I grew up in a pet-loving family and we always had at least 3 dogs (mostly rescues) plus other animals. I moved to the United States with my husband since he joined the army. We decided not to keep a pet since we knew he would not stay the 20 years and we wanted to provide a stable enviroment for any pet we would have. We are looking forward to getting a dog after we complete our upcoming move out of the army so that it will grow up with the baby I'll be having next year. I did start dog-sitting for friends in the army when they left on vacation and could not take their pets. I watched them for up to a week.