As a child we had several dogs, but they weren't inside dogs, and that always bothered me. While in college I got my first rescue, a boxer mix named Cocoa. She had her own chair and slept with me every night. Unfortunately, she was bitten by a black widow and died in 1999. I was devastated and took several days off work to try and cope. I had my son about a year later, so I wanted to wait before getting another pet. During that time I was a stay at home mom and did a lot of pet sitting for my neighbors' four dogs and two cats. In 2009 we got our rescue, a GSP mix named Argos. He became my bestie, my love. He was such a big part of our lives until last year. I still have a hard time with it today. My husband has an autoimmune disorder, so it isn't feasible to get another pet right now, so I figured this is the next best thing. I will still get to love on the fur babies which makes me so happy. I also have a grand kitty named Saturnin who has became my new animal to spoil. I got him a themed bowtie for every month.