BTW, my life has also been graced with doggies - if I could post pix, I'd put up pix of my German Shepherd/Bull Mastiff mix with his snowsuit on - I made a complete wardrobe for the bald brat - we lived in Montana at the time, and he was VERY short-haired, so he had a snowsuit, a coat, a Harley (tm) jacket, and his own (house-level insulated) doghouse. Brat could drag both my husband and I (combined weight of over 300 pounds) at the end of his leash, if he so chose...
Then there's Sheeba! She's my little baby; a German Shepherd/Border Collie/Blue Heeler/Dalmation/Dingo mix (we think)... She has gone with us on our vacations for the last 4-5 years, and her absolutely most favorite spot in the world is the 75-foot-high waterfall and pool on Lower Calf Creek Falls in Escalant'e, Utah - If ONLY I could post photos! - she is about 14 now, and we don't know how many more times she'll be able to make that 12-mile-hike, but at least it's an easy one...
So, I love doggies too! And hamsters, and raccoons - rescued one whose entire family had been hit by a car... And deer, and coyotes, and foxes, and so on... Zid