If you had 20 dogs

OK, I guess I took it the wrong way too, which is why I didn't post.
 
I have six german shepherds living in my house and my very first thot was, gosh, I don't guess she'd be very happy visiting MY house!  But, for the record it is clean....just sometimes the dog fur gets ahead of me despite daily vacumming.....
 
But, I'm not angry or annoyed....just letting you know I took it the same "wrong" way.

I'm not mad at you. I can understand where your coming from and TV can have a big influence on the negative sterotype of people that have several dogs.

 
Wow you are good! I just pmed you incase you didn't come back and read what I said. As soon as I came back you already posted. Lol oh well

I have six german shepherds living in my house and my very first thot was, gosh, I don't guess she'd be very happy visiting MY house!

 
Sure I will visit! Whats for dinner? Heh kidding! Sorry if I came across as kind of mean...its just that I think 20 dogs is a lot of dogs! It would be fun...but wow....too much work for me!

Homemade tacos if I ever get off my butt and put dinner on the table!
 
And, yeah, 20 would be too many for me too....somedays SIX is too many, but I never intended to HAVE six, and stuff happens, and you deal with the cards life deals you.  In my case, that turned out to be SIX german shepherds.....and I love each and every one of them.

Most of my Beagles live in kennels

Pleeeeeease dont take this the wrong way,but could you keep all of your dogs in the house comfortably? Are they living in the kennels because you have so many? I realise field spaniels are different to the average house dog,but i must admit i do wonder why people have dogs which are supposed to be companions first and foremost(again field spaniels may be different?) only to segregate them outside in cages? When i was looking for my dogs i by-passed breeders who housed their dogs outside,those breeders who did kennel their dogs often did so because they had too many to keep in the house,so they sacrificed their dogs so they could breed more pups and show more dogs.My own point of view is if i had that many dogs that i couldnt comfortably house them inside with me then i would be looking into my numbers,but then again i wouldnt get that many dogs that i couldnt give them the life i feel they deserve,which is inside with me.

Dog hoarder was the first thing that popped into my mind when i read this thread too.I dont know how anyone could adequitely exercise(properly),feed and give individual attention to 20 dogs every single day.It would be a diffcult task and would be a full time job IMHO.

Dog hoarder was the first thing that popped into my mind when i read this thread too.I dont know how anyone could adequitely exercise(properly),feed and give individual attention to 20 dogs every single day.It would be a diffcult task and would be a full time job IMHO.

But it sure doesn't mean that it can't be done...and done properly besides!

But it sure doesn't mean that it can't be done...and done properly besides!

It's hard to imagine this being done properly,but i suppose if every minute of the day was devoted to the dogs it could be done...

I to have animal cops stuck in my head,they always say "I only started out with one" or "i didnt intend to get this many" or" they are better off here(often diseased,malnourished etc) than on the street or euthanised". I think "true animal hoarders" can not see the desolation they live in and the state of their animals and no matter how bad things get or how many animals they accumulate,they will always think they are best off with them then anywhere else.
I must admit i have never seen an animal horders house that has been clean and in order and the animals all fit and healthy.They have either been sick and diseased,malnourished,fly's and bugs everywhere,poo and wee soaked floor's etc etc,more or less a health hazard and in most cases the animals have to be euthanised anyway because of what these conditions have lead to.I would say you would have to be very well off to provide adequite vet care for 20+ animals....

I would love to see a house with 20 or more dogs that was a positive experience for the animals,one where none of them had to go without.

It's hard to imagine this being done properly,but i suppose if every minute of the day was devoted to the dogs it could be done...

I to have animal cops stuck in my head,they always say "I only started out with one" or "i didnt intend to get this many" or" they are better off here(often diseased,malnourished etc) than on the street or euthanised". I think "true animal hoarders" can not see the desolation they live in and the state of their animals and no matter how bad things get or how many animals they accumulate,they will always think they are best off with them then anywhere else.
I must admit i have never seen an animal horders house that has been clean and in order and the animals all fit and healthy.They have either been sick and diseased,malnourished,fly's and bugs everywhere,poo and wee soaked floor's etc etc,more or less a health hazard and in most cases the animals have to be euthanised anyway because of what these conditions have lead to.I would say you would have to be very well off to provide adequite vet care for 20+ animals....

I would love to see a house with 20 or more dogs that was a positive experience for the animals,one where none of them had to go without.

 
That is exactly what I was thinking! I didn't want to make anyone mad but I really think it would be crazy to have 20 dogs. I am not saying a person who is very dedicated can't pull it off but, that is almost like having a shelter in your house.

I know a woman with 40 GSDs give or take.  She breeds dogs for show.  She feeds Iams.  Decent food, too many dogs, not enough attention.
 
Now, I plan on having 6-10 myself at any given time, not including pups, but I'm going to be feeding them a decent quality food.
 
I know one woman that must feed her dog Purina One sensitive skin and stomach by necessity!  If she tries any other food, the dog gets deathly ill!
 
So, feed premium quality food and have the dog puke and crap everywhere and end up dehydrated, or feed a "lesser quality food" that the dog does well on?

So, feed premium quality food and have the dog puke and crap everywhere and end up dehydrated, or feed a "lesser quality food" that the dog does well on?

 
Toward the end of her life Lady sometimes would not want to eat. When this happened, if we went to Walmart and got this cheap dog food "Old Roy" she would eat that better than other stuff.

Are they living in the kennels because you have so many? I realise field spaniels are different to the average house dog,but i must admit i do wonder why people have dogs which are supposed to be companions first and foremost(again field spaniels may be different?) only to segregate them outside in cages? When i was looking for my dogs i by-passed breeders who housed their dogs outside,those breeders who did kennel their dogs often did so because they had too many to keep in the house,so they sacrificed their dogs so they could breed more pups and show more dogs.

I guess there needs to be some understanding of the ack dynamics of hunting beagles to understand why they stay together in kennels. Hunting beagles are VERY pack oriented and since they run/hunt/compete in a pack, that is how they feel the most comfortable. Some of my dogs just don't do well in the house as they want to be with "their" pack. These dogs need alot of stimulation and are taking to "do their thing" at least three times a week. They are taken as a group and turned loose in a 40 acre enclosure that is full of rabbits to hunt, and we let them run for 3 hours at a time (weather conditions permitting). 
I'm not a breeder, so it's not a matter of being able to house more and more dogs. I don't feel my dogs are being "sacrificed", as they are all very well adjusted and happy.
 
I will also add, due to AKC regulations, in order to compete they must NOT be altered (S/N), so this could be catastrophic to give them free run of the house being "in-tact" and very irresponsible on my part, don't you think?

You raise good points. Thre's another scenario involving having many dogs. Sled dog teams. The smallest team can be 4 dogs. The Iditarod class will have 14 dogs on the gangline with two to four more dogs waiting to swap out when a team member gets tired. By that time, though, the owner usually has handlers to help. Simetimes, they are family members. The dogs live in kennels but are often most comfortable on their chain sleeping around their stake. You would simply not have enough room in the house for that many 60 lb dogs who's whole desire is to run everywhere at the speed of light. Then again, those people are not hoarders. Some of them will re-home a retired racer so they can concentrate their resources, all geared toward winning a race, to the remainders in the team.
 
I suppose, to, it would depend on how each of defines quality time and how much of that the dog needs. The past couple of days I have not worked less than 10 hours each day. 10 yesterday, 11.5 the day before. So, when I get home, we go for a short walk, partly due to the oppressive heat, and then I give him what attention I can amongst taking a shower, doing laundry, eating dinner. And that's having just one dog.

I cannot imagine how someone can have 20 dogs in the house. Not even with small dogs, im sure there would be poop and pee all over the place and then who would know who did what? Also, with so many dogs it would be very easy to miss ilness because you cant focus on one dog.
 
IMO, the only reason to have so many dogs is if a.) you have a rescue b.) your dogs are hunting/working and NEED to be with the pack and not in the house and c.) if you happen to have a litter or two at the moment.
 
But no matter how many dogs you have you need to be able to say 'no more' because for every new animal you add you are taking away time, love and attention from the dogs already in the house.

ORIGINAL: LizzieCollie

I cannot imagine how someone can have 20 dogs in the house. Not even with small dogs, im sure there would be poop and pee all over the place and then who would know who did what? Also, with so many dogs it would be very easy to miss ilness because you cant focus on one dog.

IMO, the only reason to have so many dogs is if a.) you have a rescue b.) your dogs are hunting/working and NEED to be with the pack and not in the house and c.) if you happen to have a litter or two at the moment.

But no matter how many dogs you have you need to be able to say 'no more' because for every new animal you add you are taking away time, love and attention from the dogs already in the house.

 
I agree.  I know a woman who takes in any animal that comes her way.  She has 33 cats and 15 or so dogs (she not only takes in strays, but buys pups at swap meets, etc.).  I can tell you that her house isn't clean, because there's no way her house can be clean if everything she brings/wears to work smells of poop and pee.

OK, that's not fair.  I had my 3 dogs, four older foster pups and then came momma and within a few hours SEVEN live pups.  So, 15 dogs IN my house.  And german shepherds at that.  And my house did NOT stink.  Didn't even have a faint odor of dogs.  I keep my house AND my dogs clean.  It might get a bit furry between daily vacumming, but by golly my house is CLEAN and doesn't smell.