I live with 10 dogs. 9 of those dogs are "mine", and the other one might as well be, I love her as my own.
Living with 10 dogs is not nearly as compicated, physically, as it is emotionally. Feeding X 10, places to hang out X 10, places to sleep X 10, going to the park X 6 (some dogs can't do the park thing anymore), treats and toys X 10, all pretty easy to handle.
But what happens when one dog is the favourite of the 10? I don't think it is painfully obvious to dogs 2 through 9 that they are not number one. In my case, Kirby Puckett, the one and only original North American Brown Dog, is my heart, my soul, my number one. He is the light of my life, dog-wise. Everybody else is number two.
For Chris, number one is Piper the punk. For Angelina, Sienna, her Itty-Bitty-Pitty is number one.
I love my dogs with everything I am. They totally bring out any and all things that are good about me, but I can't help feeling that somebody (other than Madison, AKA Eeyore, who thinks nobody loves her, which is, of course, not true) isn't getting enough....enough attention, enough love, enough stimulation, enough exercise, enough face time.
It's not intentional, of course, but still and all, how do we make sure dogs who have to share their humans with other dogs, or cats, or rabbits, hedgehogs, birds, guinea pigs , human children get enough of everything they need to stay happy, healthy and whole?