Ideal amount of dogs

[Monkey68]

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.

[hazelrunpack]

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.

[Goldfields]

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.

[erykah1310]

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.

[Monkey68]

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.

[hazelrunpack]

I never knew that about the flying!! We need video, pls!!