I was raised on a farm. We had cattle, horses, dogs, cats and other wild things that ran across our property. My brother took Poncho hunting. Poncho was a daschund. He fetched birds that Greg shot. I had Poncho for 15 yrs. When my kids were pre-teen agers, I found Cheerio, a blue heeler in a shelter. She was about to be put down because no one claimed her, yet she always smiled. We called her Cheerio and took her home. My son, Vance trained her to play, fetch and listen. Cheerio was smart! She took turns sleeping with all of us. She went down the slide every time we went to the park, and swam in the fast currents of the river by our home. Silver was a Bull-Mastiff, St Bernard. Big and gentle. Every child in the neighborhood knew Silver. They came over and bathed him in my little kiddie pool. He was the largest, yet the gentlest, most loving dog I've ever owned! He slept with me until he could no longer get up on the bed. He died in June from lymphoma. I love to play, talk and interact with dogs. They have personalities of their own. They listen to me. Even the neighborhood dogs come to see me. They like smelling my dogs on me. That makes them more acceptable of me. I also work with OKMRC animal resue; in the event of a tornaodo or other emergency; we rescue the animals, mostly dogs. When I talk to animals, they look at me and respond. We communicate rather well!