We've always had a family dog while I was growing up- a variety of breeds and sizes (Australian Shepherd, 2 hound mixes, a German Shepherd/husky mix). The only time I was without a dog was the 4 yrs I was renting an apartment that wouldn't allow them. Now that I own my home, I have a 6 yrs old pittbull and a 8 month old boxer mix who LOVE other dogs. My family often pet sit for family on vacation and we recently had 2 Rottweilers in our home for 3 months while our friends relocated.