The dogs I've lived with have much preferred living in 2s rather than as only dogs, but I've never had multiple dogs.
When people have 6, 7, 8 or more dogs - and they are all well taken of - do dogs enjoy that or would they prefer to be in quieter households?
I know all dogs are different, but the average dog...,,?
Patricia
All dogs no matter the breed are pack animals. They enjoy the socialization and interaction with there own kind. Some breeds may tend to do better on their own such as Akita's but that is not always the case. I breed and show Akita's and APBT, I have a total of 7 dogs, 4 APBT and 3 Akita's. They do great together but it is very time consuming to make sure each dog gets the care and attention it needs. Multi Dog households need to be very well organized to prevent fights or insecure animals. My dogs are on a strict schedule for feeding, the Alpha being the first to be fed everyday, the first to be petted etc. You have to keep up the pack dynamic and be the supreme leader over all the dogs even the pack leader.
cowher
My APBT combine is a safe haven rescue, and certainly now not good bred, but i'm going to tell you about her anyway. She is my 2nd dog, it wasn't difficult to introduce her to my family. My first dog is a male Tibetan Mastiff mix who has a dominant character and would not get along with different men. After we made up our minds to get one more canine, we opted for a submissive female. A pair occasions when we first acquired Kelsey (Pit) she did anything that Bud (Tibetan) failed to like, and he put her in her place with somewhat snap. Now they're inseparable. And if there was ever a crisis between them(he outweighs her by about 90 kilos), Bud would come out on high, no question, so i don't fear about his defense around her. The difficulty would even be immediately corrected. My dogs have various "dog neighbors" and spot them daily. However although Kelsey's dog aggression is minimal, and she likes other puppies, I still must watch her like a hawk when she's enjoying in view that i do know that she has the capacity to seriously hurt one more dog in seconds, although she's a horny small Pitty (she's combined with Basenji, so she's about forty pounds). Have no idea what i would do about the stray b*tch that you just saw. If I was once the place I are living i might definitely turn her and the pups into the no kill shelter. But when I used to be to your footwear and all the puppies get put down...I quite don't know. That's a rough name. ADD: Wow, the TD fairies are fairly lively in these days...
Nekkid Truth!
depends on the dog, and also how dedicated the owner is to giving enough attention and socialization to each dog.
some dogs are too overwhelmed in such a situation.. or the situation can easily become stressful if the dogs are not being properly taken care of. There are some dogs that prefer to be ONLY dogs... and some thrive in a pack environment.
Lara
If you have a balanced (behaved) pack of dogs it can be lovely. If you don't understand dog psychology or training methods it can be a mess with dog fights - nervous or aggressive dogs.
I personally (even with a pretty good $80,000+ salary) could not afford 6,7 or 8 dogs. High quality food, yearly vet care, grooming, emergency vet care, everything a dog needs would cost over $6,000 a year for 6 dogs.
I have two, and they are just lovely together. We occasionally have a third for a couple weeks (dog sitting) and they all work perfectly together. Not for everyone but we don't mind.
•Poppy•
Honestly, I have one social dog who is happier with other dogs in the house: my Lab mix.
My other three dogs (I have a total of four) absolutely LOVE her and interact with her (the Lab mix) in various ways. They are much happier with her around.
If she weren't there, though, they would simply tolerate each other. When they play, it's always just with her. When there's a multi-play going on, she's still always at the center and they're still playing with her, there's just more than one she's playing with at once.
It's kind of funny how that works actually.