What is your personal dog limit?

 With Nikki as #4, I've hit my limit for right now.  DH and I knew conceivably that we could fit one more, and Nikki has turned out to be that perfect fourth.  The only reason why I say no more is that Nike and Eli are still a little more of special care dogs, and I wouldn't want to add another dog at the expense of shortchanging either of them on the extra care that they need.  Nikki has fit perfectly because she's very much like Honor, bright and bubbly and self-sufficient.  She loves to cuddle with you, but is perfectly content at hanging out by herself as well. 

So unless extenuating circumstances happen, definitely just four for now!  And what a well-matched four they are. 

 Two. One for each hand.

For us, it would totally depend on the dog, & it's circumstances.  I can say that, for now, we are at our limit. 

As of late, Chyna hasn't been able to make it up or down the stairs, so DH or I carry her up & down.  She's not a velcro dog, but she does want to be in the same room as us, so whenever we go to a different floor, we carry her along.  Our house is three stories, so it is, somewhat, physically demanding.   

Bevo is six, & has health issues of his own.  He's still as active as he was as a puppy, & if he gets bored, he finds things to entertain himself.  He can open every door in the house, so we have to be careful to remember to lock the deadbolts, so that he doesn't let himself, & the other dogs outside.  If bored, & not tired, he likes to strip the sheets off of our beds & drag them to the living room so that he can straighten them on the floor.  He had some really "fun" OCD ticks, that we have to work to manage.  It isn't unusual for me to wake up at 4:30 on weekends in order to take him for a long, long run to tire him out before we can go out for the day without having to worry about what he did to entertain himself.  All that being said, I absolutely adore him, & would happily live with five more dogs exactly like him.

We were happy with our five dogs, & an occassional foster, but when Brutus bounced off the truck in front of me, I couldn't leave him there.  Then, when he came home to "foster" with us, he fit into our house perfectly.  He acted like he had lived with us all of his life, & our dogs acted like they had known, & loved him all of their lives.  It was obvious, within hours of his arrival home, that he was meant to live out his life with us.  After my grandfather died, & someone recommended that we "take the dog back to the pound" Angel became ours.  I went to the pound to help pick her for my grandparents, & there was no way that we were going to let her be sent back to the pound.  She has been a lot of work, because the life she lived with my grandparents is nothing like the life that we have here, but she's learning.

 I'm gonna go with one.  I have two, but its too much.  I won't take both dogs out with the stroller, but if I take just one, the other gets nervous and makes alot of noise at home(my fault I know, but until now it was a non issue)  If I just had one dog, I think they would spend alot more time with the family outside of the house and being more social.   I know I'm making excuses, but right now, I'm at the end of my rope on what I can handle and still function for my kids.  The dogs get walked together, and left home together.  They don't really seem to mind, but I wish I could have them with me more.  I think it would be more fair to them.  In the future I will only have one dog.  At least until my kids have grown and I have more freedom to tend to dogs.

I think my limit is 3 or 4 dogs. I'm planning to get another Shih Tzu in about a year and a half. So at that time I should know whether I can handle anymore or if 3 is the limit. Peanut is kind of a handful; he jumps straight up and down like a Jack Russell and is also terrier like when meeting other dogs. Gingerbread is the easiest dog anyone could ever hope for. He's quiet, calm, can entertain himself, basically a perfectly behaved little gentleman. I know I'll probably never get another dog like him, so the next dog I hope to be somewhere in between my two in temperament. Definitely no more Chihuahuas! lol He's really sweet and I like having a dog that wants to be held constantly, but he is very active and a handful.

Depends on whether they are working dogs or pet dogs.  Pet dogs...probably 3-4.  Working dogs, 1-2.  No way could I work two Nikons at a time!  Having Nikon and Kenya works out well because there is a big difference in age/maturity and they are very different temperaments so I work them differently.  Many competitive SchH people I know only train one dog at a time, or have a few dogs very spread out in age.

So, I could currently add another Coke or two, but no more Kenyas/Nikons!

Liesje

Working dogs, 1-2.

Same here. Rosco and Lexi are pets, they both have manners and are great to live with, fun to take places. Rosco can be pushy and more work, but he's getting easier as he ages.

Luna is my working dog, and I put a lot of time into her training. She has a ton of drive and is extremely independent, so her training is carefully structured. We also have Luna's brother at the moment, who is much easier to train, and will do whatever is asked of him without question. Honestly, it's a really nice break from Lu sometimes. He's slower to pick things up, but so much more biddable.

Down the road when my older guys are at the bridge, we'll probably have two of our own with another occasionally in for training. I'd like it to be easier, rather than stressing about the needs of four dogs exercise, health, happiness, training, etc.

3 has always been my max limit.  Maybe if I had smaller dogs, I would do 4.  2 is my minimum, as I'm a big proponent of my dogs having pack mates.  Historically, I've been known to get a third dog/puppy when 1 dog becomes elderly.  This way, no one is ever a solo dog; when the elder goes to the bridge.

When Buddy moves on....it will be the Houligans and no additions for a long long time.

 We have 4 dogs right now and did not necessarily plan that.  I think 3 is my limit but I have 2 1/2 pet dogs and 1 working dog, so not sure how that would work.  I would love to have an age range of retired dog, middle aged trialing dog and young puppy in the works.  This way I'm only every trialing with 2 dogs at a time but the older dog will still get to play and have fun.

I know that 4 is too many for the future because I feel bad about not playing/working with 2 of them but I can't find the time to do it.  My BF won't do it either so they are pet dogs that get attention when they get it and are happy that way.  The 1/2 dog is one that does some agility but nothing serious simply because she does not like to trial and is a great demo dog for classes, so that is her job.

 Right now it's one, but mostly limited due to a landlord who will only allow us one dog and a partner who insists I get a teaching job before we get another dog (my hours at this job suck and I'm hoping to teach college full time, which means I'll have a radically different schedule than the normal 8-5 job I have right now).

 In the future, I think two might be our limit though.  One dog per person; one dog per hand when out on a walk together.  Plus we want to get a Border collie or an Aussie for our second dog (currently have a BC or Aussie mix) and that will be more than enough dog!

For me, right now, 2 is the limit of dogs, and I have a cat.  Chloe is very needy.  I would LOVE to add a third, but I really need to put Chloe through more training, and probably get Kya in another class.

I'm considering fostering though. 

The most we have ever had at one time was 3.... Lady terrier mix(the old lady), Lacey (Bassett), Bear (Huge beautiful rottie).  Lady went 1st of old age, Lacey went next....:( then Bear a very sad very unexpected loss.  We got Shadow as a puppy and he became our life...:)  we decided to just have one and spend the time to train him properly and take him with us when we could.  He loved to travel even if it was just to town and back.   When we lost Shadow we were devestated, we rescued Rocky the varmit dog, LOL!  We fully intended to just have one when we were asked to take Hot Shot!  We just couldnt say no and it has worked well.   More than these 2???? I really dont think so, I have to ask myself when am I no longer giving quality care and love.  Our view of having pets, dogs, is to give them happy healthy loving lives.  With just the 2 of us and at our age, I think we need to do it just a couple at a time.

Five But only one, BIG one.

Great answers everyone. I am still thinking in the future 2 would still be great, as the kids grow up, gives me time to spread between the kids and the dogs, however, I find myself wanting a dog the kids can play with more, as the 3 we have now don't care to play with the kids.  We'll see. Much as I want to add another (or could care for another) it's not going to be a quality of life situation for the dogs or the humans... 2 dogs, I could easily travel with, train, take along on walks, feed good foods, etc. More than that is a pain, and like Emma, Gobie is like having multiple dogs at once, even at his 'advanced' age of 13.5, he's a lot of work, and also, like Emma... never again lol. No more minpins for me lol. Boys at least!

Two is definitely the easiest, but I'm also very happy with three or four. I wouldn't want anymore than four though. :)