Though I have never owned a pup of my own, I have grown up surrounded by them. My sister got her first dog, Simon, a rambunctious Pomeranian, when I was 14. When she and he husband went away on trips, I was the designated dog-sitter. By the time I was 16, my sister had adopted her second pup, Odin. Simon and Odin made quite the team, and I enjoyed playing with them, training them, and taking care of them.