How to take my dogs hiking or walking
How I did it: Having dogs has always been a part of my life. When our son was 5, he was ready for a special best friend. We chose Ricky-Bo at the Humane Society (or he chose us) and he always seemed so grateful, loving and wise, very protective of us, especially his "boy." Then we got Angel as a gift for our son years later, but she became my own sweet girl. Too many special stories to tell here about that amazing dog. She was mine and I'll miss her all my life. When she had her first litter of puppies I KNEW Baloo was ours. I had to do some serious convincing to get my husband to agree to a third dog. He named him, "Baloo." Baloo was his dog and they loved each other. 3 people and 3 dogs in the family for years. Many challenges, changes, joys, (and some tragedies) later they've all gone to wherever good dogs go to rest now.
Lessons & tips: It HURTS like hell to lose such a good and faithful friend after way too few years, but I would've done it all again. It was worth every tear and then some.
Resources: We traded dog-sitting services with other people. In that way we had "foster dogs" and our dogs had "foster families." Our dogs got to unofficially serve as mentors to puppies, therapy for sick and sad people, and bed-warmers on cold nights (three-dog nights).
