Has anyone got 3 dogs?

[Greyhorses]

If so, please tell me how difficult it is?

Has adding a third changed the way the other two behave?
How do you give them all equal attention?
Can you walk them all at once?

Do you have any issues with jealousy, in other words if I wanted to take one to a training class would the other two feel left out...or am I putting human emotions onto a dog ????

Yes I have the three hellbeasts, our circumstances are a bit different as we're not in the UK, and our dogs are guard dogs/personal protection dogs as well as family pets, so I'm not sure how much help my answers will be. I don't find it difficult having three, all of ours were rescues and were about to be pts, so they all came with their own baggage, but I love having three dogs. I've had a many as six at a time before, but three seems to really suit us.

1. No, not at all, although ddogs 1 and 2 were adult rescue dogs, so perhaps more set into their characters than a puppy would be.

1. Erm, I just do, sorry, not sure how to explain. I also make sure to spend 1:1 time with each of them every day so that they all feel loved and special.

1. Ha-ha, yes, but we own a ranch in South America so we very rarely walk anywhere other than our own land, plus my dogs are all giant breed and very very aggressive towards strangers and other dogs. They all walk perfectly on the lead and are immaculately trained (which is essential if you have three dogs and you don't want permanent chaos). I have them all on separate leads as if you use a coupler you get the combined strength of the dogs should they decide to lunge at anything, much harder to hold three back than just one, particularly as ours weigh eighteen, seventeen and fifteen stone respectively.

1. Nope, I wouldn't tolerate it even if they did, I don't tolerate bad behaviour from my dogs, but that's part of having aggressive dogs, you have to have them under your control, so assuming your's aren't aggressive, I would just make sure you give them each plenty of attention. Sometimes I take one of the dogs on their own, or two of them and the other(s) get left with DH, and we've never had a problem, from the start we got them used to acting individually or as a group. The vast majority of the time they're all together but again, that's just what works in our circumstances.

Hope that helps a bit

Yes we have three (much less exciting than the PP though, ours are just pets). the original two get on fine. We added a third and one of the original two likes him, the other one does not and will not play with him. I can understand that as he is young and very hyper. BUT they all get on OK. All sleep together in the same room. I walk them all together with original 2 walking off-lead at heel and pup on a lead. On balance though I wish I had stayed at 2 as one extra dog is incrementally a lot more work.

No but only because the insurance would bankrupt me

We just got a third a month ago. We had a 9yr old lab and a 6yr old lab, who played together well. The third dog is a Romanian rescue terrier type, a year old. It has changed the dynamics a bit, but it's early days. The 6yr old lab is very playful, and he and new dog play endlessly. The older dog has never been able to play with other dogs easily (she seems to prefer humans to canines), although dog 2 has always "made" her play. Now she is getting a bit left out. So we have to physically stop dog 2 playing with the new dog and send dog 1 to play with him. We're making sure all of them get lots of fuss and cuddles. We live on a small holding, so they can run about in the fields together. However new dog has a grass allergy, so we tend to let them all have a mad ten minutes then we go out walking. Wierdly they seem better on the lead as a trio than they did as a pair. The two original dogs walk together on one side, new dog on the other. When they go off lead the third dog has to stay on a long lead to keep her off the grass. Dog 1, who is a bit slower nowadays seems to stay roughly with the third dog on a long lead, so they're getting to know each other too.

All in all it's not going badly.

I would think it would be easier to take one away on a training course or something than it would be if there were two, as the two left behind have company. That's the plan for the new dog soon.

Thank you everyone.
Wow themother I am very jealous, I would love 3 big scary dogs.

I currently have two GSD, one male 5y and one female who is around 9months. Male is very well behaved but likes to be left alone. Female is very playful and submissive but the grumpy dog hates playing with her and prefers to do his own thing (but loves everyone else!)
They are not expertly trained but have no major issues! Male tends to play with his toys, female loves following me around.

I was hoping to get a show dog and have been in touch with a breeder who has litters ready at the beginning of next year which would be good timing as little dog would be around a year old and hopefully less babyish!

My main concerns are that the female is very attached to me and I wouldn't want her to feel left out when I show/train new dog
Oh and I'm also hoping they all get on and the two younger ones would play and leave grumpy dog alone...

DP is rolling his eyes at the thought of a third incase it's chaos!

Thanks, sadly they're necessary where we are - too many predators human and animal alike, still I love them, DH says they're the most pampered dogs in existence.

If it helps, ddog1 (caucasian ovcharka female) is extremely closely bonded with me, she is my constant shadow, and although she tried to kill ddog2 when we introduced them (he is very pig headerd and kept winding her up, he's a caucasian ovcharka too) she accepted him eventually.
When we introduced ddog3 things went a bit more smoothly, she was eleven months old at the time (she's a fila brasiliero) and she was very eager to fit in and please ddogs1 and 2, and she was very submissive to them. I had to do a lot of training with her, and our other two didn't mind, the only issue was that they would get very angry with her if she didn't do exactly what I said first time, everytime, not helpful!

My bond with each of them hasn't changed, they are each so different, and my DH was also concerned about the chaos (he still has nightmares about the time we were rehabilitating six rescue huskies! ), but it hasn't been any worse that having thuskies,and he's very glad we've got ddog3.

We have 3 as well. We were up to 4 for a short while. It makes going away harder and they have an interesting relationship. When we got the eldest (now 5) he and our then eldest dogs wound each other up big time and we almost had to rehome the younger for welfare reasons. The 3 dogs we have now seem to get on very well.

We have 3. We are lucky as ours all love each other and will play and sleep together. They are all under 4 years so maybe that makes a difference. I can manage them all when out for a walk - they are large dogs and wear headcollars so that I can hold them all if they spot a cat or a squirrel! I love having lots of dogs and can't imagine having just one now.

We have three

The dynamic did change when DDog3 arrived. DDog1 has reverted to aloof indifference again, now DDog2 is fully occupied with puppy wrangling. They do however sleep together, eat together and generally manage to exist in reasonable harmony.

I can walk all three but DH point blank refuses prefers not to and would rather do separate walks. It is hard to split the "pack" though as one is inevitably left alone, unless we do three walks which is very time consuming. I also struggle on narrow footpaths if we meet horses etc. as its like trying to herd cats though we are improving slowly :o

It's been harder, though not impossible, to find holiday accommodation that will take three and obviously costs have gone up incrementally.

Reading that back it all seems very negative, though that was never my intention. I love our three and wouldn't change them for the world, I was just slightly unprepared for how different it would be :)