This is my second dog that I've owned in my entire life. The last one we had was an Austrailian Silky Terrier. Gorgeous dog, and very much our first "child". Charlie, our second dog, has weedled himself into our hearts in record timing! I appreciate dogs now for many reasons, one of which is getting me outside to walk three times a day whereas normally my lazy butt would be sitting inside getting quite large. I need an "excuse" to get out of the house, more often than not, and because of my Charlie, I now have seen so many lovely things in our natural park behind our house that otherwise may have gone unnoticed. Animals really hold people together sometimes.