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Old May 7th, 2011, 10:37 PM
Monkey68 Monkey68 is offline
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Ideal amount of dogs

Do all good things in life come in pairs? I'm curious if there is any information regarding the dynamics of dogs that are two in a household versus three. If we are talking about smaller dogs is it feasible to have three - does it create too much competition or initiate pack behaviour and a distancing from the people?
Curious to hear from those with experience.
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Old May 7th, 2011, 10:44 PM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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We have 8 medium (either side of 50 lbs) English setters and they interact with each other, but still love to be with their people, too. The biggest factor is making time to be with them all--they all need their one-on-one time.
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Old May 8th, 2011, 10:17 AM
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Goldfields Goldfields is offline
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I have 2 cattle dogs plus 6 shelties and have 4 entire male sheltie dogs who exercise together with my girls, now spayed. There is jealousy between two brothers who were not reared together but I give them all equal attention and have shown them that I won't put up with jealousy and fighting and they are fine. If I sit down they don't go off and play, they all want to be next to be on my lap for a love-in. Sweet dogs.
If you obedience train your dog and get a strong bond with it, being in a pack situation does not destroy that bond. I have had a bitch have a litter of 11 pups(Australian Cattle Dogs) and the day after they were born, if I left the room, she would jump out of the whelping box , leave them to follow me. Now that's devotion. Not actually what I wanted her to do, LOL , but all my dogs are like that. You need to be pack leader, especially when you have say 6 cattle dogs instead of 6 shelties, it is much easier with a pleasant little breed like shelties. I have never found either breed distancing itself though. Mine compete for my attention.
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Old May 8th, 2011, 10:26 AM
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erykah1310 erykah1310 is offline
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I have 7 dogs, all are medium to xlarge breeds (except for one) over half of my dogs have potential for same sex dog aggression which makes things a little tricky for me, but everyone does get along just fine supervised.
As Hazel said its just a bit rough getting a routine in where everyone gets adequate one on one time.
But all in all ,I would say having multiple dogs is easier than just one or two. Its been so long since i have only had one or two dogs that having 7 just seems natural for me.
The biggest factor in how many dogs per household is the household/owner/ experience with dogs ect.
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Old May 8th, 2011, 07:08 PM
Monkey68 Monkey68 is offline
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Strong Bond

Thanks for all of your encouraging advice. Agreed, a truly strong bond with a dog should/will not be broken with the addition of another dog as long as you have time for them all. I am impressed by how many dogs some of you are able to raise- its very impressive. Of course here in the city we are legally allowed three dogs per household. Since we are dealing with pugs the biggest issue at hand is dealing with the competition for attention. Often amusing and terrifying when a pug attempts a death defying jump into your lap which is already occupied by another pug! Who knew that pugs could fly.
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Old May 8th, 2011, 07:11 PM
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hazelrunpack hazelrunpack is offline
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I never knew that about the flying!! We need video, pls!!
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Old May 8th, 2011, 08:50 PM
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Goldfields Goldfields is offline
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Are you sure that's not a sheltie in a pug suit ? LOL. My Shady(sheltie) used to do that, totally disregard that I already had a dog on my lap and do a very graceful, nimble leap to slot herself precisely between it and my body. (I do miss her.) I imagine your Pug could hurt itself though, they're not a supple agile breed.
Erykah, your TM would be like my cattle dogs as far as same sex aggression goes. No way could mine be together unsupervised. When I had 5 to 7 together I'd need to have my stock whip handy, the crack of the whip or a light flick around the butt would let them know who was pack leader, without that they could be out of your reach and go ahead with the plan to kill whoever. LOL. It's exactly how the old stockmen would have controlled this breed and kept them working instead of fighting. And, I must say this, until you see an all out fight between two cattle dogs, you can't criticise that method of control. A flick from their owner is absolutely nothing compared to the injuries or death in a fight.
It was a relief to get into shelties, they like each other, they're very nice to each other, absolute angels in fact. If the breeders of your Pugs can run them together safely then 3 for you should be good too.
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Old May 9th, 2011, 02:12 AM
reanne reanne is offline
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My Mom has 3 small dogs (Min-Pins, Min-pin crosses) and they LOOOOVE their people and they love eachother. If one of the dogs is missing or not well you can tell the others are worried. They also worry about their people. They get especially concerned about my sister or I leaving the pack after we visit (and my dog-my older dog, they don't know my new pup yet).
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Old May 9th, 2011, 01:50 PM
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Sib.HuskyMom Sib.HuskyMom is offline
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I have 2 dogs, both of which have a great bond with me, DH, and each other. We've briefly discussed the possibility of rescuing a third, but to be honest, we're kind of out of room on our bed at night.
And I don't think our room is big enough for a king size bed
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