pet UNDER-population-the facts

oh, ok! I was just wondering. I knew she was spayed now...but I was just curious. =]

HoundMusic

     How many dogs did they own? I doubt breeders with more than 8-10 dogs would want to have them all free roaming in the house. 

 

I know breeders who have 6 dogs that have free reign in the house. Less than 8-10, but that's a good amount of dogs. These dogs are not primarily kept crated. I know you can't do that with every breed, but some dogs do well in packs.

Dog_ma

I know breeders who have 6 dogs that have free reign in the house. Less than 8-10, but that's a good amount of dogs. These dogs are not primarily kept crated. I know you can't do that with every breed, but some dogs do well in packs.

     You're correct that some breeds do better in packs and reasonable numbers can be kept in the house without fighting, etc. A few problems with this when you start to have more than a few dogs and 2 or more intact males. The rules go out the window when a bitch is in heat - males that are best buddies may try to kill each other. Not only doesthe bitch need to be in a seperate area of the house, the males each need to be crated or otherwise seperated. Imagine trying to do 3,4,5 bathroom/exercise breaks daily with this type of setup Everyone has to be let out seperately. It's unbeliveably stressful on the dogs as well as the people involved. With kennel runs, males can easily be seperated from the bitches and still have their runs or seperate exercise areas so that keeping dogs apart doesn't turn into a three ring circus. It's still a great deal of work, but it becomes manageable, and more conducive to sanity, lol.
     Five or six dogs in the house isn't unreasonable, but once it starts spilling over that number and you also have intact breeding dogs and litters of pups there is a real need to start kenneling. It doesn't mean that the dogs are neglected, ignored, or the pups any less socialized just because they don't live in the living room. A few months ago we bought an adult bitch who was "home raised" by a show breeder. Not fully housebroken - in fact, she's the only dog I own who has accidents on a regular basis - and ZERO house manners. She's very untrained/uncivilized, had no concept how to exist in a home situation without being crated all day. She frequently jumped up on us and DUG those claws in!!! Meanwhile, my dogs are indoor/outdoor and must learn basic manners regardless how long they're kenneled. I want manageable dogs, even if they don't live in the house. So my dogs can come in from the kennel and are well trained, listen to my voice commands, and let me know when they need to potty. My home raised show dog dumps anywhere and everywhere.
     My pups are socialized well but not because they are raised in the home - I work with them extensively! And would spend the same amount of tiem socializing were they in a kennel rather than an indoor ex pen. It's all about the breeder. You will not get a better socialized or mannered pup simply because it was raised in the home. If the breeder lets it crap anywhere, and I've seen ones who do let the pups have the run of a room and they will ignore the papers and just go wherever the whim takes them. Let's also not forget, that if a breeder did have 15 dogs in their house (and that really is not an extravagant number when one has been avtively breeding for more than a few years) there is no way that home is not going to smell like dogs live there, and most people who tout home raised dogs would see the conditions and make the accusation of puppy mill.

HoundMusic

     How many dogs did they own? 

 

Anywhere from 5 to 15-ish, depending on the breeder.  Some had numerous terrier breeds, notorious for having aggression/dominance issues.  There were some crates around, but the only dogs I saw in them were the ones awaiting hand stripping in the grooming area.  They were not all roaming the entire house at once, the males were generally kept away from the pups and any female that could be in season, moms and pups in their own areas but in more than one household there were related females interacting with each others pups (didn't think that was possible, but it was with the right supervision and someone that knows their dogs intimately).  One breeder (of welsh and cairn terriers) had a very large property and house and although I didn't take an actual count, I'd venture a guess of about 50 dogs on the property (several puppy litters of varying ages).  All of them had spots in the house (an old plantation property), all of them were handled and cared for daily, and given the type of grooming they require, every pup was being introduced to the grooming table for a few minutes every day.  He had people coming in and helping and handling the dogs everyday, but there were no kennels, only pens containing grassy areas where the dogs could run around and play in the sunshine during the daytime.  Even with this many dogs in a residential house, it was super clean, less smelly than my own house (the joys of wood floors vs. carpet) and every dog looked healthy, happy, etc. and he had every dog's vet and pedigree info neatly organized and ready for inspection at a moment's notice.  So, no, it's not impossible to handle even larger numbers of dogs in a home environment.