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How many is enough?

Louise1823

Louise1823

Well-known member
Hi,
I know many of you on the board have lots of furbabies - and I can only assume that you have houses and gardens large enough to house them all!
My question is, for those of us who have 'standard size' houses and gardens - is it fair to have more than one or two cavaliers?
The most I have ever had in the house is 2 - and we never found space to be an issue. As I live very close to at least 3/4 local parks, places to go for exercise on a daily basis was never an issue, and they always had free run of the house once potty trained.
To be honest I would love 10 :), but I would need to rob a bank to be able to afford a property in Ireland that would comfortably house this many!!
It would be great to hear what opinions people have on this..
Louise
 
I don't know how many is enough for the average owner, but I definitely think 2 would be the best number for me. It's a manageable number of dogs in terms of handling on walks and traveling, and both dogs then have doggy company, so I think that's the optimal number for me. Plus I grew up with always 2 dogs in our household at once. They loved each other and they loved us.

I dearly want to get a 2nd Cavalier this summer (hopefully another Blenheim, and hopefully a rescue), but it's tough to convince my husband. He thinks about twice the vet bills, twice the boarding bills, twice the dog hair, and twice the poop. All I think about it twice the love and fun! :)
 
I would say two also, at least that way you could give them they love and attention they need :)
 
I do not think having a garden is an issue. As a matter of fact, I am actually happier to home to someone without a garden many times because I know the dog will be walked, not just shoved out in the garden for some understimulating exercise. Dogs need to get out and about. Some of the best cared for dogs are definitely those with city dwellers in apartments, not in the suburbs!!

I think the maximum is the number that can be managed where each dog gets adequate individual attention. Some can manage many and some will find one to be enough. I live in a two up two down and have four dogs and four cats, all indoor animals and I have only a tiny side yard on my house. After their breakfast the cats disperse and you'd probably not know there was more than one, as a visitor. All four dogs easily will go on one chair or sofa while I work -- not very space consuming. They are walked four times a day, for exercise and to relieve themselves. I don't find this number difficult to manage, but some definitely would.
 
Thats great to hear Karlin - Im am living in a 3 bed semi, with a large'ish' extension to the back on the ground floor. This is where the dogs love to lounge around and sunbathe on the sofa!
Because of the extension, we had to give up some of our garden space, and this is what was holding me back from getting a third dog as I thought it might be cruel. The remaining garden is well big enough for them to have a good sized designated potty area, and also they have room to run and chase around the garden furniture! With all the nearby parks, they get a good walk in each day too in a varied environment.
My Mums two daschunds often come to visit (and we mind them when my Mum goes on holidays), and even with the four of them running around the house - I still find it manageable - although I think that would be my max!
 
If you have smallish cavaliers,it shouldn't be a problem to keep up to three.I'm considering adding another one as I have a good amount of garden space,but it would mean two cavaliers,one lap,two sets of insurance,vet's bills,double poop scooping,double food bills and most of all...double vigilance.
For me, it's the double poop scooping,keeping the garden poop free and the need to be extra vigilant with two cavaliers that really has to be taken into consideration.
Sins
 
I have a slightly larger then average yard I guess - I have about an acre all together, with a small to average sized 3 bedroom house. Right now I share my house with 8 dogs - 7 Italian Greyhounds and my 1 cavalier, 3 of which are rescues that I'm currently working towards finding permenant homes for, so 5 of the dogs are my own, and honestly - The house feels empty! I usually have anywhere from 7 to 12 dogs in my house at any given time when I'm doing rescue, and where I work from home, I'm able to still give them all plenty of one-on-one attention and training, and I take the whole pack for at least one walk a day, if not two (and if they're REALLY lucky, we might get in 3, but with the heat in Vegas during the day right now, three isn't usually possible). When there's more then about 8 dogs, I walk them in 2 groups.
 
Karlin said:
I do not think having a garden is an issue. As a matter of fact, I am actually happier to home to someone without a garden many times because I know the dog will be walked, not just shoved out in the garden for some understimulating exercise. Dogs need to get out and about. Some of the best cared for dogs are definitely those with city dwellers in apartments, not in the suburbs!!
Click to expand...

So glad you said this. When I was looking into rescuing a dog, many didnt seem happy that I am in an appartment and dont have a garden... but right near by are lovely rural areas for walking, just right outside is a big park. My point was the same as yours.... having a dog and no garden means I cant just plonk them out the door for a quick pee. We go out on decent walks every day, since i need to get dressed and ready to go outside anyway - might as well make it a good wee/long walk.

We are looking to get a second cavalier this summer also, and I think that would be a nice amount. I too, think of double the love and company, and also a playmate for Holly.... but also think about the vet bills etc. If I had lots of money, and a big house... i'd have a lot more than two though lol. One can only dream!!! :D
 
I have only one dog ruby. I live in a five bedroom house and a large garden but i dont think the garden is terribly important. As karlin has said in the past king charles are really house dogs. Ruby is inside mostly except when she goes out to do her business. Or she will go out when the children are playing out the back.
Or when my husband goes out to play hurling with her.....yes with the dog. He has about 30 soft balls out the back garden and he hits the balls and ruby brings them back to him.
I prefer to bring her out for a walk and let her see the world instead of in the back garden.

I am at home with her everyday so she is spoilt rotten.
I have been contemplating getting another dog, but i'll have to see and think strongly about it. Ruby has great attention as it is and i don't want to get a second and then not give the proper attention to one.
 
I live in a multi dog household. My dogs seem to get a lot out of living with other dogs. The group I have now get along beautifully. I had one bitch that was demanding and she would hoard toys etc... I've since moved her to her co-owners home and it is like magic. peace reigns -- my point is that the number of dogs you can handle can be determined by how well everyone gets along.
 
yes sandy im sure they would love the company of each other. Thats the other side of it. They would have great fun. Two or three together. Isnt there a man on this board with eight cavaliers or am i wrong??:paw::paw::paw::paw::paw::paw::paw::paw:
 
We have two dogs (hoping to get a third - a rescue!) and live in the town centre but only a couple of minutes away from a very large park. Our garden is small, paved and on many levels, but the dogs seem to like that too. I take them to the park twice a day for an hour's walk, I think we're doing just fine :dogwlk:
 
ruby2 said:
yes sandy im sure they would love the company of each other. Thats the other side of it. They would have great fun. Two or three together. Isnt there a man on this board with eight cavaliers or am i wrong??:paw::paw::paw::paw::paw::paw::paw::paw:
Click to expand...

If your talking about Bruce-- he has stated that he has 14
 
I think you really have to be a dog lover....I mean a real dog lover to have more than one dog....If you know what i mean.

The main thing i suppose is the love a dog gets and they will be happy with steps as you said or no garden. They wont mind. I had my dog at the school today and a little boy raised his leg to kick my dog. His mother said ah mind the dog.....and im afraid i said.....DONT YOU DARE KICK MY DOG!! And he wasnt young....He was 8 or 9. I think thats very sad to feel that way about an animal...... What way would he be with humans???:confused:

Then again i would like to kick some humans!!!! hee hee sorry....:rolleyes:
 
LOL-- these are cavaliers, not mastiffs-rotf. /thoooo-- Bruce is an architect (If I remember right).
 
I think she means that they don't take up that much space. rofl= roll on floor laughing.

I currently live in a 2 bedroom about 1,000 square foot apartment with one dog, 2 cats, and don't forget the husband. We do have a fenced in dog area at the back of the lot but what's even better where we live is that they turned the old rail road tracks behind the buildings into a paved trail for walking, biking, roller blading. If the land lord and my husband would let me I would get at least one more dog maybe two if we could afford it.
 
Are you guys talking about me again? :lol::lol:

Yes, we have a LOT (14) of dogs. And they are all in the house with us! Our whole life revolves around the dogs, as you can imagine. Literally everything we do is planned around the dogs. If one of us goes somewhere for the weekend, the other has to stay home. In fact, we have not had a vacation together, without the dogs, for at least 6 or 7 years.

As an example of how we have to plan things: This summer we are going to my parents house for a 3 day weekend to celebrate their 60th anniversary and our 25th. We can't get anyone to watch all those dogs, so we are renting an RV and taking them all with. They'll ride in their crates. We'll bring 3 x-pens that we can connect together and set outside so they can pee and poop and not be cooped up inside. We will be very busy with the dogs that weekend. And the answer to everyone's question is: "Yes, my whole family thinks we have lost our mind." :lol:

For exercise, we have a large fenced back yard. They spend a lot of time playing with each other, but their favorite thing is playing fetch off the deck. We just stand on the deck and throw a balls, the dogs go en masse at a dead run down the stairs and out into the back yard, one lucky dog finds the ball, then they all go en masse back up the stairs, following the one that got the ball. Then it starts all over again. I think they would do this till they collapsed if we let them!

For sleeping arrangements, there are 4 at a time that sleep with us at any given time. The rest sleep in their own crate in our dog room/grooming room. During the day, they are all in the house with us. There is nothing more relaxing that to be sitting on my recliner surrounded by dogs. I can get as many as 6 or 7 with me when I have the footrest out! Amazing how the dogs will stack on top of one another without so much as a yip.

So what was this thread about? How many is enough? I'm not sure :lpy:! I really think it depends on each persons situation. Kris doesn't work, or should I say she doesn't work a regular job; these dogs are a LOT of work. It would be impossible to have all our dogs if she worked outside the home.
 
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