I purchased my golden 10 years ago from a breeder. Her husband had health issues and she was decreasing her number of dogs. I bought my best friend that day for a whopping $35. Though there is no amount of money that equals his worth to me. I began taking my (at the time) Lucky puppy to obedience classes, and surprise, he was AWESOME! We competed very successfully for a few years until he started having car ride anxiety. To my knowledge he never had a bad experience, but he doesn't enjoy rides like he used to. My sweet dog has seen me through an abusive relationship, and couple good ones. When my dog met my current husband I knew he was the man I'll spend the rest of my life with, because my dog who is always indifferent about 99% of people, loved him at first sight! I mean obviously there were/ are more reasons than that, but it just goes to show my dog's great judge of character With every year that passes I try to prepare myself for he inevitable. I know there will never be another dog that compares to him. I just feel overwhelmingly blessed sharing my life with this incredible dog. No matter what I weigh, what others think about me, what I think about myself, he loves the crap out of me. For me there is no better pick me up then unconditional love.

I know the feeling. I got my dog from some friends that lost their home. I offered to watch her until they could find housing, but after a few months they split and ended up telling me to keep her. She's the best thing that ever happened to me. The responsibility forced me to take a good hard look at my life get my unemployed depressed butt out of bed, start working, and start making things better for myself so I could make things better for her. She has also seen me through an abusive relationship. My fiance and I got in a fight a long while ago and after we had nothing left to say she hopped up on the bed and "talked" at him for two full minutes. Through good and bad times she's always greeted me with quivers of excitement when I get home and cuddles when I'm sad. Yeah I wouldn't trade that unconditional love for anything in the world.

That's sweet...I had 2 pugs that I adopted in 1995. One was 5 months, the other 2 months. Two gorgeously silly fat male teddy bears who only wanted food, limited exercise, lots of love and my bed to sleep on. I lost the first one when he was 16 years old in 2011. What got me through it was knowing I still had my little guy with me...it was hard on both of us, and he passed away at 19 years old this summer. They are definitely irreplaceable. My bf had two wonderful cats when I met him and I've basically taken over one of them, who is very much like a pug!

When we move to a bigger house, we plan to get a bunch of dogs. I can't wait. It's hard to say goodbye, but the memories are amazing. They got me through so much! We are blessed to have been/are pet owners!!

What a lovely thread! I've loved reading about your babies.

I got my black lab as a package deal.... she came with my husband going on 9 years ago. He got me, 3 kids & a dog. I got him & a a dog. She was just a pup then, just over a year old and when he left for Iraq for over a year, she became mine. He says I stole her, because her devotion to me is obvious. She slept on my head (yes, all 100 pounds of her!) the whole time he was gone. I'm not sure if she was trying to keep me safe or keep me from abandoning her.

When my hubby came home she was soooo excited, she nearly burst! She jumped into his arms, wiggle, wiggle, wag, wag... then came the cold shoulder! She was very hurt and angry he had left her and would not "speak" to him for probably 6 weeks. They've patched things up, but she is now clearly mine. I dread the thought of something happening to her. She's a doll. In fact, I opened this thread because I was wondering if it was about the orthopedic dog bed we just bought her because it cost right about $35 and it definitely seems to be helping her get moving in the morning.

My French bulldog is my buddy. He definitely understands me.