As far as Fayette County is concerned, more than three dogs at one address constitutes an illegal pack, and if you want more canines, you're barking up the wrong tree.

Responding to critics of the current zoning restriction that requires any homeowner who wants to keep more than three dogs to get a kennel license, the county is expected to stand firm on the number.

Thursday night the County Commission will consider a change that will allow a fourth pet, but not a fourth dog, to become a legal addition to county households. The proposed change would alter the definition of kennel in the county's zoning ordinance.

Commission assistant Carol Chandler said the definition will now be changed to allow residents to keep four pets at their home, but only three can be dogs.

"Our animal shelter director said that when you have four dogs together, they assume a pack mentality," she said.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at the county's administrative complex on Stonewall Avenue in Fayetteville.