I Didn't Think I Was a Dog Person

I have always said that I am a cat lady. I could be one of those little old ladies with 20 cats in her house. Let me clarify.....I could if I kept the litter box outside and had a cat door. Either way, I love cats. I have alot of friends and family who I would consider "dog people". They love their dogs like it is their child. I never really could look at my dog that way. My children are my children...my dog is my dog. I've been thinking that maybe I'm not a "dog-as-a-child" person. I have never really liked dogs to lick me, especially in the face. You can call it kissing if you like, to me it is slobbering. I guess these things always made me think I just wasn't a dog person. But now that my dog is gone, I really miss him.

I really think that Tommy started getting sick about 4 or 5 months ago. I suddenly noticed he was clinging to me. He would follow me all over the house, and sometimes I would literally trip over him. I was talking to a friend about it and they said, "How's your health?". I kind of wondered at the time if something was wrong with me and my dog sensed it. Now I think it was him that was sick.

Here are some things that I miss:
--I miss him because he was my protector. He particularly guarded me. He even bit a guy on the leg one time because he came charging unannounced up on our driveway where my toddler was.
--I miss the big full patch of fur on his back that my neighbor referred to as his camel's hump. :)
--I miss him barking, it just made me feel safer.
--I miss having him sleep at the foot of my bed. When I get up in the night I instinctively look for him so I won't trip on him.
--I miss him cleaning up food spills lol

There's alot more, but I'll spare you. :)

You might be wondering if we are planning to get another animal. I have to admit that I really would like to, but lately we have been talking about going back to China in the not too distant future, and if we had an animal, it would complicate things. We had some friends in China who brought their dog with them when they came. But the dog had to spend a long time in a kennel in China for observation so they could make sure she wasn't sick. I really would hate for an animal to have to go through that, not to mention the cost of shipping them there. My second son has been begging me to get another animal. I'm just not sure if we should right now.