I grew up with having not just a pet dog but several other pets . When my sons were little we had a houseful of pets as well ..Love having them around and I currently have 2 small dogs and I couldn't imagine not having them in our lives. Occasionally I watched a friend's cat at their home when they travel and it's always a pleasure taking care of him. They named him Mischief but he is a far cry from being a mischief. Each of our grown son's has pets at their home. My younger sons has two Huskies, both rescue dogs, two toy poodles. there's nothing like having a pet, either dogs or cats at home, they become your family. Having our pets now with us keep us busy being entertain and on any hard days they comfort us and not to mentioned that when we are missing our son's and families they know just how to make us forget and having our dogs with us is comforting.