How many dogs is "normal".... and how many are too many?

I remember the scars on sash’s back end.

Luna has taken off after a hare in the field that got away under the fence. Am not really sure what she would have done if she’d caught it. Was it more just the chase? She did catch a mouse by my shed, but kept dropping it and it got away. She will chase the cat until he turns round, then she legs it. Sometimes out walking when she sees cats, I do feel she means them harm.
 
My lurchers were like that with rabbits CC but were terrific after hares. They left the rabbits to the whippet, Jack Russell combo!
My flatcoats like a little spin after something that runs but pretty soon get half hearted.
Funnily enough they have been meeting a large young lurcher out on the shore recently, my goodness it can run. My retrievers play for a bit and then just stand and watch! 😁
 
Clodagh said:
There is nothing to compare watching a long dog coursing a hare, the grace and athleticism is incredible. I think we are all getting a bit middle aged, and wanting trainable and amenable dogs to live with!
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Yes, sometimes I feel a kind of secret guilt for making sure my dogs behave in such a civilised manner at all times, much against their nature, even though I try to give them substitute stimulation and they seem fairly contented.
 
I remember visiting a HHOer in Scotland (can’t remember her user name as she doesnt come on here any more) with my dogs.... at the time I had Islay, Amy and Flick. They put up a hare (which we don’t seem to get much around Gloucestershire) and Islay would not give up....she went across three fields, over a stone wall, through a hawthorn hedge and under an electric fence before the hare finally got away from her as Islay had broken a toe. The younger two gave up much more easily!

Millie is a true long dog, she runs for the pure joy of running as Amy did when she was younger - the greyhounds are generally more laid back about it all as they’ve done it for a job! I love watching them run, there is nothing better (except maybe a cheetah or a TB horse)
 
My Alaskan husky has caught a hare in the past so i tend not to let her off leash where there is wildlife about these days. She's got a lot of Siberian husky in her so recall where wildlife is concerned isn't always reliable.

In the sled dog world, it's not unusual to have about 40 dogs, so with just 5, i like to think we don't have very many (our limit was actually 4 so with 5 & another in the planning, we failed!). I remember once asking someone how many dogs she had & she replied (in all seriousness) "Just 25".
 
My last lurcher would pick up hares like they were not running and it is an amazing sight your right Clodagh.
My current one puts them up and courses them but is too slow, we have lots on the farm so she does encounter them from time to time.
It's the bigger stuff that makes her an issue, like deer and ahem!!! Sheep!!!!. She is fine at home, around yards and pens but on an open hill her behaviour leads me to believe anything that runs would be fair game these days so she is not let off.
 
Big dog #1 caught many myxi bunnies in her youth but gradually developed an allergy - whether to their fur or fleas I'm not sure - and the last few she caught and held in her mouth caused ear tip vasculitis where the margins of her ears blew up, bled and scabbed horribly for a couple of weeks afterwards. Thankfully far too old and sensible to do it now...

1 to 2 dogs was the big jump for us, going from 2 to 3 has been easy as pie. On occasion we have 5 with the visiting spaniels and it's manageable except that we have a small house and they clutter up the floor when they all zonk out at once.
 
Ooooooo BC you have used those words “old and sensible” - it may be my bad luck but old never equals sensible for my pointy hounds 😂

I agree totally with your experiences- one to two dogs is huge (not that I’ve ever had one dog!) and after that? Pah, who notices.... 😛
 
eatmyshorts said:
In the sled dog world, it's not unusual to have about 40 dogs, so with just 5, i like to think we don't have very many (our limit was actually 4 so with 5 & another in the planning, we failed!). I remember once asking someone how many dogs she had & she replied (in all seriousness) "Just 25".
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I am clearly a sled dog owner in disguise 😛 it might explain why I’ve always wanted an Alaskan malamute 😊
 
In the space of four years we went from 1 to 5 dogs. We should really only have four as when we bred a litter last year we wanted to keep a bitch back, we ended up keeping both of them.
If my partner had his way we’d have another 1 or 2 more but my logical head says no and 5 is the maximum due to space/money/time etc. He would also like to have another litter but I’ve put a holt on that until he wins some competitions.
They are all spaniels, 2 that work on shoots and 3 for trialling.
My partner walks all 5 together every morning, all on one side in one hand and he gets the usual ‘you’ve got your hands full’ comments
 
I’ve just cleaned the carpets in my little house.... 4 dogs is too many, especially when two of them are black 😛😂
 
Levrier said:
I’ve just cleaned the carpets in my little house.... 4 dogs is too many, especially when two of them are black 😛😂
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I recently bought a rubber brush for our carpets and honestly it's strangely therapeutic! I do think our boys are faulty though as I swear I was told greyhounds don't shed much 😂
 
FestiveFuzz said:
I recently bought a rubber brush for our carpets and honestly it's strangely therapeutic! I do think our boys are faulty though as I swear I was told greyhounds don't shed much 😂
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Marty is definitely faulty lol - it took me longer to clean out the carpet cleaner when I’d finished than it took me to shampoo the carpets! So much black hair, I could not believe it.... yuck!
 
I don't think you can really put a definition on what is "normal". In my opinion, provided the dogs are happy, well cared for, and not overcrowded, there is no such thing as "too many".
 
Levrier said:
I have two black ones, a white one and a brindle one - that way I know every bit of clothing I own can show the dog hairs 😛
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Same! (Except sadly labs don't come in brindle). We have got a predominantly navy blue duvet cover on the bed this week and as Tawny is in a state of high dudgeon about the pup she has moved upstairs. I cannot describe to anyone except a fellw multiple dog owner what the bed looks like. :-)
Last week I had the yellow cover so Pen (the black) went and slept on it.
There is no hope.
 
Clodagh said:
Same! (Except sadly labs don't come in brindle). We have got a predominantly navy blue duvet cover on the bed this week and as Tawny is in a state of high dudgeon about the pup she has moved upstairs. I cannot describe to anyone except a fellw multiple dog owner what the bed looks like. :)
Last week I had the yellow cover so Pen (the black) went and slept on it.
There is no hope.
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Ha ha yes I understand exactly and feel your pain 😂
 
CorvusCorax said:
I crossed the 'dogs on the bed' rubicon on Sunday night. He'd been up their for about five minutes and it was really rather lovely and warm and comfy before I came to my senses :p
(PS it wasn't my fault, he was SPOILT ROTTEN in his last home!!!)
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No way can I sleep with them on the bed. I always go to bed first, so T comes up and sleeps with me while I read, when OH comes up she gets dumped!
 
I have two small ones, sometimes three when my sister's dog comes to stay.

Two is a nice number to have - they keep themselves amused and don't take up too much room - unless it's a hot night and they have to spread themselves out on the bed!

I would quite like a greyhound, but, although the size of them doesn't put me off, the size of their poo does (I know, weird). I like little poos - easy to pick up and get rid of!
 
Hexx said:
I have two small ones, sometimes three when my sister's dog comes to stay.

Two is a nice number to have - they keep themselves amused and don't take up too much room - unless it's a hot night and they have to spread themselves out on the bed!

I would quite like a greyhound, but, although the size of them doesn't put me off, the size of their poo does (I know, weird). I like little poos - easy to pick up and get rid of!
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Get a bitch not a dog - they do smaller poos 😄😄
 
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