LabLover, you may not like what I'm going to say but it comes from my experiences. I got my first Golden when I was still in high school. We were inseperable! I was going through some tough things and if it wasn't for my Taffy, I might not be here today to write this to you. Anyway... the point is how close we were! I did obedience with her (back in the 70's they didn't have agility) and took her swimming all the time. If you saw me, you saw Taffy.

Then I graduated high school and started working and going to college. It became more difficult to do the things with her that I wanted to. Responsibility of caring for her bacame my brother and father's job instead of just mine. Then I met my husband when I was 21. We didn't marry for a couple of years but when we did all we could afford was an apartment and we couldn't find one that would allow dogs. By this time though my Taffy was inseperable with my brother since he spent more time with her now than I did. Eventually we got a home and I took Taffy on the weekends and my brother had her during the week. Finally I realized how hard it was for her to bounce back and forth and decided to let her stay at my brother and dad's all the time. She was getting up in age by then and not the playful puppy any longer so it was easier on her.

She passed away at the age of 13 1/2 and is buried behind my husband's and my house.

The moral of this whole saga is you are still young and in school. I know your passion for dogs because you sound a lot like me when I was your age. But you need to think about not only your future, but the future of the dog you will get as a puppy. There is plenty of time in your future to have more than one dog but for now, I personally think you should love and cherish Sadie May and learn with her about the joys of owning a dog. And then in your future you will be the better for having loved, cared for, and cherishing a Black Lab named Sadie May!