I get this question a LOT:

What do your neighbors think about all your dogs?!

Let me back up and mention that we live in a townhouse. Yes, I'm serious. 1250 sq ft, tiny backyard, me, Brandon, six dogs, a foster puppy and a cat. Hey, we're a close family :-) I have elderly neighbors on one side of me that have been my neighbors since our houses were built nine years ago. They know I work rescue and they know I have multiple dogs. My other neighbors probably couldn't pick ME out of a lineup, much less tell you how many dogs I have.

Our backyard is fenced (6' wooden privacy with a padlock on the gate) but in all honestly, the dogs are rarely out there more than 15-20 minutes at a time. And they're NEVER out there when we're not home. EVER. I have too many stories about dogs that were poisoned, stolen, shot, etc to ever take that chance. Our guys basically go out, do their business and come back to sit by the door until we let them back in. I probably spend more time out there CLEANING UP their business than they do!

We also don't let them bark like fools when they're outside (or ever for that matter). CiCi LOVES to bark at the birds nesting in the neighbor's crepe myrtle - that's when she gets snatched up and taken back in. We have a "zero tolerance" policy on barking outside. And I assure you, the two Yorkies next door, the two Dachshunds three doors down and the little yapper up the road make MUCH more noise than my guys would ever dream of. Much more noise than I would ever put up with.

As for barking inside, that's mostly reserved for when I get home in the evenings and it's very short lived. Our homes are separated by an 18" firewall and the dogs can't possibly be any louder than our neighbor's surround sound system that rattles my sewing room on a regular basis.

So there you have it, life with multiple dogs in a townhouse. Not for the faint of heart, but also not as bad as you'd think!