<p>I can understand your desire to have a dog if you are an animal person, my DD who had the cat is now in grad school just under an hour from our home, she has evolved into coming here on the weekends and sleeping with the dog…she loves the dog and he loves her, but she does not have time for him every day…she has pet sit him for us and has to rearrange her schedule to address his needs.</p>
<p>Our dog is almost 9 and he needs a good 3-5 mile off leash run/walk/chew/sniff time or he cannot settle down. A good dog is a dog who is well exercised. Our dog’s only concession to age is that he can wait until the afternoon for his walk whereas in his first few years it had to be first thing.</p>
<p>A cat could work or perhaps you could try the helper dog training- this would let you do a good service for society and try out the experience of having a dog, might give you the best of both worlds</p>