@danybegood1 Absolutely. And for those strong and brave enough, adopting a mature animal is enormous!

Jim

@danybegood1 It's not easy when you lose a beloved pet. We had to put ours down and that was one of the most difficult things I ever did. He was such a special dog. We got him for my daughter and she and I, after poring through baby name books, named him Keller which is Gaelic for "little companion" which was perfect for him.
JK

@contentandwell

I'm glad to hear from someone who values their marriage relationship. A lot of people would get the dog and tell their partner to deal with it. I understand that there are situations when the love of a pet would be a much better alternative to the brokenness of a marriage. I'm with you on this one. Maybe a nice stuffed animal would be a helpful compromise. They don't bark, have accidents, don't chew up your brand new shoes, or make demands on your time or budget.

Jim

@jimhd Jim, a stuffed animal just does not do it for me. I would even be happy I think with a bunny! My daughter had two adorable dwarf bunnies that she would bring here, Virgil and Beulah. Bunnies have a language of their own and she read up on it and could interpret what they were saying by their expressions. She unfortunately had to find a new home for them because they started chomping on the woodwork in her apartment. She now has a little "rescue" dog.
JK

So many senior dogs, already family trained, are sitting in shelters waiting to be rescued!

Thanks for your note. Just reading an article "The Real Benefits of Pet Ownership" by John Bradshaw. "Animals may not make us healthier, but they help bring people together" in the Wall Street Journal of 10/28-10/29 2017 page C3. Good article that uses the expression the "pet effect" as pet owners are making friendships easily in their neighborhoods, etc. Also, with cat owners they group together and cat sit for each other when needed. All good outcomes from our pets.

Article also reported that Dr. John Bradshaw has a new book "The Animals Among Us: How Pets Make Us Human," that was published by Basic Books on October 31, 2017.

Agent Darien says he wants the book for Christmas! Guess Humane Societies rescue humans as well as their pets. We all need and love each other.

Hugs to all and if anyone reads the book I'd love to hear about how they feel about it.

@AgentDarien

Sadie here. I was rescued through the local humane society shelter. I'd had a rough start to my life and I was a nervous wreck when I met Jim. I settled down gradually, and by now, I think I help him with his issues. I'm lucky to be Jim's service dog, cuz I get to go everywhere with him. In fact it's time to go remind him that it's time to go to his appointment with the therapist. His name is Robert, and I like him. He's always saying that I'm the sweetest dog he's ever seen. We always stop at McDonald's on the way and share an ice cream cone. Since Jim overdid it with the desserts over the holidays, he's trying to lose some weight, so I haven't had a cone for a while. I hope he'll break from his diet today. Of course, I need to lose some weight, too, so I haven't been getting many scraps from his plate lately, and he really doesn't give me as much dry food as I think I need.

Gotta go visit Robert. I'll talk more later.

Sadie and Jim