how many dog is to many

For me rule #1 is: keep only as many as I can without getting divorced.

I've got 5 (3 + 2) I hunt on average once a week year-round. Round this time I'm going more like 2 or 3 times a week, but come July/August/September its much less often. Having EXACTLY as many as I need to make a hunt is sometimes a problem, no backups means I often find myself stuck without the ideal team.

Right now my mix is 2 very solid older find dogs (finished) and one young dog on trial + 2 catch dogs (1 finished, 1 coming along). I'll keep working to find the right young dog to put into the mix - but I'm not going to take more than 1 or 2 on at a time.

Guys that hunt more need to have more backups, or ideally a full second team.

Another thing to consider is are you a hunter, a breeder - or are you trying to be both? If you are trying to do both - it will mean you'll obviously have to keep more dogs.

Another rule that I TRY to stick to is I don't buy/take a dog on that isn't better than something I've already got. That means that I'm not going to bring something onto my team that I don't think has a realistic shot at improving upon what I've already got. A few times I allow myself to bend this rule - but not often (see rule #1)

Tim