I love my dogs but I am so tired of the mess!

[cinnamonmon]

I know this board is full of dog lovers which is why I love it so. I cant imagine life without a dog...but somehow I find myself with 3 of them which is way too many. I had two and then inherited my sons Yorkie when he and his fiancee broke up. I never would have take a 3rd dog, but I fell in love...you know how that is.
However, this Yorkie is always sick with one thing or another, has cost me a fortune already and she is young. One or the other of them is having an accident, pee, poo, or vomit. I have a small house and they have ruined my carpet. I have explored the idea of hardwood but I cant afford to have them ruin them also. They are mostly trained, but do tend to have accidents if we dont take them out very often...and of course, yard is not fenced, so Im always walking them. To top if off, now the Yorkie and one of my original dogs fight constantly, day and night. We have to keep one of them locked in the kitchen at all times and have to walk them separately.
I am just venting my frustration as at this point I love them all and cant get rid of them. Maybe those of you with more than one can give me some advice on how you keep your house clean and how you organize and afford more than one. Thanks for listening.
laura

[yorkieusa]

You sound tired and frustrated. Would a fence be possible? Even a chain link fence? They're inexpensive. Having a fence makes training easy and the accidents would disappear. I'm sure you love them all. Everyone has their days like this.

[YorkieShadow]

How about a small kennell, just to let them go potty in.

[sweetr72]

Originally Posted by yorkieusa

You sound tired and frustrated. Would a fence be possible? Even a chain link fence? They're inexpensive. Having a fence makes training easy and the accidents would disappear. I'm sure you love them all. Everyone has their days like this.

I have to agree with you...a fence would do wonders to heal your frustrations. I cant imagine having to walk my 3 dogs everytime they had to go to the bathroom..I probably let mine out every hour so they are next to no accidents in the house anymore...I do feel for ya though...maybe try to confine them to an x-pen with pee pads in it when you cant get them outside and they will learn to go on the pee pad too!!

Dawn

[ImCKN]

I have 3 adults also, and I know what you mean about being too many. We love them all dearly and rehoming one is out of the question. We do have a fence and it is wonderful. We open our back door and all three just run out to a safe area to give the house a break and all those that are in the house. Have patience..things do get better.

[yorkiegirl83]

I have 4, and believe me I know how hard it can be when they are sick, or having potty problems, or chewing up stuffed animals leaving stuffing all over the house .

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed that I took on so much responsibility in a year ( yes I'm nuts).

But they are the greatest joys in my life so I try to work with them as hard as I can on training and potty habits.

It will get better

[cinnamonmon]

Thanks everyone, I am tired. I know it would be better if I had a bigger house and fenced yard. Maybe I am looking at the wrong kind of fencing but what Ive looked at would cost several thousand dollars. We are a corner lot, so no back yard, just two large sides with the house in the middle, so we would have to fence a large area, plus since it would be right in front or our house, appearance is important so I cant get chain link...was looking at the vinyl since it wears so well, but no money right now. At this rate with all the money these dogs are costing me I will never have enough. Anyways thanks for listening. Those of you with more than one, do you keep them confined to a certain area of the house? I could keep them in the kitchen but part of me feels what's the use of having pets if you cant keep them with you. Sounds silly but it is very important to me to have a clean house. I grew up poor and my mom was not a great housekeeper, so it is an issue with me. I am always worried that my house smells because of these dogs too.
laura

[yorkiegirl83]

I used to keep mine in 2 large Xpens in the dining room when I was having a lot of trouble with chewing and pottying in the house. It was a nice large area, with beds, toys, food, ect so they were perfectly happy in there when I was too busy to play.

I know that when we just put a fence up, we did it mostly ourselves so we saved quite a lot. Not sure if that is an option for you. It doesn't look the greatest because we hired a crooked carpenter at the end who did a "crooked" job on the rest of the fence, but it's functional and we paid I think around 2,000 for materials not including concrete.

Also, I know that the wooden fence panels at Home Depot and Lowes are cheaper then the Vinyl and still look really nice! Plus they are easier to put up because you don't have to drill the pannels into the posts... Just a thought

Or possibly could you get two big superyards or xpens and leave them outside as a fence that you can go out there with them and supervise, but then all can run around and potty at once?

Before my fence was up I used long tie outs, distanced from each other attached to their harnesses so they could all potty at once. I also did the Xpen thing I mentioned above.

To keep my house clean, I was their bedding daily. I vaccum my home daily and my couch weekly. I run air purifiers and get yankee candle plug ins to make the house smell nice. Also, any accidents and I use Natures Miracle pet cleaner. It's great to get the odor out of accident spots and you can also use it in the wash with their bedding.

It takes a little more creativity without a fence, but I think you can do it! Also... if the other solutions are too pricey you could look into making a temporary chicken wire fence for a smaller area.

[Patti]

I have 3 that are always at the vets and one who is sick and throws up a lot and one that never has gotten the potty training message, so I know how you feel. I worry too about the smell and am always shampooing my carpets and spraying air freshener. They have run of the house. What I did was put 2 ex pens together outside my sliding glass door to let them out. I would not want to walk 3 dogs daily.

[Ivhana]

Patti, I really like what you've done combining the xpens. I hadn't thought of keeping one side open to the back door! /slaps forehead

[YorkieShadow]

Originally Posted by cinnamonmon

Thanks everyone, I am tired. I know it would be better if I had a bigger house and fenced yard. Maybe I am looking at the wrong kind of fencing but what Ive looked at would cost several thousand dollars. We are a corner lot, so no back yard, just two large sides with the house in the middle, so we would have to fence a large area, plus since it would be right in front or our house, appearance is important so I cant get chain link...was looking at the vinyl since it wears so well, but no money right now. At this rate with all the money these dogs are costing me I will never have enough. Anyways thanks for listening. Those of you with more than one, do you keep them confined to a certain area of the house? I could keep them in the kitchen but part of me feels what's the use of having pets if you cant keep them with you. Sounds silly but it is very important to me to have a clean house. I grew up poor and my mom was not a great housekeeper, so it is an issue with me. I am always worried that my house smells because of these dogs too.
laura

I Love,love love a clean house too and with more then one pet it can be a lot of work. I do keep my house spotless most of the time. We have 5 acres and so theres no way I can fence in my yard, Most of the time I walk out and stand and walk with my babys while they potty, but lately theres been a lot more stray kittys running around and my Mickey will chase after them. with my bad back It just gets to be too much some times. So this is what I did. Hubby and I set up a kennel next to my back porch, that way I can carry them out and put them in, They dont like it to well but will potty and be ready to come back out. lol I have even made my porch so ugly, I mean it looks really ugly. I put up kennel sides on the sides of my porch to keep my babys on the porch when I want to just sit out on the porch and relax. its ugly but safe. So I have learned to go with the ugly look for the safety of my baby's. They are with me 24/7 so theres no way I could sit on the porch with out them being with me. with out the sides they would take off after the kittys. people who see it say awww thats nice, sure it is. lol

[cinnamonmon]

Thanks again everyone...some good suggestions. I had given up on the fence idea as dh is very against us spending any more money on "those dogs." I see it as a quality of life issue, for me, especially since they are usually my responsibility though, and since I make the main income, I am going to push harder for the fence. I would love to be able to open the door and let them out to play. I enjoy walking them too and would not give that up. The cleaning is another issue, I work full time and cant spend all my time cleaning. I do vaccum everyday and shampoo my carpet weekly and also always have candles going or various air freshners... I have tried everything. It will help alot when i can get rid of the carpet.
Laura

[Superstarkba]

Maybe one doesn't think that you are giving them enough attention.. do you put them in there crates? Do you ever take them with you? Do you bond with each one of them?

[Superstarkba]

Originally Posted by Patti

I have 3 that are always at the vets and one who is sick and throws up a lot and one that never has gotten the potty training message, so I know how you feel. I worry too about the smell and am always shampooing my carpets and spraying air freshener. They have run of the house. What I did was put 2 ex pens together outside my sliding glass door to let them out. I would not want to walk 3 dogs daily.

Where did you get that expen at? How tall is it? I wonder if AUbrey can jump over that?

[Patti]

I got them at Petsmart and they are 23 inches high. I have used it for 5 of my dogs and not one even tried to jump even when tempted by squirrels and bunnies. I never let them out there alone either. It really is nice and bigger than it looks. I can fit 5 -6 lawn chairs there when my family comes over. I clean it daily so there is no odor or anything.