Everyone I've talked with who has five or more dogs claims to be a serious dog lover. This probably doesn't come as a surprise, given the maintenance that only one dog needs on a daily basis. Dogs have a lot to teach us about community, boundaries, love and respect, and I would venture to say that if you have more than five dogs, you are constantly reminded of these things. 

All dogs need exercise. Period. Often times when I work in homes with multiple dogs, I find that one of the main problems is lack of exercise, multiplied by the number of dogs. It doesn't matter if I'm working with five Maltese dogs, they still need to get their energy out somehow. 

Collective exercise can be a beautiful thing, or it can be a disaster if you don't have control over your dogs and if they don't respect you as their leader. Dogs feed off of each other's energy and behaviors, therefore you can have many very well behaved dogs in one house, or many monsters. 

My best advice to anyone who owns multiple dogs and wants to have a peaceful and happy existence with them is to treat them all equally. See yourself as number one and see them all as number two. This looks like you doing everything first, and then doing everything second. Dogs want someone to look up to and call their master, but without this role in their life, they quickly realign the pecking order and begin to take charge out of necessity. 

I am always impressed by other people who take on the challenge of owning multiple dogs, it especially makes my heart very happy when I see multiple rescue dogs in one home. We must keep in mind, though, that it is our responsibility and privilege to care for them as pack leaders rather than just part of the pack.