When did you become a 'dog person'?

[Adina P]

Shoney's recent blog post about how smitten she is with her new pup Ruby and calling herself a 'dog lady' made me wonder... When did you first become or consider yourself a 'dog person'?   Was there a defining moment? 

I for one was NOT a dog person until I met my husband.  He had a border collie that was perfect in every way.  One day he left her with me for a day or weekend or something while he was out of town.  The whole idea of a dog INSIDE my house was still a little nerve wracking, but by then I had chilled out a wee bit.  One day while dog sitting Cass, I came home from work and realized it was so nice to have a living creature home to greet me.  I took her for a drive to a pet store just for fun.  I think that was the start.  Then I got Rosco...

Later our first Christmas card as a family...

Share your 'becoming a dog person' story!

[Nicky, Riley & Boris]

I was also born a dog person. My father was a dog and all animal person, I inherited it from him. My mother was a very patient person and even though she was not a born animal lover she facilitated me in turning our home into a dog refuge and a small animal sanctuary. We already had a cocker spaniel when I was born called Rusty and I have never been without a dog (or two) since.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

For me, there was a definite defining moment when I became a dog person, or maybe rediscovered I was a dog person. It was 6 years ago. Yes, I'd had a puppy as a 6yr old, and I remember how I'd loved it so, but it was hit by a car and killed just months later. Both my brother and I were devastated by the loss. From then on I'd only ever had cats and parrots, and considered myself a, 'cat person' and a, 'bird person'. Fast forward to 2009. My grown daughter was dog sitting a friend's Jack Russell for a week and asked if I'd mind taking it out for walks while she was a work. I was more than happy to do it. From the moment I set eyes on 'Bruno' I was smitten. His crazy-fun, enthusiastic energy was contagious. He was a real challenge to take for walks, with only a neck collar and him straining against the leash the entire time, but even without training I was tail-spin in love! It occurred to me later that that feeling was the same I'd had for my puppy all those years ago. (Maybe subconsciously I'd avoided dogs all my life due to the hurt and pain experienced by a 6 yr old's loss.) From that moment forward all I thought about was dogs and how our next pet would be a dog, after our 23 yr old cat, Lisette, passed. Lots of research brought me to doodles as a great first dog, and Lucy wasn't far behind. Now, with 2 doodles, we can't imagine life without these silly goofballs. They're my husband's and my 'kids,' with virtually every aspect of our lives revolving around them. I'm a 'dog person' now, and maybe, just maybe, I always was.

This was our Christmas card after Oscar's arrival:

[Linda, Charlie Brown and Beau]

Deb ~ love this photo.  Your doodles are so cute!

[Shoney & Ruby]

What a wonderful post.

I loved the photos too.

You are very lucky to have kind of doodle hair yourself!

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Love reading all the entries.  I really have to think about whether I am truly a dog person - by Karen's definition.  I do NOT like to be licked, but I wouldn't like being licked by my kids much either. :-}    I can not get enough of them fresh from a grooming, but as the month wears on I find myself less interested in putting my face in their fur,  more because of Clancy's shedding and whatever plants (hopefully only plants in Ned's case) they have rolled in and my allergies. Ned and Gordie sleep with us.  Clancy never developed the habit - thank goodness or I would be the one on the dog bed! I really love dogs I know but have a healthy respect for strange dogs' teeth and any 'kind of sort of' aggression.  I tend to be uncomfortable with muscular short-haired breeds and adore flufffy, flop-eared dogs with their tongues hanging out.

DH is truly, truly a dog person.  He almost always has a dog under his hands getting some petting. He loves them to lick him.  He cuddles the dogs we check on in  shelters - in all their dirty glory.

I would like to take our dogs more on our day to day activities but taking three everywhere is not as fun or easy as taking one or two. And as much as DH is a dog person, he is not interested in the logistics of taking all three to restaurants etc.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Nancy, I just may always have had cleaner dogs than you, lol. 

I'd much, much, much rather be licked by a dog than a child. But then, I was raised by a woman who told us that dogs' mouths were cleaner than people's. :)

Anyone who rides around in a camper with three dogs is definitely a true dog person.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

 :-)  Well, if I HAVE to get licked, I would rather it be a dog! I was raised that dogs mouths were cleaner too and as a kid, I used to let the dog lick my owies - I had forgotten that. Riding around in an RV without dogs is really no fun at all!

[BG and Gavin]

When my mom married my dad she came from a farm and had 14 cats. The stories goes that my dad said "you can bring two" and until recently (they are now in their 80s) they were never without a couple of cats and a dog and a horse or two. I never thought of myself as a dog person, but an animal person. I like all animals and had a cat for 17 years before getting Gavin despite having to be on allergy meds constantly all those years. So I don't know if I am a "dog person" in the purest sense of the word, but I am definitely a "Gavin person!"

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I am in the process of writing a blog about my niece's dog and have written that she says she is not a dog person so much as a Mar person. Who wouldn't be a Gavin person?

[BG and Gavin]

Thanks Laurie :)

[Diane, Hurley and Sidney]

I was always the cat lady! Then I became the cat lady who started leaning towards being a dog maiden. It stared with German Shepherds. Beautiful and smart. But I have never really thought of myself as a dog person until we got Hurley. His love and affection, his intelligence, his antics, his habits, his sweet eyes and gentle manner have turned me into more than a dog person. I cannot imagine ever being anything but the mom of an ALD.

[DonMarie and Picco]

I guess I was one of those "natural born" dog people. The only thing I could remember from before the age 5 was my granfathers funeral, our pomeranian then our beagle pup that got hit & killed by a car. My dad said no more pets after that. My grandmother always had poodles and I was her designated dog sitter becasue even though I was just a kid I paid more attention and cared more than anyone else. As soon as I left home and got settled I got a pup. My husband was not a dog person and slowly turned one of my dogs into an outside dog since all he complained about was dog hair. I thought I would be dogless after she died but eventually I needed the presence of a dog and research non-shedding. After having our precious Picco for a few months - my husband turned into a dog person!