This is why

I am not afraid or lonely when I am all by myself.  This is Felicity and she is the reason that the UPS man hesitates to come up to the door.  She is very big; 100# and has a very deep voice.

 This is Rascal  and though he is smaller about 65#;  he still intimidates with his loud deep voice.  Between the two of them they make an excellent alarm system.  It is a very loud alarm system.  At this point I am very glad they are learning to distinguish and ignore; the mailman, the garbage truck, and most of the neighbors.  They only bark at the next door neighbor when he comes in with the windows down and the music blaring; can't blame them for that, the music most definitely covers up the sound of the car.  They also recognize our cars but the alarm goes off anyway; I guess it's their way of greeting us.

We also walk the dogs several times a day so the whole neighborhood knows we have large dogs.  Nobody bothers our house.  In fact some people have a hard time visiting and we have to put up the dogs although once introduced there is no problem, but they have to be introduced.  My biggest fear is getting sick and having to call 911(I keep my cell phone on me all the time just in case)and not being able to get the dogs put up and the dogs being so protective that the EMT's can't get to me.  I guess all things have good and not so good points.   

Felicity is an Akita and I do believe that when one gets a dog one needs to look into the breed or breeds of the dog that one is getting.  I have seen enough pure breeds and mixed breeds where I knew the breeds that I have come to realize how important knowing about the breed is.  

Akitas are big, strong, intelligent, independent dogs.  They are not dogs for first time dog owners.  They kind of remind me of cats in big dog clothing.  The vet loves Felicity, the only Akita in her practice that she was not afraid of, because she is so well socialized but in discussing obedience training she said Good luck Akitas are very hard to obedience train, but a well socialized Akita makes for a real nice dog.  They tend to be independent like a cat and sometimes I have to go look to see where she has settled herself.  They also tend to be a one person dog and unfortunately Emily is Felicity's person.  She tolerates and socializes with us but when Emily is here she sticks to Emily like glue.  We owe Felicity a great deal as she got Emily through her sister's teen years and her own teen years.  I really wish we could find a way to get those two together again, but circumstances change and Emily would not be able to care for her.  I would like to always have a big protective dog but like I said circumstances change and I am no longer able to train and take care of a large dog.  Felicity is getting old especially for an Akita and when she is gone that will be the last of the large dogs for us.  SIGH :^C

Rascal is my constant companion; unlike Felicity that I have to go look for; Rascal is always in the same room as me and he's kind of like having a clingy toddler and follows me to the bathroom and waits for me outside.  Once again I can't even go to the bathroom without being followed.  We rescued him but payed attention to his breeding.  He is part Australian Shepard and part Lab.  I wanted to train him for a service dog.  I needed the build, size, friendliness and soft mouth of the Lab and the herding instincts of the Shepard.  Once again circumstances changed, the kids who promised and were in their late teens and capable, fell through on the training.  Rascal never got big enough and has also had many health issues which has kept us from taking him out in public.  Even though he did not turn out to be as useful as we had hoped; he has turned out to be a terrific companion for me.  Very helpful since I spend a lot of time by myself.  Even if Jeremy is here, he holes up in his room and I would still feel alone.  With my dogs I never have to feel lonely.

 

This is a photo from Wikipedia one of the places you can go to get info on dog breeds or go to bing and you will get several options. These are Cavalier King Charles Spaniels.  I would always like to have a dog; I think having a dog is good for me, but circumstances do change and I'm not sure I'll always be able to take care of a dog.  However due to the change of circumstances my choice of dog breed has already changed. No more big dogs.  These are little guys around 15#.   A size that I could easily take care of now.  They are lap dogs and right now a lap dog for company sounds good.  Rascal is too big for a lap dog which is too bad and he never got big enough to be a service dog. But even with the change of circumstances I still love Rascal and plan on keeping him.  These little dogs are also good with other dogs, friendly with strangers although they do bark at strangers.  They are very good with children of all ages and with 10 grandchildren that is very important, especially since one has autism.  They can also be trained to lay still up next to you which in effect makes them a living, breathing, hot water bottle.  With fibromyalsia that sounds good to me.  We'll see if this kind of dog might someday join our family.