My wife and I had dogs before we had kids! Our dogs have vacationed with us, moved with us... they pretty much rule the roost. Our first two dogs (small/medium-sized) lived to be 16 years old each. We added a cat in the mix, and fostered two other dogs before adopting the two giant fur monsters we have now. We have a fenced in yard, and because I work from home and homeschool my son Mondays and Fridays there is almost always someone home to let the dogs in and out, or play catch in the yard. I currently work from home. Between my wife and I, we are up as late as midnight, and awake as early as 5:30 am, not including middle-of-the-night puppy potty breaks. Aside from Sunday mornings or the occasional weekend ballgame for the kids, we are pretty much homebodies. We have a fenced yard, and live about 1/2 mile from the local dog park (that's me taking my own dogs to the dog park in one of my photos.) I also have two teenagers who love to snuggle pets. (Also, if they are snuggling yours that means they aren't harassing me to adopt more!)