I moved to Portland in 2004. My only requirement was that we live next to a dog park so that I could have a dog. My first dog a was a great Dane pitbull mix named Virgil. We got him out of shelter in Tacoma Washington. Then came Lucy, she was a Rottweiler that got dumped on the streets of Portland. At the time we still had two cats, Jack and Ernie. Then my father-in-law came to live with us with his yellow lab named Sabrina. Boy was it a houseful! We all learned together how to coexist. I was so happy to be surrounded by so many wonderful pets. It was trying for sure, but we managed. As the years went by eventually we lost all of them. In 2014 I adopted Thelma a boxer mix who became my everything. I lost Thelma in November and I cannot bring myself to adopt again for a while, yet there is something missing. I need to be around animals. My partner and I have taken care of every type of dogs from the easy to the most difficult. We have taken care of puppies and seniors. Dogs that were needy and the highly independent ones.