Well we do have quite a few...but they are all in the house all the time except for when they go out to potty. Hubby and I gave up on sleeping alone a long time ago. Lucky for us the standards prefer to sleep on the couches our in the dog beds or I am sure we would have to have 2 king sized beds pushed together. Of course you never get cold or lonely, that is for sure!
I have always been around animals growing up...always had more than one pet at a time and the same with my husband. My first love was Rotties, but after allergies became such an issue I had to consider a non-shedding breed. I visited everything from Maltese to Bichon breeders, but I am not sure if it was the cats in their home or the puppies themselves, but ALL other breeds besides Poodles and Chinese Crested I have encountered have made me sneeze or at least stuffy. Our french bulldog can't sleep in the bed with us, not that she has ever even tried to jump up on the bed and I still have to take allergy meds everyday for other allergies.
So yeah...we have quite a few, but they are all well loved and UTD on their shots, flea/heartworm meds and so on. I do my own 7 in 1 shots to save a bit of money...but I am one of the lucky few who has an awesome vet who doesn't charge office visits. He only charges for the cost of meds so taking your dog to be vaccinated costs you $12.00 TOTAL instead of the $25.00 office visit + $12.00 shot.
I haven't had anyone ever show me how to groom, so I am still learning after 3 yrs. I am sure my dogs hair cuts look a bit odd, but I do try. I have some dogs that came to me never been groomed so some are far from a treat to groom at all!
My poor Daisy came from a breeder who kept her in a 8 foot X 10 foot kennel with 2 labs...2 yrs old and never been groomed. I weighed her hair after I got her able to move basically...it was 5 lbs of hair including all the leaves, sticks, poop, ect. I probably took almost 7 lbs after I finished her feet and face...now I just keep her shaved down totally at about 2-3 inches long. I had to groom her while sitting under the kitchen table, because that is the only place she felt 100% safe at the time.
It can be hectic, but we manage just fine I think...most people do think we are crazy but once they visit they always want to come back. Our home isn't the mad house it would seem like, our guys are all trained and only bark when someone knocks, then are quiet after they enter. I do watch a lot of Ceaser to make sure my pack is acting correctly and to see if there is any behavior I want to try to modify!
Our kids love having friends over, because our dogs love kids and games...so they keep each other entertained!
