Ideal Number of Dogs/Dog limit?

[TheDarkestMinds]

Ideal- 3

Max- 5

I know I can handle 5, I have before with fosters. But I find three to be a much more manageable number for me. I found myself a bit more stressed with five and often worried I wasn't dividing up my attention properly. With three everything is just easier. I do plan to have four someday because I would like to have a larger breed puppy in the house before Morrison passes (he is 6 so that is a long way off).

Now I say all of this as a single woman living in the city.

If the day comes in the future that I get a place somewhere out in the country...my max number may jump to 8 .

 

[sassafras]

My minimum is 2.
My ideal is... probably 2. Maybe 3.
My maximum is... probably 3. Maybe 4.


They aren't hard limits, except the minimum. I can't abide one.

 

[noludoru]

My happy point is one if I'm the sole caretaker. I enjoyed living with my last roommate because I got to have three dogs and pay/care for for one.

I could probably do two, but I'd need the support of the SO, and without that, I'm not interested.

 

[maxfox426]

I've always thought my ideal would be two, with a max of three dogs. But considering that I've only ever had one dog to myself... I don't really know. My family always had 2-3 dogs while I was growing up, so that is what I envisioned for myself.

I've wanted a second dog for ever and ever. Now that Morgan is reaching "middle" age (he'll be seven next month... what the heck happened??), I've been tossing that idea around my head again. However, we have so many things going on right now that it's just not a good time to add to it. Not at all.

And, to be honest, Morgan by himself is pretty ideal for my family. He's a good family dog. He's not deprived of attention. When he's not playing with me or the kids... he's playing with the cats. He has a good off switch. He's very attentive. I'm almost hesitant to change the dynamic with a second dog at this point, because right now things are working very, very well... which is amazing considering how much change we've been through in just this past year.

So. In short. I don't know. :lol-sign:

 

[Kootenay]

Ideal number: Uhmmm...2 or 3?

Maximum number: probably 4?

I'm not really sure on these numbers at all. It really depends on the type of dogs I have, I think. Jasper is so low maintenance, he really is happy sleeping all day so I don't feel bad if I leave him out of an outing, and Yarrow doesn't really enjoy training at all, is very independent, and I also CAN'T bring him some places (anywhere public etc), so in a way Onyx is the one dog that I actually bring everywhere and do a ton of training with. It would be kind of fun to have 2 dogs who loved training, but at the same time the idea of 2 Onyxes is kind of terrifying...

I would love to get another Malinois when Onyx is older and we've accomplished things, and I have a better idea of what I like and want to do with the next one, so I can really carefully pick the next pup.

I could see IDEAL being either 1 Malinois and one big wolfy beast, or maybe 2 Malinois, spaced well apart in age.

 

[Beanie]

As a single person, ideal is 3-4, depending on the dogs.
Max is 5, maybe 6? Really depends on the individual dogs in question. With the crew I have now, adding two is not an overwhelming idea. Pepper hardly even counts...

If I were married that number would probably be a little higher since, you know, in this hypothetical world, I would be marrying somebody who has interest in dogs as well, and would have "his" dogs too - so that would probably go up some. Not quite double, but up some.

 

[monkeys23]

My ideal is 1-3 and max would be 5.

It also depends on age spacing and the individuals involved too I think. Future I would like to space my dogs out more, by like 5yrs between so we can really have had a chance to accomplish things before bringing a new into the mix.

 

[Maxy24]

I've only ever lived with one dog at a time and think I'd probably like 2 at most. I'd like being able to walk them together, easily bring them places together, cuddle with both at the same time, and have less of a chance of having dogs who don't get along. I could also just stick to one, especially if I also foster (which I would like to do). But it also depends on the dogs' personalities, for example if I owned Tucker and Phoebe I would want a third dog, Phoebe mostly sleeps and has the energy of a hamster, I can't bring Tucker to public places, and both are pretty easy int he home, so I'd want a third to actually do stuff with and I don't think it'd make life at home difficult. I would probably have to walk separately though, at least until everybody was well trained to walk as a group. I can barely stand how tangled Tucker and Phoebe get when I walk them together and when I work on Tucker's reactivity Phoebe tries to take treats out of his face. Rude.

 

[GaelicBlues]

Minimum 2
Ideal 3 (2 mine, 1 OH)
Maximum 4 (2 mine, 2 OH)

Ideally spaced 4 years apart but not managing that too well. Currently 5 years, 2.5 years, and puppy after losing 2 seniors close together last year. Well I have good spacing on my collies usually, OH mucked things up by getting his own dog!

 

[DJEtzel]

Being a single person, my ideal is 3 permanent, 1-2 foster/boarder, etc.

My max is 5 permanent, 1-2 foster/boarder, etc.

If I were in a relationship, or had a bigger car, I could easily add 3-5 onto those numbers.

 

[xpaeanx]

Being a single person, my ideal is 3 permanent, 1-2 foster/boarder, etc.

My max is 5 permanent, 1-2 foster/boarder, etc.

If I were in a relationship, or had a bigger car, I could easily add 3-5 onto those numbers.

So I don't want to pry and you don't have to say anything.... but I definitely missed something.

 

[Shai]

Given the type of dog I prefer,

Ideal: 2
Maximum: 4

 

[BostonBanker]

My limit right now is 2, because that is all that is allowed in our condos.

Really, 2 is probably my ideal as well. 3 would be my limit, and only if one was mostly retired.

Right now - I'd love to add one if it were an option. I have Meg, who is 100% done with active training; although she still likes to compete lightly, I am expecting that at some point soon she will ask to be done. And Gusto, who is still heavily in training, but has some heath issues that could potentially affect the length of his career.

With the way I used to train (weekly classes), having two in active training wouldn't have worked financially. But things have changed, and a puppy in training would be very possible right now. But, housing limits. So two.

 

[RBark]

In my current lifestyle:

Ideal: 1

Maximum: 2

 

[SaraB]

I have six right now and that's a good number for household living, but too few for my job. I think my ideal number is eight. Honestly, the biggest problem I have with having six and a foster is lack of couch space, so I'll obviously have to add a piece of furniture prior to number seven and eight!

 

[Catsi]

At the moment I have three. One senior stafford, one middle aged active Chi x and the ring in which is my nan's dog. Nan recently passed away. I'm looking after him for a couple of months while my parents sort out the yard and have a break.

He is a 4 year old whippet, pretty cruisy, but very much involved in what we do, going out to the beach, bush etc.

This is the first time I've had a third dog and with these dogs it's pretty easy. I was a little nervous about it, but have just slipped into the routine and nothing much has really changed.

Having said that, you can only have two dogs in my council area and in most council's in QLD and I don't want the headache of being restricted to where I can live. You can get permits for extra dogs, but they can be revoked for any reason, so I don't feel secure having 3 to be honest.

It's been a lovely experience though and with the right group I could easily do three theoretically.

Abby might become an only dog eventually, but I'm hoping that I can find her the right buddy. Two is definitely my ideal, all things considered.

 

[Toller_08]

I'm not really sure, to be honest.

Some days I feel like I'd be super happy with just one take anywhere, do anything dog. It would be so easy. There are some days that I take just one dog places and I love it.

But I like having two also. That way I can rotate who I'm training with, and I think most dogs enjoy having a buddy also.

Three is awkward, at least when one of them is rather large (no room for him in my friend's van with Dance, Journ + her three dogs) and can be reactive and can't as easily go to all of the places that my other two dogs can. I feel badly when I leave him at home alone now. At least when I had four, I felt less guilty. They were happy together. So now I make an effort to do a lot more with Ripley (I've always done stuff with everyone, but now I really make a point of it). But four was a lot of dog. Feeding them alone was fairly costly, plus it's just so much dog in the house in general and to try and find people to leave them with if we went somewhere was more difficult (and expensive).

But I think a lot of it is my current lifestyle. I feel like one day when I have my own house and my own vehicle and all dogs between 30-40lbs, I'd actually really enjoy four as long as I can afford that many.

So I guess time will tell. I seem to crave another puppy every 2-4 years, so I know it's not realistic for me to believe I'll ever have just one or even two unless that's all I am financially able to care for. I'll likely always have three to four.

 

[Picklepaige]

Ideal for my household would be 4 for me, and whatever my boyfriend wants

I want three herdy dogs for agility, and one random breed to maybe dabble in conformation with. My ideal pack is two koolies, one GSD, and not decided on random conformation breed yet. Leaning towards a sighthound.

Boyfriend seems to like big, relatively lazy "dopey looking" dogs. I think he wants a St. Bernard, though I could see him with a Clumber Spaniel as well.

 

[DJEtzel]

So I don't want to pry and you don't have to say anything.... but I definitely missed something.

I'll pm you so we don't take this off topic, lol! XD

 

[JacksonsMom]

This is hard for me because in my dream land, I would definitely have two. But IDEAL? Honestly, right now, my one IS very easy with my lifestyle.

I am a take-my-dog-anywhere-I-can person... I really enjoy taking him with me on errands (such as going to the car wash, the bank, changing my oil, little random things), doing family things/events, taking him with me on vacation, walking around/into dog friendly stores, to friends houses, etc.

Most things I wouldn't have a problem with 2 - obviously at home it'd be fine, going for walks would be fine, to parks and dog events/meetups, etc, but it's the other things that I really like that I listed above that just wouldn't quite be as feasible with two.

I still live at home and my mom/stepdad and little sister are adding a cockapoo puppy to the family next week so we'll see how this goes lol. I'm kind of excited because it's living with another dog (yay for Jackson playmate) but not my financial responsibility or responsibility at all. Of course I'll be involved but it's not the same as 'my own'....

At my dads house, they have their 2, but they don't really play or interact much at all besides barking together, LOL, so...