Taking care of a dog is often referred to by many as the same process as raising a child. Dogs will great you with waging tails and dancing in place when you arrive home after however long of an absence. They are always happy to see you. Dogs will often stare at you with loving eyes and they are great snugglers.

It is unknown as to when dogs actually became domesticated, however archaeologists speculate that it was about 14,000 years ago. The remains of dogs have been found burried with humans in many ancient cemetaries. Science has proved that dogs use logic when learning new words, and they understand human expressions.

Humans and their relationships with their pets are commonly the longest and strongest during their life span. These furry friends often provide a sense of camaraderie, comfort, and unconditional love. Some pet owners really go all out when caring for them. There are "doggie day cares" where you can drop your pet off while you are at work. Pet spas provide not only grooming services put also, pet facials, pet manicures, etc. Their are even "Pet Psychics" who will visit your home and tell you how your dog is feeling.

Dogs are often used to help the elderly or terminally ill. Who wouldn't perk up from a visit from a cute, fuzzy puppy? Dogs are also often trained to help the deaf or legally blind. Dogs bond very well with young children and often help kids with many happy memories while growing up.

I have had dogs and cats since I was a little child. Growing up I had a dog named Star who was a half black lab and half mutt. He was born under our pier and beam house. His mother belonged to our next door neighbors. I remember my dad crawling under the house and getting the puppies moved out of the cold.

Twelve years ago my husband I adopted a female German Rottweiler. Her name was Harley. She was two or three years old according to the vet. Harley weighed 65 lbs. when we got her and she had a terrible cold. We worked with her and coaxed her back to heath. She got over her cold and in a year she weighed 135 lbs. She was a wonderful pet. She traveled with us and was apart of our family. She was a friend to my kids. When my boys were young and would wrestle she would pull them by the back of their pants to separate them. It was so cute. We found out she had cancer and we were so worried. It was inoperable and the vet told us to monitor her appetite and ability to move around and that she still had several good years left. We had many good years with her. We ended up having to put her to sleep two years ago. It was devastating. We truly felt like we lost a family member. It took a long time before we were ready to get another pet.

Last year we happened to stop by a local animal control center. We had planned to "just look". We walked through the small dog kennels and we saw the cutest little white and tan dog, that we thought was a Chihuahua. His name was Andy. He didn't bark like most of the other dogs when we stood in front of the kennel. Instead he pressed the length of his body against the bars, as if to say "Please pet me". The pet tech talked us into taking him in to a room to play with him. He immediately stole our hearts. After a visit to the vet we learned that Andy was only a year and a half old and he is an Italian Greyhound.

After about a month we decided that Andy needed a friend to hang out with while we were at work. We went back to the same animal control center. We walked into the small dog area and looked in each kennel. In the last kennel we came to was a very skinny red Chihuahua. He immediately licked his lips and rolled over on his back and put his paws up, wanting his belly rubbed. We noticed that he had what looked bite marks on his snout and body. The tech explained that he had been attacked by a Pit-bull. She opened the kennel and I got to hold him and that was all it took. He had me completely wrapped around his paw. We named him Chance.

This week we gained another new addition to our home. We now have Gussie and she is a Pug. We adopted her from a co-worker who could no longer take care of her. She is very playful and loving. She even gives hugs. Chance loves her. They spend hours smelling each other and sleeping. Andy is still on the fence however. Being a Pug, Gussie snorts a lot. So he really doesn't know what to think. As for me, I love her. You might say it was love at first site.

I wouldn't trade any of my pets for anything!! They truly are a part of my family. What else can I say, but I love them.