I love having a dog. I really can’t think of a time in my life that a dog wasn’t in it. There’s a certain comfort having a dog in your life. Even with my environmental allergies, I need a dog in my life.

When I was born, my parents already had a wire-haired fox terrier named Whiskey. He lived until I was about five. I cried when we had to put him down. Poor old dog was deaf and blind by the end.

Then we had another fox terrier. This time a bitch named Brandy. And she was a true bitch in the most derogatory term imaginable. She bit everyone and clawed at kids. Less than two years old and she was given away. Having a puppy around small children isn’t the best idea I guess. No one was able to train her and we treated her like a living stuffed animal.

Then we had a cocker spaniel named Charlie. Unfortunately we only had him for about four years. He grew a cancerous tumor above his eye and we had to put him down. But he was cuddly and adorable.

Then we had a little white multi-poo named Alvin. He had skin issues and was rather over-weight as he grew up. He began a strict diet to try and help his heart. But he lived for a pretty long time all things considering.

When my wife and I met, she a dog named Chuppy. When we moved in together, I inherited Alvin in what my mother thought was his final year. He became active and healthy again as we looked after him. He lived on for a few more years. Then my mother took Alvin back for his final days.

My wife’s dog Chuppy was a Rhodesian ridgeback she rescued in Turkey. He was super loved by everyone who met him. I wrote about him back in September: Good Dog if you want to read more.

Lex is our most current family member. He has been great in so many ways. He was one of my first topics when I started blogging back in the start of 2016: Lex. He is still one of the greatest dogs I have ever met.

But once he is gone, we may not adopt a pet again for a long time. Our children will be older and possibly moved on in life. My wife and I are planning more traveling. And that leaves no time to take care of another family member. So while I’ve enjoyed having dogs around (I am a dog person not a cat person), it will be time to move on.

Thank you to all of the four legged family members I have had in my life. I hope that the enjoyment I received from them being around was reciprocated. It’s difficult to say.