How many is too many?

I hate leaving with only one dog. I feel so guilty because then one just stays crated and the other goes to have fun. So, I almost always take both of them, which isn't fair either because both still need individual time. If I had three or four, I don't think I would feel as bad about leaving dogs behind since they aren't alone. Especially since the pup will be going to work with me.

It will be interesting in the next year to two years if we add a pup. They will be fairly close in age. Harlow will be 3 or 4. I honestly have no idea how old Rider is... I think he is older than what the rescue guesstimated. But, I don't think having two dogs in classes is overwhelming, especially since I don't trail. If I do trial, it will be in herding and the Koolie or ACD won't even be old enough for that for a few years past puppyhood.

For those of you who have "husband dogs" does it work ok? I kind of see it as a separate, you train this dog for said sport, I train this dog(s) for said sport. We both pitch in for feeding/taking potty/family events and stuff.

Pshh you guys are all suckers, I don't feel bad about leaving one dog home alone If you only had one dog they'd be left home alone anyway when you went to non-dog places.

Eh, Ozzy is a "husband" dog, but DH doesn't really have any interest in dog training at all. Like, I'm sure Ozzy would run amok in the neighborhood if he'd gotten him as a bachelor. He'd be a holy terror I think, and I think DH wouldn't really know what to do about it.

He still feeds everyone/lets everyone out, ect, but he doesn't really take anyone else anywhere, and if he does, it's only Enzo, and he's taking two of them, which is always Ozzy+1.

For those of you who have 3 or 4 + and say it's hard, especially with sporting weekends, events, and dedicating time like that...do you think it's easier if you're not active in dog sports? If you just need to worry about training, exercise, care...and you're not worried about entry fees and equipment and traveling with four dogs and running multiple dogs and schedules and stuff....doesn't that take a lot of stress off?

Sloan is Denis' dog, if we god forbid broke up she would go with him. However, I took her to work daily, I trained her in agility, I trial her, and he trains and trials in IPO, Dock, obed, and whatever else they try. The pit bulls are "mine" but he pulls plenty of weight with them. Backup is technically mine but honestly Denis is the reason he hasn't been sold a few times.

They're all "our" dogs really and sharing walks, money, energy, and management makes a world of difference.

What are those??

Actually right now without training and trialing (new city, still trying to figure out where to train and can't afford trials yet) it hasn't changed a lot.

If I had only Arnold who could take or leave training/sporting I wouldn't mind. He loves to be with me but frankly has no interest in challenging his mind and body. My other three however live for it and it would be cruel to deny them it.

If I had a cohesive, moving together, and tightly bonded pack of "doggy" (most people know that as dogs that are more dog oriented than people oriented) dogs I suppose it would not matter but each of my dogs looks at me like I am all that matters (a lot of that is trained on purpose) so when I leave I have to look at these eyes and I feel the guilt even knowing they just sleep while I am gone.

My wheaten, he's my dads now, never cared one bit. He would maybe glance my way and then trot off to do his own thing with the other dogs or cats or dust mites. If I had "roommate" dogs, like I call him, it may be different.

Yeah like I said in my original posts, the number of "household" dogs I could handle is much higher. My current four would be no problem at all and I could probably add a couple more provided they are good fits. We do a lot of group activities from hiking and walks as well at lake time, etc., where more isn't really an issue, and without trialing and training-for-competition taking up my time it would be even easier to ensure each dog has one-on-one time in addition to the group activities.

Problem is that there is no such thing as a pet-only dog here lol. Right now there's only "competing", "indeterminately benched", and "temporary". They are still pets first but that other side of our relationship takes up a lot of resources.

Although to be honest, if I didn't compete I would probably have fewer dogs, not more. Mostly because I would probably travel more and it's much easier to travel with one dog than several, especially if you're visiting folks who are only somewhat dog-friendly or staying in hotels.

Yup, the more you compete the more dogs you acquire or want to acquire it seems.

the last time I left Wilson home by himself..he bit through the copper pipe in the bathroom! :yikes: My husband came home to water all over the floor, and a panicked Wilson. Lesson learned...never leave that hound by himself. I think he thought he was deserted again. So for me, it's a two some or none.

Georgie throws a wrench in the system right now since she is almost the same age as Payton. Otherwise the three really aren't too bad - it helps that they are evenly spaced in age too. Auggie is 7, Pepper is 4, Pay is 1. All three years apart. Everybody is kind of at different stages as far as their maturation goes so it's interesting to work with them all and doesn't really give me a problem. Pepper is looking like she is starting to come around to the idea of playing with Payton which helps, because I am wanting to space them out a little bit further than three years in the future, but I was worried about old Auggie (he'll be ten) not wanting to play and Payton needing a playmate sooner. Hopefully Pepper will be able to handle the Payton when Auggie retires from playing and it'll be okay.
I will also admit that Georgie not being mine makes her a bit of a challenge, because she is... not really well behaved. My mom does not work with her dogs like I do with mine so Georgie can be seriously bad at times. So it's hard to come in with my set of rules and expect her to work like mine do. It's challenging. We're working on it. But the plus is that she is not mine so the frustration is only temporary, then it's gone.
The expenses aren't too bad for everybody right now except buying their heartworm meds, honestly. =P

I don't really feel a lot of guilt in leaving one behind, in fact I really like that going to the lake is Payton's "thing" and it's just the two of us. Auggie being Auggie, the bestest dog ever and my heart, I like having something just Payton and I do together...

If I had dogs that didn't care if they were left behind then I would have no problem leaving one behind!

The problem when I had Izzy and Frodo was that when I took one the other would bark and scream at the door! It's one of the reasons why when we get a second dog I am going to spend a lot of time in the beginning making coming and leaving really boring, whether you get to go or not (which we already do for Froman's SA, he gets no attention for 30 minutes before we leave or after we come back). I think when dog number two comes we will be doing bathroom times separate and spend a lot of time randomly grabbing one dog and walking through the apartment while the other one is set up with a Manners Minder/kong/something.

We are currently at our limit with three. Adding fosters TOTALLY disrupts our pack and my life. I can't deal with it. Adding a permanent dog at this point is not an option - I have things I want to accomplish with Mu and Tipper and I won't do that (or be as effective in that) if we add another dog, especially a young one.

Honestly, I don't foresee adding another dog until Murphy is gone (which won't happen because he's going to live forever I'm sure of it). And I REALLY want a puppy so we're going to have to go with a breeder that does fantastic temperament testing and can give us a calm male dog that will get along with Mu and Tipper. And in my Dream It McDreamer world, will also have no reactivity, will mediate/split Mu and Tipper, and will actually want to cuddle with me.

PW - I know I keep teasing you about Cody (and really he does seem like he would fit your life REALLY well) but I totally understand your hesitation. Getting Tipper and the resulting chaos from that has really made me think about any future additions - it will be so hard to add another dog into a household that already has/had issues. Unfortunately I don't know if it's ever something you can be "prepared" for. I think at some point you just have to stop preparing, take the plunge, and hope it works. :|

Welp, I just submitted my application for him about 10 minutes ago.
We will see what happens. Erin said he has 4+ applications in already last she heard, so I'm by no means getting my hopes up.

Either way, I'm pretty much set on getting another dog. If Cody doesn't happen (which I doubt he will) then we are going to start actively searching March of next year, and Frodo is just going to have to deal.

I think a huge part of this working better than Frodo and Izzy did is that Ryan has an understanding of training dogs, he's completely committed to helping with dog number two, so we can actively work on one dog leaving the apartment at a time because he (or I) can stay behind and reward for calm behavior. In PA it was just me who was willing to work on it.

OMGOMGOMGOMG. I am so excited for you. (If you couldn't tell lol.)

Seriously, Matt is a HUGE part of the reason we were able to keep Tipper. He never once said we should not work on this, this is idiotic, this won't work, this is too hard, why did you get this dog or any variation thereof. He was just there and willing to help and follow directions (in his case, cause he didn't know how to train dogs). Having someone to be supportive is SO helpful. Especially when other people are acting like assholes about it.

^This.

Webster was a two-man job for a long time. Those who were close to me back then (okay that's probably one person on this whole forum lol...I wasn't a member here back then...) may remember my wild oscillations between adoring his brilliance and awesomeness and deploring his bloody-paws crate panicking, his total lack of dog-dog communication, his nonexistant frenzy threshold, etc...

Having a second person helping when there are two dogs and one takes a person's total focus...it's extremely helpful.

A lot of this is how I feel it would work. They are all "our dogs" in the sense of that. However, unless we had a reactivity issue or something like that where two people have to work on it, when it comes to the herders, he has no desire to work or train with them.

This. I'm afraid when birds are out of season, or deer season rolls around the GSP/V/Houla just isn't going to get as much attention via Josh as it should have. I already know and am totally and completely fine with the fact that I will probably be helping a lot with house manners and leash manners and stuff. He is already planning on working with our neighbor (Abbe Lane GSP's, pretty well known here for their field GSP's), which is awesome because then he will have a head start even before the pup comes around. I just hope it doesn't completely drive me up the wall on the off season where it isn't getting AS much exercise. I'm almost hoping they get into trialing so that even in the summer and such they are working birds.

I wish I wasn't such a plan, plan, plan kind of person.

Oh, and Beanie, as much as Georgie is naughty, she is gorgeous. Haha.

Some dogs are born extra cute because otherwise nobody would love them... nobody.

I was thinking about this thread last night and honestly... I think I could handle 4 dogs, just not right now. I would LOVE to add another Ibizan one day and I have to have a Saluki one day. I think more than likely if we ever add a 4th dog though it will be Josh's dog and he's been pretty interested in Ridgebacks lately. I do NOT want a 4th dog though until we actually own our own home which wont be for another 3-5 years at least. It's hard enough trying to rent with three dogs as it is. I definitely definitely want another Ibizan or a Saluki though at some point. As much as I love other breeds I'll probably stick with sighthounds... they're a lot of fun imo.

If I owned my own home and had a significant other willing to help out with household stuff (feeding, letting outside basically) then I could see having two young sport dogs at the same time. My situation right now isn't even ideal for one dog though.