hello all. well i should be going to bed because it is now 3 a.m here in ga. and i am still up. last night i was up late again and it is getting to be a habit. they had a special on t.v. about dogs. i love dogs myself so i watched the special. it just got me wanting to have another dog again in my life. i am 61 though my wife is not crazy about having another dog that is not the only reason i do not get one. i know it is a lot of responsibility and some times even at 61 i do not feel like getting up and doing what is needed to take care of a pet. how would i feel at 70 or 75 if i live that long. dogs generally live to 12 - 15 years old if you get a puppy. any way i still love dogs and i had the need to see one today and the pets stores are closed on sundays . i told my wife i was going out to find a dog but i would not bring one back. so i went to the park hoping to see some one with a dog but no luck. so i drove around my neighborhood till i spotted a dog and i went up to the house with the dog in the back yard and knocked on the door. no one was there though so i stayed away from the dog even though i wanted to pet her. i did spot another dog two houses down from the house i was at. i knocked on the door and said, " i live in this neighborhood and i was driving around and i seen that you have a dog inn your yard and i was wondering if i might go and pet it. " i said i have owned several dogs but at present do not have one. the man said, sure you can go pet her and if you want you can go in the back yard also if you like" well i thanked him and did just that . i played with his dog for about 2 hours and then i thanked him and left. i told him i might be back and he said that would be fine. i think the man might have thought it would be good for his dog to get some exercise. at one point the man and his wife and their daughter had to leave and do some laundry at a laundromat and they said i could stay in their yard if i wanted to, which i did. when they returned i was still playing with the dog. i am not so sure i would have left my house with a strainger in my back yard but they did. i guess i did not look like a crook. well after i got home i felt better even though like my wife says, i smelled like dog. a lot of women do not like when men smell like dog but most men don't seem to mind and i know i don't.