<p>We got a dog the year before my youngest started college. I never wanted one before, but DS1 had a girlfriend who got a yorkie puppy and we loved her! They broke up and we were surprised how we missed her visits. She also proved to me that there really are dogs that don’t shed and don’t stink.</p>
<p>Next thing you know we brought home Maggie the yorkiepoo puppy. She is amazingly lovable. She is 10 pounds so she’s big enough not to be fragile and small enough not to be messy. She potties outside (only–the idea of indoor pee pads is as appealing to me as litter box smells- I bather her 7-10 days when she starts to smell of the outdoors, that same dirty dog smell my boys used to get…SHe never chewed a thing. She doesn’t shed either, really! I shed more than she does. Yorkies and poodles have “hair” that just keeps groeng like people, not “fur” like most dogs. I think its the training and providing them with toys and interaction that kept her from chewing things. Walking her several times a day gets me exercise and I’ve met a lot of new people. She is also a shared interest and activity for me and hubby.</p>
<p>She LOVES us when we come home. It’s like she has missed us for days and we are the best thing that ever happened to her. My brother and his wife are “Cat” people, but they confess to missing that their cats don’t react like that, and cats just don’t play the same way either, and you usually don’t walk a car or take it for hike in the woods or on the beach. She does climb on the back ouf our soft chair and lay up there, catlike.</p>
<p>Downside…having to get someone to let her out. I haven’t been away with hubby for a couple of years now, but that is really due more to not wanting to leave my 18-20 year olds home alone! We are planning to fly to Myrtle Beach this fall and she will come with us because she loves the beach. Yes, we want HER to be happy and so we will take her so we can enjoy her loving the beach. She really is our baby, but she if like having a forever toddler as far as taking care of her.</p>
<p>Obviously I vote dog…but if you can’t take care of them by walking, grooming etc, get a cat, or fish.</p>
<p>One more thing…I think my boys growing up made me needy for someone to love me…the boys didn’t need me anymore so Maggie is my buddy…if you know what I mean.</p>