I was talking to my friend Holly today and she has recently decreased her pack down by 2 dogs and we were talking how everyone has a different 'tipping point'. In that you do really well and manage fine with a set number of dogs, but if you go 1 dog over suddenly it all changes and things sometimes get a lot harder. For me the magic number is 3 or less. Last year when I went to 4 with Obi things got a lot harder. When Obi left to go to his new home, nearly over night the stress level went down and things became easier again. I had been told by many people is that "Once you're past 2, it's all the same." But really for me it wasn't. Going from 2 to 3 was easy. Things stayed pretty much the same, even with different dogs. At one point I had Regal, James and Niche. Then Regal passed away and I got Monty. Different 3 dogs, but still 3 and things were fine. And when I had just 2, just Regal and James things were fine. I found very little difference going from 2 to 3.
But I know for a lot of people that is not the case. Like right now I have a long time client, husband and wife, who just added a 3rd dog after having 2 for about 7yrs. They are blown away at just how dramatically things have changed in their life. And I've heard that from a lot of people who went from 2 to 3. Things changed sooo much with that change. But like I said for me that really wasn't the case. I had a much harder time when I went to 4.
For my parents, 1 is just enough. When I was living with them with multiple dogs, my father really couldn't handle it well. When I left and they just had their 1 dog, things were great. Then he passed away and now they have Pauli and things are going well. She loves to torment James when I go over to visit and he tolerates her as long as she lets him play with her toys. But when we go home, she's just as happy to amuse herself or run laps around their big house.
Learning of that difficulty is another part of the reason why I decided to not owner train my next dog. By going with a program, I can really wait until James actually has to retire before adding another dog. If I owner trained I would have to get a dog 1-2 years before I thought James would retire so I had time to train the new dog in time. By going with a program I won't have 4 dogs for as long, as much as I hate to say it, since all of my dogs will be about 7 or older when the new dog comes. For me, placing any of the dogs I have right now is just not something I'm willing to do. James and I have too much of a history as partners, Niche I don't know anyone that could handle his neurotic traits, energy or allergies well enough, and Monty if you don't keep up with his training and behavoir mod and manage his access to trouble, his behavior problems will crop up again, but he does really great in my home and I love him to bits. I love all of them to bits. Giving up Obi, even though I knew it was the right decision for both of us, was really really really hard. And he I had for only a year. I don't think it would be a good thing if I had to give up one of the guys I'd had for many years. So instead I decided to do what I felt would keep us all happier, which was not bring in a new puppy right now and instead wait a few years and get an adult, trained dog that should fit into our family more easily. And hopefully that way 4, won't be as much of a stress.
21 minutes ago
