People with 4 dogs+

[mrose_s]

do you find it hard?
are all 4 yours to raise or do they belon to other also?
are they working dogs or pets?

i found out there is a big jump between 3 and 4 dogs. i suppose also because the 4th dog was harry, noisy, dirty and heavy. one is mine (along wiht a cat and 4 fish) one is my sisters and 2 are my mothers. the dogs main needs lie with those people (excercise, training etc) but we take turn in feeding and giving sophie her tablets, i'll walk sophie and harry if mum hasn't got time and i'll do a quick bit of trainging with mac if my sister is having trouble.
there all pets. its not like we NEED them for our lifestyle (ie farming)

but we've found some disadvantages. my auntie always said, more than 2 dogs is a pack. and yes. thats true. when walking all 4 off leash. its undoubtedly harder to do any individual work.

but all in all their pretty well trained, they could all be better behaved but we havn't got that far yet. i've learnt TONNES about trainging having buster and thats only the last 5 years he's been in my life. and probably only about the last 2 or 3 i've been really interested in trainging. so i think he's done well from going from pretty much completley untrained and dog aggressive to how he is today.

so how is it having 4 dogs? wiht feeding etc, i found its a lot easier to get into a routine. if you like fiddling around. its a lot of fun.

 

[RD]

I live with 5 dogs but only the 3 are mine.

It's just more bodies to step over at night. No different really than having 2 or 3. They do act more like a pack but it's not anything uncontrollable, Dakota is the boss and keeps everyone in line.

I like all the dogs because there is *always* something to do with them. Patches and Elway are more or less the guard dogs, they don't ask for much besides cuddles and the occasional treat. The BCs and Ripley always want to play or go for walks or car rides or swim . . . My 3 are affectionate but if I want a buddy to cuddle on the sofa with, I grab Patches or Elway.

 

[Red_ACD_for_me]

Personally, I would only own what I could afford and that is a two dog minimum in my house I only have one dog and two cats and I love to spend money on them and spoil them......4 dogs would be to much for me and the cost of veterinary care is super expensive so if one of those 4 dogs had health problems then I just wouldn't be able to afford it. Plus, I am a single mom of a 5 year old girl and also a single mom to my fur kids

 

[joce]

Right now they are all mine except our foster morty who makes five-my moms kinda taken him over thank god My husky was basically my brothers but I've gotten sick of him ignoring her lately to be with his gf so shes been with me almost 95%of the time now.

I think after three its all kind of the same-I've heard that about kids before but I'm never gonna test that theory out. You get a schedule set and you stick with it. My dogs all know when we are going potty,to eat,and when to sleep.

My dogs all do something but its not always easilly definable. They all think they are guard dogs though Byrons my mouser and tawny eats all the little(and not so little) critters that get into the yard. ginger my beagle keeps everyone in line. If byron acts to puppyish she puts him in his place.

 

[mrose_s]

yeah. its all good. i offered ti pay panda and buster's vet bills and for their tick/worming stuff. .. when i get a job. i'm looking. but havn't got one yet. sophie is on painkillers fo rthe rest of her life but mums covering that. my sister covers mac's bills. lucky i got the 2 healthiest pets we got.

we met the vet for the first time and mum pretty much introduced us with "hi, we'll be the ones supporting you from now on" we're at the vet every 2 weeks minimum to buy their tick protection. plus sophie's needed some blood tests, harry gets neutered this friday and mac got into sophies painkillers the other day and spent 2 days and $300 at the vet. we've only been here not even 2 months!

lol its fun but i don't think i would do it on my own. we're lucky because we pretty much just take care of our own dogs so its not like having 4 dogs (to a ratio of 3 people) its like having 1 or 2 dogs each.

 

[huskymad]

i have 4 dogs at present, 2 are oldies & 2 youngsters, i don't find them too much work to look after. I walk them together most days. mishka gets a run in harness & the pup will be starting to run in harness too once a year old . 1 border collie & 3 siberian huskies. They are quite well behaved when out together as a pack. my collie & 11 yr sibe are off leash & 2 youngsters are on leads.

 

[Doberluv]

I have four dogs, three are mine and one is my son's who lives with me. But it's like she's mine too because I do most of the care. They're all delightful dogs and I don't consider them a real pack because it's been a very long time since dogs were pack animals....when they were wolves.

We usually take walks all together, off leash in the mountains where I live and they're all very obedient and well mannered....stick around me, don't take off when on our hikes etc.

I separate them when they eat, mainly because I can't let one get too much food by getting into the others. My son's dog would be food aggressive so I just put them in different rooms to eat to prevent any problems.

Other than that, life is pretty smooth with them, but as it was mentioned, sometimes they get under foot in my small house. But such is life when you have less than 250 sq. ft per dog. Thank goodness there's more room outside. LOL.

 

[Laurelin]

We have 4 'family' dogs. One is technically 'mine' but really... we share quite well. I really love having so many dogs around. we've had no fights and they love each other's company. There's usually a dog on top of you, and it's normal to wake up in bed with several in with you. They have their own personalities and their own different relationships between them. I have a different relationship with each one.

I do think they have a pecking order between themselves, though I'm not sure if that makes them a pack. Trey is definitely the last in line for everything. he lets the others walk all over him, plus he's shy. Beau spends a lot of time taking care of him and making sure he's alright.

Nikki is reisdent leader- everyone listens to her, though she is all bark and no bite and cannot catch any of the boys. It's funny.

Beau is the caretaker. He lets us know whenever any of the others need to go out or are hungry, etc. He pitched a fit the other day when dad accidentally left Trey outside.

Harry is the one you want if you want a dog to snuggle with. He's also a champion sleeper- you can't hardly wake him up!

They're not too much work, and I wouldn't have it any other way! It does help though that none of my dogs or their breeds are known to be dog aggressive. That would probably make a household with that many dogs difficult to live in.

 

[SizzleDog]

Patches and Elway are more or less the guard dogs, they don't ask for much besides cuddles and the occasional treat. The BCs and Ripley always want to play or go for walks or car rides or swim . . . My 3 are affectionate but if I want a buddy to cuddle on the sofa with, I grab Patches or Elway.

I don't think I've ever seen Patches or Elway... any pics?

 

[RD]

Yup. Elway is a Boxer (purebred, I think, just not well bred), about 7-8 years old. He's a big sweetie, very friendly with strangers.

Patches is a weird mix, I think we've determined that she came from a ranch and was an accident mating between a herding breed and an LGD. She's about 6, and tough as nails. I've given up on grooming her - no matter how many times I bathe her in a month, she just goes and cakes herself with dirt again. *sigh*

 

[oc_spirit]

At the kennel there are roughly 20 resident dogs then there are usually some visiting dogs (including my two), its easy as everyone knows the schedual. The girls get let out and while they run around the yard we clean the kennel runs and change the water, then we put the food down which brings the girls back in. Next all the boys are let out and the same routine happens with them. Next the yearlings are let out along with OC (he LOVES puppies). After the yearlings are locked up, OC stays out and Ronan gets let out with him. Depending on who is visiting we either put OC and Ronan away and let the other visiting dogs out OR we put both dogs away and let out the visiting dogs. Then during the day the dogs are worked/trained/groomed. Supper time routine is the same as breakfast.

When I was living in the states with OC for 3 months we had 4 dogs in the house at one time. Again that was all just a matter of routine. OC was kept seperate from the AmBulls and Gipsy for the most part but they knew their schedual of who would be in the yard, who got the run of the house, and who was locked in a room at what time. All 4 got walked together though.

I guess what Im trying to say is if you have a routine and you stick to it it makes things a ton easier! But yes, they deffinately form their packs so individual time/work is a must!

 

[mrose_s]

i do enjoy having 4 dogs. people that ask about them usually expect them to be either all working dogs or all little dogs. lol. our 2 blue boys have herding instinct but we havn't really encouraged them. our smallest dog is 12kg of pure muscle and our old girl hasn't done a days workin her life. lol but she's very smart.

i don't know a lot of people personally that have dogs like us. usually they have a dog because its like somethng you have to do. its like getting married or having kids, i've seen a lot of people that have a dog just to have one. they don't get why we put so much time, energy and love into our animals

 

[krisykris]

I have 3 right now that are 1 year, 10 mos, 6 1/2 mos, and I'm considering getting one more in the next couple of months-year. I'm getting a yorkie. So I'll have my gang of little dogs, lol. They're all well behaved except for the yappyness that comes w/the territory.. we're working on it though. They're also still working on leash manners and not barking their heads off when they see people/dogs walk by outside.. but it's coming along.

They know their sits, downs, off's...When I say "lets go in the puppy house" they all go right into their crate and settle down quietly. So, having 3 hasn't been much harder.. and I think I can handle 4

 

[tessa_s212]

I think I'm definitely the most so far with 9 dogs. All live inside, all have free roam of the house.

I actually have a hard time remembering when we didn't have 3+ dogs. Its always been a big pack of them, whether that be only 5, or now 9. Each have their own play buddies, the mom and daughter stick together a lot, and certain dogs take up certain rooms with all of us kids or certain places on the couches in teh living room.

I think with as many dogs as we have, it might actually make it easier. They keep themselves entertained a lot of the time. Though, we still baby them very much giving them all so much attention and I try to spend time with the other dogs too and not just my own two.

 

[Jynx]

I have 4 dogs, all inside. I've had 4 for around 10 years now. when the oldest one passed, and we had 3, I did find it rather quiet even tho they are all pretty demanding and high energy.

There are days I wonder 'why do I have 4 dogs? they are driving me insane!" LOL,,but I wouldn't trade the time or them for anything.
diane