I have one wonderful Yorkshire Terrier. He was too big for his breed so I got a "real good deal" in so many, many ways. We love him like crazy. Matter of fact, a lot of days we love him more than we love most people, lol.
He's thirteen years old now. Still seems very healthy but...... we're getting nervous. If we get a next dog, it will come from a shelter. My husband argues this point. Now that the kids are getting older, he doesn't want to tie us down to the house. I just can't picture myself not having this kind of "love in my life". It's very special!
Kathyrn, we also feed birds and USED to feed the squirrels - that is, until one made a hole in our new roof to use our attic as a nest. What a problem!!!! We're very careful how we feed the birds now.