[jlm]

As I've said in my few posts, I've never owned a dog before - before, well, a few days ago. Our family has adopted a little pup from an animal rescue.

I was just wondering if there were any others out there who had never had a dog and fell hopelessly in love. I'd love some positive vibes to energize me in this transition. (So far, it's going very well.)

[reeskujo]

I've had dogs all of my life from childhood up...My mom was a breeder of German Shepards and I was a breeder of Akitas...

I can tell you though that even those of us here who have had dogs all of our lives have many times falling in love with "that one special one"...It's probably the reason most of us wind up with more then one dog...

It's great to hear that you and your family have made the commitment to care for your puppy...You will have many years of joy coming your way!...As most of us here would agree there is nothing more rewarding then the unconditional love and loyalty you get from a dog!...Believe me the trying times of puppy hood are so worth the end result!

[cigwyllt]

Have to agree with you there. I was 6 when my family had a dog for the first time and throughout our marriage we have had two or three dogs at once but, although I loved all those dogs and each one was unique and special there are two that will always stand out. The first was Yeti, my first Jack Russell who I conned my parents into letting me have when I was 19. Even though I had made my husband promise that I could have a puppy when Yeti died (he was only a youngster when we got married) when the time came I couldn't even look at another dog. Although we eventually added another two dogs as the older ones died it wasn't until three years ago, nearly 12 years after Yeti died that I took the plunge and got Manny.

Within 48 hours of bringing him home I knew he was the canine equivalent of a soulmate. My two girls are lovely and lovable. One is a largerish dog who sees herself as a lap dog and the other is a little bigger than a chihuahua and thinks she is a rottweiler. I love the both but Manny the Jack Russell has a stirred up something in me that I thought had died along with Yeti.