I have only ever had two dogs at a time, but my friend has had up to five.....all whippets or whippet crosses, she is a convert from colllies. She would also only ever consider having a bigger pack of dogs if they were whippets as she feels they are so lazy and very easy.

She does dog sitting and this Christmas she will have her three whippety dogs and three more on holiday with her!

I have four dogs who live in the house (my OH's dogs all live outdoors in kennels) and wouldn't have it any other way. The more dogs, the more mess - so invest in a good hoover!

Other than whether the dogs get on (which is obviously very important), you will also need to consider whether you can afford two extra dogs (food, vet bills etc), have you the time to train, exercise, spend time with two further dogs? Also think about things such as holidays or visiting family and friends - do you always take your dogs? If so, will having two more cause any problems?

If none of the above is a problem, then I would go for it

Thanks so much for all your advice and considerations.

The exercise wouldn't be an issue as such as hubby helps sister, mum etc i don't think i would want to walk 4 together alone....if indi see's a cat when we are out and about she gets very over excited!

We do have the opportunity for the dogs to meet this weekend. I think this is my main worry that they may get on at an inital meeting and then not afterwards, so a trail may be the way to go. Plus i worry about upsetting Indi and Wizard and the nice relaxed relationship they have.

As far as space goes we don't have a big house as such (a 3 bed semi) but we do have a big grden which is great in the summer and like Nippy says this type of dog do fold away pretty small!!!

Also we wouldn't have kennel costs as we don't use a kennel, they always stay with family. There was only one instance when we couldn't do that and that was when we got married last year in Las Vegas!! and they stayed in a dog hotel!!!!! spoilt they are!!

I do chose to spend my money on my dogs and go without other things because dogs are my number one interest, and i am more than happy with this.

Our two greys don't eat an awful lot and i suspect the whippets would be the same, although our two are very fussy and as far as i know the whippets are not fussy.

As far as insurance goes we don't have any currently, we used to but then cancelled it after hearing all sorts of horror stories about this particular company and them not paying out in certain cases where the history or the dog was unknown and the fact that they were ex-racers too. We decided that we didn't want to find ourselves in that situation. We opened a bank account for the dogs and put money in it each month by direct debit. We would look at insurance for the whippets though as their history is known.

Any further advice greatly appreciated

Ooo yes, holidays are a consideration. My friend does find it hard to find someone who will take four dogs when she goes away.

Another consideration is , what ages are all the dogs . Younger dogs are generally more work and then again very old dogs become more work too ?

I think you have made your mind up already
Elaine xx

Goodluck whatever you decide, the weekend could be a good decider for you, xxxxxx

As long as they all get on ok you won't have a problem, twice as much walking as you do now, twice as much poop scooping but as long as you have the time and funds it isn't really that much more difficult than 2 or 3, the biggest step for me was going from a single dog household to a multi dog household. Whippets and greys are also good breeds to have together anyway so you have that in your favour. Best of luck. x

I guess the only way to work it out is to do a few "worse case" scenarios, financially, and time wise. If none of these scare you to death, then go for it hon

I have 6 dogs and have had a large pack for the last 20 years or so. I am lucky in that I spend a lot of time at the stable yard so the dogs all come with me and spend hours running around acres of grass fields. We also have lovely woods and the beach nearby, so they never need to be walked in the street. 2 of mine are whippets and I would say they would fit in anywhere quite happily. They seem to get on with all the dogs they meet.

The funny thing is that my dogs all love to be with me but do not seem the least bit jealous of each other, whereas my friend has only 2 dogs and they are constantly pushing for attention.

I would say that if the dogs all get on then go for it. Whippets are super little dogs and I'm sure you won't regret it