to see them around your feet and lots of people don't like it.  You can't take three to other peoples houses in the same way you can with one (pushing it with two) and you can't tie three up outside the papershop as there isn't room on the pavement!

I did have 8 dogs but am down to five now I could never have to many dogs & could certainly find room in the next couple of years for a cavalier & border collie.

I think it depends on size.  I take my five medium size (20kg and about 20 inches at shoulder) out together and loop the leads around the ram raid bollards when getting the paper or what have you.  I don't think anyone would try to pinch one in such a crowd :)

One Willis. :D

I think you should never have more than you can giveindividual attention to, so that you can be aware of the dogs needs. I rarely have more than 4 at any one time. By keeping the numbers low I can watch them and spot any problems easily before they become big problems and I can see which is off colour easily, an early visit to the vets is better than leaving something because it was missed. The more I have the less love and attention each will get. This was one reason that I was horrified at the labrador/RSPCA story that was a very long thread on here. None of thse dogs could have any attention, once all were fed daily, no socialistation or real care and attention.
I like to have them spread across the generations, so that as one is retired from working, I have one in full work, one just starting out as a full time worker probably doing half days and a puppy to train on. At the moment I have three, Rosebud is retired, Jack Spangle works all day and Arthur is in training. By doing this Arthur and Rosebud stay at home while Jack and I are out, then when Jack retires I'll be taking out Arthur and have a new puppy in training.

>I think you should never have more than you can giveindividual attention to, so that you can be aware of the dogs needs.

Exactly.

I have 6 dogs but it's increasing to 7 next year as I need another grouse dog.  Both my husband and I do grouse counts and I only had Harvey this year.  Working a 6 day week for 6 hours a day is a little too much for him and he needs rest days.  Rob only had Lucky as Goldy has retired and Milly is in training.  Next year he will have both Lucky and Milly.  Hopefully, my pup will be working in 2006.  We also have Holly and Pippa for beating.  Holly is 9 so I think this might be her last season so Pippa was bought to replace her. 

So, we have 1 in retirement, 1 in semi-retirement, 1 in training, soon to be working, and 3 fully worked.  They all have the time spent on them in training, exercise, individual attention and they all live inside.  We even got Goldy (retired) on some grouse this year to keep her interest up, although she's very happy to be lying by the fire :D

Helen

2 is definitely my limit at the moment :) If and when I can get all Tara's problems sorted out, I might be tempted to get one more - but that would be it :) My dogs are NOT my life - just part of it and that's how I intend it to stay :D

Daisy

My limit is what is comfortable to live and interact with, we now have the least dogs we have ever had, we are both retired, my daughter lives next door and her dogs intermingle with mine, she is here from 9 am to 5.30 daily she helps exercise and feed they are part of her family as well, our gardens extend from one another, every dog had individual attention, we are in our  50's so if we have our dogs now, and they live 14-17 years that takes us into our 70's and that is when we will let nature take it course and have the dogs we can comfortably manage then. I cannot put a limit on them at this time, they slot into a place in the family

We now have 6 and thats the most we've ever had and about what we can manage. They range in age from 11 years to 7 months  and  all live in the house in the evenings and weekends ( youngsters are kenneled through the day - oldies snooze on the sofa's :-D)

Luckily we have our own space to excercise them as that would be a real problem with this number - they all get two walks off the lead every day and the youngsters get soem road walking on lead when we can fit it in.

My limit would be, I think, 4. At the mo have 2 border collies and am getting a pyrenean sheepdog at the end of this year. Then around 4/5 years time would probably get another one. Any more than that and I don't think it would be fair on them as they wouldnt get enough indiviudal attention.

We have 7 dogs at the moment - and that is definitely my limit!    We know we are living on borrowed time with Purdey (nearing 15 and becoming frailer daily), but no other dog will take her place - the others will just have to "spread out a bit".    Thor, Loki, Beau, Vinnie, Gypsy and Freya take turns in being the "house dogs"  (2 at a time).  This way, they all benefit from some individual attention.  During the week, they get walked 2 at a time as well - means more individual training, and not pack runs - but you should see the state of the garden in the morning when they are all flying around together!

At the moment though, with girls in season, the boys are thoroughly enjoying being couch potatoes - I fully expect to come home & find that the television is on & that they've raided the fridge for beer & pizzas!

As we are both now in our 60's we'll be thinking very carefully about future puppies.......

Margot

I have 2 afghans....recently boarded 2 others for a week. I definitely will not have more than 2! Any more and I wouldnt manage all the training. If I had more I wouldnt be able to take them as many places as I can now, like visiting friends, as two is a bit of a squeeze in a living room. I think if I had more dogs they would have to lead a less varied and interesting life......of course if I didnt have to work for a living I would have time for more dogs, but that will never happen :(