How many dogs are too many in a household?

Two is too many for some households, ten is too few for others. My own personal best number feels happiest at four. I used to think I was the oddball when having four dogs raised so many eyebrows. I once had nine here, five of them being puppies. That was a hectic time! I have had eight adult dogs at once, with four being either boarders or temporary fosters on their way somewhere else. Again, hectic! Not being a fan of hectic, I have since learned to pace myself. Someday, when I have more room, both inside and outside and possibly another human to assist, I want more dogs as the status quo, but until that day comes, I will stick with a maximum of four permanent canine residents. Space is important as far as how many dogs you actually have room for in your home. Indoor space is important, but breed types can determine how important your indoor and outdoor space is. You have to decide what your own limit is. Everyone should get along, no one should have to live with permanent barriers between dogs who get along so badly that there are safety concerns.

If one dog is fine, two’s company, and a small group of four to six dogs is manageable with care and knowledge. Having more than six to eight dogs as pets does seem excessive, unless you are a breeder or are involved in some canine enterprise that requires you to own many dogs. Owning large numbers of dogs means that individual dogs do not receive the same level of attention they would if they were part of a smaller unit. One thing is for sure, how many dogs you can humanely care for depends on your availability, energy and resources. For most people, owning one or two dogs is a full time job, but some may be able to balance upward of four to six dogs. Anything above this number requires a special kind of person with special circumstances if each animal is to receive the kind of attention he should receive as a pet. It is probably true that as the number of dogs in a household increases the incidence of behavior problems also increases. The larger the pack the more complicated the social dynamics and the more diluted the owner’s attention.

It’s the general consensus that one or two dogs per household is acceptable in America. Statistics support this accepted norm — the American Veterinary Medical Foundation confirms that the 36.5 percent of dog-owning households in the U.S. have 1.6 dogs on average. Most animal care experts widely agree that three is not a crowd when it comes to owning more than one dog. Unlike that dreaded middle child syndrome you see in three-kid families, having three well-trained pups can be harmonious when the dogs balance each other out. Karen Nash, animal rescuer and owner of pet care service Sniff Snout, agrees that two or three dogs are better than one, though more than three can pose a problem. She explains, “I find for the owner, two or three at the max is a comfortable number to handle. I have had four dogs, and even being a professional, I found it to be a lot. But as Nash and Wright pointed out, that’s where the balance starts to tip to a point that can be dangerous for a domesticated dog pack: Three’s company, and four dogs are too many.