Who owns more than Two dogs? - Page 3

We have 4 GSD's 2 rescues, 2 working line... one of the WL is a high drive dog, but with a good off switch. as long as he gets his exercise he is able to sack out with the rest of the gang in the LR with me, or on the bed. The other WL dog is a moderate drive dog, she could easily be used for Schutzhund, or herding, but she's happy on the sofa.Our 5th dog is a Tibetan Spaniel who of course rules the house.

  The female we have could do well with a novice trainer/owner. She loves to learn, but isn't as demanding as our male.  Be sure  you can happily live with a high drive dog before  you get one, they're not everyone's cuppa tea.

I've got 3 GSDs - 1 male (WL), 2 girls (WL &1/2 S,1/2 W) and my husband's now retired truck dog who's a Louisiana Ditch Dog(1/2 rottie,1/2 Aussie????????). I've had as many as 5 GSDs at one time. Whoever said the leap from 2 to 3 was quantum was right. The dynamics do change alot - in my case it was adding the second boy to the mix. It was an interesting dance to make sure that both boys felt that they were most important and also that neither one of them could push the other around. I was VERY lucky that my older male was very laid back and only very occasionally would make sure that the younger one knew his place. The girls have always been pretty good with getting themselves sorted out. My grand old gal was NEVER challenged(which was a realllllly good thing). Most of the pushing and shoving came from the betas. I handle all the new dogs the same way and stay on top of everyone pretty much all the time. Personally I've found it easier to keep an eye on things all the time, so when the "discussions" start to happen, I can intervene right away. When I'm not home, whoever can't play well with others or hasn't earned house priviledges is crated and the rest have freedom in the house. For the "cratees" , if there is a personality conflict, I rearrange the crates to put someone who is neutral in the middle. I also have made a big effort to make sure that each dog gets plenty of attention and activity. I try to find somwthig that they really like to do, whether it's Schutzhund or herding or just "helping" helping around the farm. They have their "mommy and me " time. So far the gods have smiled on me - I've had very few problems and I was able to get those stopped before they really got started. Right now the most problematic dog is the truck dog - she grew up with a very permissive parent(my husband)and just doesn't get it sometimes.
But, as several others have said, I would love to get another GSD. I'm planning on a WL of some sort - not sure if I'll go boy or girl - I'll have to see when the time comes. Oh, and you can add 4 cats to the mix - ALL of the dogs have had to be taught that cats are not warm fuzzy noisy toys that run when you chase them....They ok with their own cats but I'm fairly sure that they would probably take out a strange cat if they got it...

6 dogs.... 3 adult GSD with 2 of them in Schutzhund training (WL). 2 pups 5 1/2 months old, training started. 1 schnoodle, and not to forget a persian cat. My male is high energy and very dominant. At times he will cause conflict and I have to be mindful. They are able to run together, but will be seperated into crates at feeding time. They are bonded to each other and formed a pack. But more so they are strongly bonded to me. I have not encountered any training issues by them being bonded to each other (besides barking when I take one away for the session). However, the strong bond they have with me has caused some conflicts in training.

Four; one service, two in training. All WL. All high energy! Never a problem. And yes, it's amazing to see all the differences (and the similarities) amongst them.   

I currently have:
1 WL that I compete with
1 Beagle X
1 Rescue GSD

Then the Fosters for the rescue I work with are
1 WL
1 Rescue GSD

So in total I have 4 GSD's and a Beagle in my home.
2 cats and 1 dwarf hamster.
Im SOOO ready to downsize. LOL!

We have 8 of them in our home right now, not counting the 4 puppies that already have homes. All show lines.


Jyota - ready for BH - my challenge
Hero - ready for BH - husband's pet
Allie - 6 months
Bravo - 4.5 months - super drives and almost ready for BH - awesome pup!
Quandro - rescue - was ruined by some guy in Florida - almost perfect conformation.
Lessy - mama dog with SVV1 and SG
Zyra - super drive 15 month - lots of fun
Vanny - Dane mix rescue - very tolerant.

Except for Bravo, all our dogs get along well and we are able to let them co-mingle. Bravo is too young and dominant to interact with any but Lessy. Its a full time job to work each one of them every day.