Hi all!

So, currently my partner and I have 3 pups in our house. Sophie, 4 year Alpha chihuahua, Inga 1 year playful Chihuahua, and Bonny a 5 month old Shih Tzu. The house is smooth and playful and fun.
However, we came across a rescue situation and are thinking of adding a 4th chihuahua to the household (she's about 1 year).
Making it definitely a multiple chihuahua household, plus a submissive playful shihtzu who loves everyone!

Questions/advice from other multiple chihuahua parent households? How many do you have? Is it a massive difference? Does it balance everything out? I'm wondering if this may actually balance and help out my household.

Tips and advice and stories are greatly appreciated!

I have multiple chihuahuas...3, and my yorkie/Maltese, totaling 4 all together. They are all well balanced and get along great. Its fun to watch all of their personalities together
There is not a big difference between 3 dogs and 4 The only tough thing I find is getting them out for walks its a huge job with so many. Thankfully some of mine are not big on walks. Willy and Cujo are not big walkers. Cujo's fav thing is just to boot around the backyard like a CRAZY nut! lol Willy of course only has 3 legs so he is content to boot around the livingroom and up and down the stairs. Luna is my biggest walker, she enjoys it most. I couldn't imagine having to walk 4 all the time :-$
They each have their own bond with each other and their own pecking order lol Luna pretty much thinks she's in charge but Rosa who we had first, herds Luna around which is so funny lol My morning routine includes letting the puppers out for a pee first thing then feeding them when they come back in, which I put Luna and Cujo back in their crates to eat (which is ffor a few reasons....one, to make sure Willy actually GETS his food lol and 2 because Luna has issues pooping in the house if she is left out after she eats) So they go back into the crates and Rosa knows this so as soon as they get inside Rosa herds Luna back towards her crate if she takes a single step in the wrong direction.
Then the routine goes to getting my human babys up, fed , lunches made and off to school and then another trip out side for the puppers to pee/poop.

__________________

Thank you SO MUCH for the routine advice! That is really exciting to hear! It sounds like your house is full of love!!! I'm blessed to have the backyard myself, as only my alpha Sophie is big on walks, the other Chi and my Shi tzu-not so much!! So I suppose as long as I always live with some sort of outdoor space it should work out? And be easier?

Again, thanks again for sharing your story.. If you have any other tips, advice on managing a large house Id love to hear more!!
xx

We have 4 dogs in our house. My roommate has a sheltie, I have 3 chi's. Two longhairs and one shorthair. They all get along. The almost 9 yr old is the sheltie. She is the boss, she thinks. The black and tan longhair is 6+ yrs old. My 4 yr old is the shorthair. The baby is the last longhair and is 90% white.

My 'routine' is am: get up, clean up pens, feed dogs. Walk the sheltie. (the chi's are almost 100% inside dogs. I am 74 and arthritic.) After breakfast - human and dogs, there is playtime. the puppy wrasling with the 4 year old mostly. I take a nap for an hour or two, then lunch time. More play time. quiet time until dinner. The puppy is fed about 6 pm. Watch TV, read until 9 pm which is bedtime for animals. The sheltie, and the 6 year old have 'free range' of the house, the other two are in playpens with a kong and some bedtime chewies. They are VERY good about this, and actually will remind me if I'm late!

Hey Susan!

Thank you so much. This is all so reassuring. Oh, and your life sounds just blissful! Lucky you! I have faith again, and am almost 100% on the 3rd Chi, 4th pup.

I just have the two, but if we do add another it will have to be another Chihuahua, for some reason my two only seem to prefer the companionship of other Chihuahau's when on their own turf, out and about at the park and what not is a different story.

I personally like even numbers, so if you already have 3 I say go for 4! I doubt you'll notice much of an increase in your overall workload.

__________________

I don't have multiple dogs but have had as many as 4 at a time in the past with foster dogs and visiting dogs.

At one point we had two large heeler mixes in the house, one mine and one a visiting dog, and two 8 week old german shepherd pups whom I fostered. I had to socialize and train them to be good puppies so that they would have a good start.

The thing that helped the most was to have a routine. The pups went out at certain times and the big dogs were walked. They played with the pups under supervision. I didn't get much rest (two puppies and two adult dogs..yikes!) but they did okay.

You could try fostering your potential adoptee and see how it works out, maybe?

I have four fur babies, 12 year old yorkie, (2) little over a year and half long hair chis, and 1 short hair female we just adopted that is about 10 months old. We weren't looking to adopt when we found her, but couldn't help myself. I agree with some as the other posters before me, not much difference from 3 to 4. Walks are hard for me as well, but mostly because I have two that absolutely hate a harness or a collar (still working on this). But we do have a backyard for them to run unleashed in. Mine are all males except the 1 female we adopted. They all have such different personalities, I think they compliment each other well.