Living With Multiple Dogs?

[bluecollie]

We very rarely have under 12 dogs here at a time... we own 7 altogether - 2 x greyhounds, 4 x BCs & our Cattle girl + 5 cats & a Corella + 3 kids..

Then on top I currently have 4 foster dogs too..

We are on half acre and live close to a great secluded off leash area that few know to visit

I am fortunate to receive fresh chicken mince from a local distributor for my foster pups but I supply all the adult meat + biscuits, bones & weekly liver treats.. I've never added it all up how much it all costs because whats the point - it has to be donebecause we chose to do it, so we do it & LOVE IT!!!

[percyk]

we have small dogs..one tiny

but i think it is the breed mix that works

we have only one clingy dog so he gets the attention as he needs it...the others dont really care and dont compete

they sleep together or apart

there are no fights over food

they can eat from one bowl

the bitch will growl but there is no real aggression

all are desexed males except for the desexed bitch

none are particularly bonded

none have really buddied up for keeps if you know what i mean

but they all know their place with each other

and live in peace

[Tapferhund]

To further my curiosity...for those who have more then two dogs (especially large dogs) how do you manage? Food/bills/bedding/walking/etc?

Up until 2 years ago I had 12 dogs , 6 large and 6 small.......but with old age catching up with some I am now down to 6 ...4 large and 2 small.

FOOD- I mainly feed natural which I find is cheaper and much better for them.

VET BILLS- some years very few bills , just vaccinations etc while other years I might have a few more bills....especially with the oldies getting older.

BEDDING- my bed for a couple.......but all of them have sack beds but the beds are covered in canvas rather than the sacks.......which I got fed up with having to change them all the time. In winter they have blankets on the beds .

WALKING- Two to the park or beach for a run.....two out for a walk in the morning...two in the afternoon.

[sebastion 2]

We have 3 dogs 1 large mastiff cross, 2 medium 1 BC cross 1 terrier cross they are all rescue dogs.

They are all on a mix of dry and fresh. I buy in bulk so not really that expensive.

We haven't walked the dogs since OH accident in July but we live on 2 acres so there is plenty of

running and play lots of ball games, bubbles. I have been a bit slack with their training due to rehab

at the moment but intend to get back into it. They also go swimming at the local weir when its warm enough

monthly.

Vet bills haven't been too bad except for when rocky opened the laundry cupbord and got into the snail bait

we nearly lost him buut vet bill was oly $600, money that I was happy to pay to have my boy back drooling all over me.

I have found worming to be the most expensive part so if anyone has any tips then please fire away.

[mish13]

We have four dogs, two standard poodles a toy poodle and a Jack Russell. They are all aged between 6 and 8 and have been together since they were each 8 weeks old.

Gold Coast council: I applied for a permit after living at my current address for six years, thankfully we passed on all levels to get a permit for these four dogs.

Walking: I walk all four on my own every morning, the two large and the two small are on joiners so I only have two leads.I don't have any problems as long as we don't come across a dog on its own.

Vet bills: I have just taken the four dogs and our cat in for their yearly vaccinations, it was expensive but way cheaper to do all at once. So far vet bills have not been to bad except my male standard was just diagnosed with an auto immune disease so the dollars are just starting to add up.

Food: the Jack is always on a diet, so he is cheap to feed, the others all get a premium dry food. A 15 kilo bag would last me nearly a month plus they get bones and chicken. I never really add it up, but way cheaper then you would think.

Grooming: I used to send them to a grooming saloon but after being made redundant four years ago I have totally taken over that role. I like to do them every fortnight so that would have been $220 every second week. I have a hydro bath and all the gear so it has saved us a small fortune.

Bedding: During the day three of them sleep on the leather lounge in my family room, Oscar likes to sleep on his trampoline bed. they also have big dog cushions on the back veranda if they want to be outside. At night the toy poodle is on our bed and the Jack and male standard are on soft beds on the floor in our room. The female standard has taken up resistance on my thirteen year old grandsons bed, while he is staying with us.

I did also have my sons 17 year old staffy for eight months until we had to have him put down. Plus I minded a friends Labrador three days a week for nine months. The Labrador nearly killed me she was non stop all day.

I cant imagine my house without dogs.

[Gemelo]

We have four dogs and make it work with routine.

We are on a double income, no kids.

We have a mini foxie cross, two Aussie Shepherds and a Pointer.

Food - Buy in bulk and stock right up when food is on special/discounted. I buy woolies out when cheap meat is reduced, Petbarn here have a fresh meat section and they discount their meat when it is getting closer to use by date as well. Last time we were there we got 47 kilos of meat for $51.

The pointer is the only one on dry food (still growing) and I recently got a voucher for 25% off a product in Petbarn, so went and bought a big bag of dry for him and for $25 off.

Bedding - The three big dogs sleep in crates in their bedroom (our third bedroom) That have been bought second hand off ebay. I make all my own bedding for inside the crates.

Health care - Generally, not much, they are fairly healthy. Worming tablets are bought in packets of 100 to save money, flea treatment is split from one/two tubes, if its needed.

Walking - I can take all four at once by myself, or OH helps if he is home. We go generally every second day, some weeks every day. We have also just started running the Aussies off the bikes now they are both old enough. At least once a week they go somewhere different, whether it is to my mums house for a play with her dog, to the offlead park, or swimming.

Probably the biggest expense to date was buying a bigger car to fit them all in

[dianed]

I,ve only got two dogs atm, but have had 4 gsd,s at one time. Just the other day I was able to buy lamb off cuts, chicken frames and human grade mince marked down at Franklin s. I freeze their food. My dogs dont like dry food so I have to be inventive. Exercise is never a problem we live on acres, vet visits are higher with an older ailing dog who has cost somewhere in the vicinity of 6 or 7 thousand. And to think each night she looks at her food as if I have poisoned it! then gets up and walks away.

I feed human grade Glusamine/ Chondroiton. Their inside bedding I made myself with washable covers, except their outside trampoline beds which I have had for over 20 years. I find fleeing and worming products the most expensive, even their heart worm tabs have got dearer since I got them last time.

[espinay2]

Three large dogs at the moment, but have had up to six at one time.

Food - I feed raw. I buy in bulk and have a freezer and fridge just for dog food.

Bedding - some sleep in crates, some sleep wherever they want. I go for bedding that lasts and can be washed regularly. Vet bed and beds from Great Rugs - trampoline beds in their outdoor runs with heavy duty canvas covers.

Walking. We have 88 acres with multiple large paddocks fenced for dog running areas so not an issue now. Previously when I lived at a smaller place though I did walk them. It usually involved multiple walks - usually divided up on the basis of ability (older slower dogs walked separately from younger more active ones and those needing individual work walked on their own). Yes it could take up quite a bit of time sometimes.

Vet bills - Well, that is just something you suck up when necessary, I guess.

Yes, having multiple big dogs means a bigger car/better way of transporting them. The important thing with multiple (particularly big) dogs, particularly in flood/bushfire prone areas is ensuring you have an evacuation plan so you can get all of the dogs out at once as quickly as possible.

The biggest issue in relation to managing multiple dogs as I see it though is being able to separate them. I have had dogs that do not get on. Separate runs for outside and baby gates and crates inside make this easier to manage. Owners of multiple dogs IMO need to be prepared to do this (even if they hope they never have to). I do prefer to have dogs separated (at least into pairs that get on) rather than running in a big pack when I am not there to supervise too. It is also important to be able to separate the very young, very old, the injured or the ill (edited to add - yes the in season/whelp as well) and that is something that owners of multiple dogs need to take into account and plan for.

Edited December 1, 2010 by espinay2

[The Ark]

Three large dogs at the moment, but have had up to six at one time.

Food - I feed raw. I buy in bulk and have a freezer and fridge just for dog food.

Bedding - some sleep in crates, some sleep wherever they want. I go for bedding that lasts and can be washed regularly. Vet bed and beds from Great Rugs - trampoline beds in their outdoor runs with heavy duty canvas covers.

Walking. We have 88 acres with multiple large paddocks fenced for dog running areas so not an issue now. Previously when I lived at a smaller place though I did walk them. It usually involved multiple walks - usually divided up on the basis of ability (older slower dogs walked separately from younger more active ones and those needing individual work walked on their own). Yes it could take up quite a bit of time sometimes.

Vet bills - Well, that is just something you suck up when necessary, I guess.

Yes, having multiple big dogs means a bigger car/better way of transporting them. The important thing with multiple (particularly big) dogs, particularly in flood/bushfire prone areas is ensuring you have an evacuation plan so you can get all of the dogs out at once as quickly as possible.

The biggest issue in relation to managing multiple dogs as I see it though is being able to separate them. I have had dogs that do not get on. Separate runs for outside and baby gates and crates inside make this easier to manage. Owners of multiple dogs IMO need to be prepared to do this (even if they hope they never have to). I do prefer to have dogs separated (at least into pairs that get on) rather than running in a big pack when I am not there to supervise too. It is also important to be able to separate the very young, very old, the injured or the ill and that is something that owners of multiple dogs need to take into account and plan for.

With a large mixed pack we have found it vital to have areas to separate particular dogs. We are lucky in that we live on 2 acres, and thanks to my Dad who has done a lot of fencing for us we now have several outside areas available to different groups of dogs at different times.

We have 4 Aussie Shepherds, 1 Maremma, 1 greyhound, 3 mini pinschers and 1 foster (terrier x) at present. The two male Aussies spend most of their time in their "paddock" with the Maremma as they can cope with her play and they can run and dig to their hearts' content. The female Aussies tend to be in the front paddock/house yard at the moment and happily share with the terrier x (now that he knows Stella is boss). The min pins are inside/outside in our back house yard with the greyhound as they all get along very well. The terrier does NOT like the greyhound so they can't be left alone together. Obviously the little dogs aren't safe running around with the big boofy Aussies in case they get stepped on or squashed, so they are separated unless I am with them. It all turns to fun and games when one of our entire girls is in season - then there is a large dog run that we use (6 foot fences) and we make more use of spaces inside the house. And it all changes again when we welcome a new foster dog as the dynamics are always different.

Food - with different breeds/sizes we feed each dog basically a dry diet which suits its needs, supplemented with fresh meat & bones. We have switched the older, larger dogs to Uncle Albers which is extremely affordable and seems to work well for them. The min pins are cheap to feed because they don't eat much, so they are generally on Advance/Eagle Pack, as are any dogs that have special requirements. We were going through a bag of Eagle Pack once a week which was terrifying, but now we are using Uncle Albers that has probably wiped $70 a week off our feed bill and the dogs are doing just as well.

Bedding - is a struggle with lots of large, chewing dogs. Because we have close neighbours I shut all of the dogs up at night (except for the youngest Aussie who is the ONLY one who can be trusted not to bark). At the moment, the Aussie boys & the Maremma sleep in the dog trailer in our big shed and they LOVE it. They can't wait to jump in. One Aussie girl sleeps inside with the terrier, and all of the min pins share a crate inside. The greyhound has her own soft crate (bargain buy from Catch Of The Day).

Walking - my husband walks one or two dogs daily, as do I when I'm in a routine (not at the moment). We are lucky that they have plenty of room to exercise themselves, but we realise this isn't the same as a structured walk so we try our best to get each dog out and about according to its needs. Different dogs get out and about at regular shows and obedience training, so we are able to socialise and entertain them that way. Each dog gets individual attention in one way or another, whether it be with a walk, a play outside or a snuggle on the lounge at the end of the day. They all seem happy! :D

[idigadog]

We are currently down to 10 dogs. 9 adult Siberians and 1 puppy.

Food is something we go through alot of especially during racing season when our guys are at peak fitness. A 20kg bag of high performance premium food will only last us 8-9 days but I can stretch that out a bit by adding fish, meat or chicken into their meals.

We feed twice daily and our boys are fed in their runs (where dogs are doubled-up) and they all know their turn. They are fed in the same order every time and their bowls are put in the same place at every meal. If someone else feeds them for me, I make sure they know the routine and order as it just makes it so much easier on everyone.

Sleeping is easy. We have 5 runs and 2 dogs to each run. There are two kennels and two sack beds in each but we generally find that they will share beds anyway :D Our older dogs spend alot of time in our 'house' yard and will often sleep on a sack bed with blankies at the glass door where they can see us. Unfortunately for the oldies, it seems to be a case of once you come down into the house yard, you never go back up to the dog yard

There are some photos of our kennel setup here http://www.idigadog.com.au/kennels.htm. This works for us and our dogs are happy and healthy.

Walking doesn't really take place for our adult dogs as we have running yards that they spend all day in. Puppies are taken for daily walks though to the front gate of our property and if one of the oldies wants to come along, then they join in too. During winter, our dogs are trained and race in harness so they get way more exercise and discipline doing that then what I could ever give them by just walking them

We haven't tested our limits yet but I know we could easily have 3-4 dogs per run here so that would amount to 15-20 dogs Our dog trailer which we had custom built can easily handle 16 dogs (2 to a bay) or even more for those who like to curl up with each other. Bit scary really to think how many we could have!!!

[all that glitters]

I have 2000 acres

Is that for real?

I dream of something like 5 acres LOL I hate living in suburbia

[Rascalmyshadow]

We have 4 dogs,mini poodles, small xbreed, st. poodle and an afghan.

They all get along well although my standard will put the others in their places occasionally.

They all have their own spot in the kitchen where they eat and they don't go near each others bowls until everyones finished. We feed dry mixed with fresh or canned depending on what i've bought.

At night most of the time the two littlies sleep on our bed, sometimes one of the big dogs will aswell otherwise they sleep on the bedroom floor. During the day they have the run of house and yard (except bedrooms they are the cats domain) they have a soft bed each in the loungeroom and an off ground bed each on the decking.

Walking I either walk 2 at a time or my OH comes and we take them all.

Vet bills do add up but working in a vet clinic I get it all a lot cheaper, same with food. I always have money owing on my account.