Thinking of getting a fifth dog. Are we absolutely insane?
- Thread starter campos
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for having 7!
but heyy if yall can afford to keep them happy and healthy then why not, go crazyy
pedrocosta
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@campos For me, 5 was too many. I had a 16-year-old pittie (she passed a couple months ago), a 15-year-old border collie mix, a young Bernese mountain dog, and two puppies (one pit/Rott mix and a cavalier king Charles). We didn't mean to get two puppies, but things happen. It was a lot. It's still a lot, but it's a little easier with just four. When the senior goes, we won't actively seek to replace him.
@pedrocosta Makes sense. Like you said, life happens. Hope things get better/easier with your current pups!
cbonetwobe
New member
@campos We have four now. Some of our concerns were 1. The fact that it was illegal (weāre moving somewhere itās legal now) and 2. We really liked our neighbors and didnāt want them to think we were crazy.
Plus you know, everything youād expect. You need the space and you need to financially be able to provide for them as far as Illnesses and preventative medicine. The fact you both permanently work from home is amazing. My husband WFH or else we couldnāt have 4. Depending on your relationship with your vet, you may be able to swing some cost savings by having certain things on hand in case of ear infection, rash, etc once you get a certain amount of dogs you learn pretty well how to treat a lot of common stuff. Lol.
Thereās also making sure they get individual attentionā¦ be prepared to make a walk schedule/solo time schedule so that they each get to bond with YOU, itās not always you AND other dogs. We do this to make sure our less demanding dogs still get what they deserve.
Idk just some thoughts. Our dogs require a lot of grooming so thatās a big factor in why Iād not get another. We didnāt intend to even get #4. But you know what you can handle.
Plus you know, everything youād expect. You need the space and you need to financially be able to provide for them as far as Illnesses and preventative medicine. The fact you both permanently work from home is amazing. My husband WFH or else we couldnāt have 4. Depending on your relationship with your vet, you may be able to swing some cost savings by having certain things on hand in case of ear infection, rash, etc once you get a certain amount of dogs you learn pretty well how to treat a lot of common stuff. Lol.
Thereās also making sure they get individual attentionā¦ be prepared to make a walk schedule/solo time schedule so that they each get to bond with YOU, itās not always you AND other dogs. We do this to make sure our less demanding dogs still get what they deserve.
Idk just some thoughts. Our dogs require a lot of grooming so thatās a big factor in why Iād not get another. We didnāt intend to even get #4. But you know what you can handle.
@cbonetwobe Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this 
. If you donāt mind me asking, where did you live? I remember reading that 5 is the limit in most cities/countries that have a limit on number of dogs in a household. I hope your neighbors didnāt think much of it. In our case, however, thatās not really a concern because we arenāt particularly close to our neighbors, just polite/friendly.
And yes, just like your case with your husband, it does help a lot that we both WFH. Are all your four dogs large breeds/mixes? Thatās one factor too for us, I have a couple of friends with 4 or 5 dogs at a time BUT some of them are small/toy size dogs which in my exp (and theirs, my friendsā) required a lot less physical and mental stimulation.
Space, food and vet care are not particularly a concern, we have a house with decent back/front yards and are both financially secure, plus I canāt imagine that going from our current 4 to 5 would increase costs significantly. You are completely right though, one does learn pretty quickly how to patch up basic ailments/injuries when youāve had many dogs for a while.
Our concerns are 1)Our ability to provide them with enough attention, it feels like we could be at our limit, our current dogs get plenty of training and play time, some of which is on a 1:1 basis, but perhaps we could do more if we had fewer. And 2)Pack order/balance, we are at a point where everyone gets along great, everyone is well behaved, however 2 of our dogs do have do have āstrongā personalities (no aggression though) and have always struggled a bit to adapt whenever weāve had changes in the pack.
What kind of dogs to you have that require constant grooming? Ours are āready to wearā dogs LOL, short coat and can go as long as 2 months without needing a bath, although we do bathe them every 3-4 weeks.
. If you donāt mind me asking, where did you live? I remember reading that 5 is the limit in most cities/countries that have a limit on number of dogs in a household. I hope your neighbors didnāt think much of it. In our case, however, thatās not really a concern because we arenāt particularly close to our neighbors, just polite/friendly.And yes, just like your case with your husband, it does help a lot that we both WFH. Are all your four dogs large breeds/mixes? Thatās one factor too for us, I have a couple of friends with 4 or 5 dogs at a time BUT some of them are small/toy size dogs which in my exp (and theirs, my friendsā) required a lot less physical and mental stimulation.
Space, food and vet care are not particularly a concern, we have a house with decent back/front yards and are both financially secure, plus I canāt imagine that going from our current 4 to 5 would increase costs significantly. You are completely right though, one does learn pretty quickly how to patch up basic ailments/injuries when youāve had many dogs for a while.
Our concerns are 1)Our ability to provide them with enough attention, it feels like we could be at our limit, our current dogs get plenty of training and play time, some of which is on a 1:1 basis, but perhaps we could do more if we had fewer. And 2)Pack order/balance, we are at a point where everyone gets along great, everyone is well behaved, however 2 of our dogs do have do have āstrongā personalities (no aggression though) and have always struggled a bit to adapt whenever weāve had changes in the pack.
What kind of dogs to you have that require constant grooming? Ours are āready to wearā dogs LOL, short coat and can go as long as 2 months without needing a bath, although we do bathe them every 3-4 weeks.
cbonetwobe
New member
@campos We have large breeds too, two goldens, a Bernese mountain dog, and a husky/GSD mix. Grooming wise we have to regularly bathe our goldens (supposed to do weekly..) because they both have allergies lol. Also do nail trims, brushing out our husky mix regularly because heās the worst shedder, trimming the fur on the Bernese and one of the goldens because they get mats behind ears/at joints all the time.
We live in a county in Iowa where you are allowed 2 dogs for whatever reason. We werenāt the only ones breaking the rule, lol. Got the feeling it was never enforced unless your dogs were a menace. We are moving to South Dakota and the limit where weāre going is actually 6 total animals, maximum four of one species, so weāre only allowed four dogs. Sometimes cities will have a rule and counties will have a rule, even a neighborhood will have their own rule (HOA) so itās something to research when you have a pack lol.
Pack dynamics is probably the least of my concern funnily enough. Our goldens are bombproof and will never quarrel or fight back in the least. Our Bernese is the laziest dog Iāve ever seen. He barely counts, basically a stuffed animal that eats through our wallets lol. Our GSD mix is rather an asshole, but thatās why all the other dogs weāve brought in have been angels, they have to be to live with him. He was our first and we have developed a great system for introducing other dogs to him, and the others donāt need worrying about. I think introducing a puppy is even easier because they are very malleable and will fall in wherever they need to.
We live in a county in Iowa where you are allowed 2 dogs for whatever reason. We werenāt the only ones breaking the rule, lol. Got the feeling it was never enforced unless your dogs were a menace. We are moving to South Dakota and the limit where weāre going is actually 6 total animals, maximum four of one species, so weāre only allowed four dogs. Sometimes cities will have a rule and counties will have a rule, even a neighborhood will have their own rule (HOA) so itās something to research when you have a pack lol.
Pack dynamics is probably the least of my concern funnily enough. Our goldens are bombproof and will never quarrel or fight back in the least. Our Bernese is the laziest dog Iāve ever seen. He barely counts, basically a stuffed animal that eats through our wallets lol. Our GSD mix is rather an asshole, but thatās why all the other dogs weāve brought in have been angels, they have to be to live with him. He was our first and we have developed a great system for introducing other dogs to him, and the others donāt need worrying about. I think introducing a puppy is even easier because they are very malleable and will fall in wherever they need to.
@cbonetwobe Yup! Thatās a lot of dog hair you have at home haha, no wonder your grooming requirements are definitely higher than ours. Glad you guys were able to move and find a nice place to have all your dogs with you without worrying some day they decide to enforce the law.
I love all those breeds btw. Goldens and Berneses are for the most part super friendly dogs (āget a long with everyoneā type) so no wonder your pack dynamics are ideal, especially when your husky mix has a āassholeā personality lol, to keep everyone else on their toes haha.
We definitely have stronger personalities/more dominant breeds with our 2 Dobermans and Belgian Malinois, I guess the Vizsla would be the equivalent to your goldens, she is the sweetest pup, not a mean bone in her body.
Good luck with them move!!! And care to show us your pups?
I love all those breeds btw. Goldens and Berneses are for the most part super friendly dogs (āget a long with everyoneā type) so no wonder your pack dynamics are ideal, especially when your husky mix has a āassholeā personality lol, to keep everyone else on their toes haha.
We definitely have stronger personalities/more dominant breeds with our 2 Dobermans and Belgian Malinois, I guess the Vizsla would be the equivalent to your goldens, she is the sweetest pup, not a mean bone in her body.
Good luck with them move!!! And care to show us your pups?
@campos We have 6. Now it is a bit crazy at times. The 5 were a lot easier than the now 6. 
Probably didnāt help that the 6th is a hyper hound dog. But we have a large home and decent yard. Still need a proper fence but use training collars so they can run most the time anyway. Theyāre also all fairly well trained. The initial 5 have gotten older and are fairly calm except when people come over or pass the house. Lol. Itās not crazy. Now people will think youāre crazy but honestly after 3 everyone already thinks that.
Probably didnāt help that the 6th is a hyper hound dog. But we have a large home and decent yard. Still need a proper fence but use training collars so they can run most the time anyway. Theyāre also all fairly well trained. The initial 5 have gotten older and are fairly calm except when people come over or pass the house. Lol. Itās not crazy. Now people will think youāre crazy but honestly after 3 everyone already thinks that.
. All fair points. What kind of hound did you get as a sixth?@campos Wowww. A Vizsla, two Dobermans, a Malinois and you want to add another Vizsla?!
If I saw you walking all of those Iād think I was seeing a mirage or something, what a beautiful sounding pack! I cannot believe youād post this and not post a picture of them, Iām going to need a dog tax pronto.
How do you exercise them? I was going to comment that this sounds like a lot of dog to control all at once, but Iām coming at it coloured by my own experience with our reactive dog.
Did you adopt them one at a time? Any issues with any of the pups when introducing a new dog? That would be my biggest concern (apart from financial) but again thatās what springs to mind because our reactive dog takes up so much of our time and resources. Weāve made great progress but Iāll never be able to relax with him around strangers/other dogs. Of course youāre much less likely to end up with a reactive dog from a good breeder.
If I saw you walking all of those Iād think I was seeing a mirage or something, what a beautiful sounding pack! I cannot believe youād post this and not post a picture of them, Iām going to need a dog tax pronto.
How do you exercise them? I was going to comment that this sounds like a lot of dog to control all at once, but Iām coming at it coloured by my own experience with our reactive dog.
Did you adopt them one at a time? Any issues with any of the pups when introducing a new dog? That would be my biggest concern (apart from financial) but again thatās what springs to mind because our reactive dog takes up so much of our time and resources. Weāve made great progress but Iāll never be able to relax with him around strangers/other dogs. Of course youāre much less likely to end up with a reactive dog from a good breeder.
@alexkline Hahaha thanks! It is a beautiful pack indeed although it took us a while to get there! Lots of sweat, training and socialization. Puppy tax here
So, to answer your questions: How do we exercise them? It has changed a lot based on their current age and current number of pups. Back when we had only two we handled 90% of the daily exercising and training ourselves, 2 walks per day (morning and evening) + some mental stimulation at home (sniffing games, puzzles, obedience training) was normally enough.
As the pack grew weāve had to adapt and make changes in our lifestyle, first of all we moved from our apartment in the city and got a house in the suburbs with a yard and enough space, that means that they get to hang out and play outside for periods of 2-3 hours at a time at least twice a day. Once they get over the 1.5 year old threshold they kind of tire each other out playing outside on a daily basis. We keep individual training sessions 3-4 times a week (15-20 min each) just to keep them sharp, they all attended puppy classes and obedience training at some point, so we try to keep that up. We also recruited help: a dog walker (Tuesday-Thursday), doggy daycare (Mondays & Fridays) where they socialize with other dogs outside the pack, and a part-time housekeeper to help with all the extra cleaning of dog hair and dog bed/feeding bowls washing at home. This has been a tremendous help for us!
We got the first doberman and the Vizsla (alpha and beta respectively in our pack) a month apart from each other, as puppies, both girls. The Malinois (male) arrived a year later as a puppy and he was the most disruptive to the pack when we rescued him, tough to train and hard to fit in with the other pups who didnāt take to him in the beginning. He also had some dog reactivity/hyperactivity issues, that we have now overcome (95%), never against our other pups though. The blue Doberman arrived last year (we adopted/rescued him) and he has been extremely easy and not disruptive at all to the pack thanks to his mellow personality, he became the omega instantly and is perfectly content with that role.
We can relate with having a dog reactive dog like yours (our malinois) but weāve worked through most of it and are at a really good place now.
So, to answer your questions: How do we exercise them? It has changed a lot based on their current age and current number of pups. Back when we had only two we handled 90% of the daily exercising and training ourselves, 2 walks per day (morning and evening) + some mental stimulation at home (sniffing games, puzzles, obedience training) was normally enough.
As the pack grew weāve had to adapt and make changes in our lifestyle, first of all we moved from our apartment in the city and got a house in the suburbs with a yard and enough space, that means that they get to hang out and play outside for periods of 2-3 hours at a time at least twice a day. Once they get over the 1.5 year old threshold they kind of tire each other out playing outside on a daily basis. We keep individual training sessions 3-4 times a week (15-20 min each) just to keep them sharp
, they all attended puppy classes and obedience training at some point, so we try to keep that up. We also recruited help: a dog walker (Tuesday-Thursday), doggy daycare (Mondays & Fridays) where they socialize with other dogs outside the pack, and a part-time housekeeper to help with all the extra cleaning of dog hair and dog bed/feeding bowls washing at home. This has been a tremendous help for us!We got the first doberman and the Vizsla (alpha and beta respectively in our pack) a month apart from each other, as puppies, both girls. The Malinois (male) arrived a year later as a puppy and he was the most disruptive to the pack when we rescued him, tough to train and hard to fit in with the other pups who didnāt take to him in the beginning. He also had some dog reactivity/hyperactivity issues, that we have now overcome (95%), never against our other pups though. The blue Doberman arrived last year (we adopted/rescued him) and he has been extremely easy and not disruptive at all to the pack thanks to his mellow personality, he became the omega instantly and is perfectly content with that role.
We can relate with having a dog reactive dog like yours (our malinois) but weāve worked through most of it and are at a really good place now.
@alexkline As for issues when introducing a new dog. I feel that it would depend a lot on the sex of the new pup. Based on our experience with the last male puppy (the blue Doberman), if we were to add a male Vizsla, the girls would acept him but our male malinois would be the most resistant to the new pup, snapping at him and growling particularly around toys, this phase lasted for about 2-3 months before we could trust him with the new pup. He does respond well to training and correction so he would eventually learn to accept him as part of our family.
We have no idea how would the girls react to a third female though, because we got them so close in age (one month apart, both were 8 weeks old when we brought them home) that canāt really know if theyād accept a new female in the pack. They are normally more tolerant than our male Malinois towards other dogs though.
Our 2 current males would accept the new female without issues.
Soā¦ we are still deciding whether a girl or a boy would make more sense of we decide to go for it.
We have no idea how would the girls react to a third female though, because we got them so close in age (one month apart, both were 8 weeks old when we brought them home) that canāt really know if theyād accept a new female in the pack. They are normally more tolerant than our male Malinois towards other dogs though.
Our 2 current males would accept the new female without issues.
Soā¦ we are still deciding whether a girl or a boy would make more sense of we decide to go for it.