If you had a dog as a child, did you choose the same breed as an adult?

[ramanth]

My parents had Irish Setters when I was a child. Our last family dog, Rusty, passed away when I was 8.

My mom grew up with English Springer Spaniels. My grandparents had everything from dashunds, to springers, to dobermans.

While growing up, our first neighbors had golden retrievers that we would play with (because their kids would not - the puppy novelty had worn out and so the dogs lived in outdoor kennels ). The pair were actually dog-napped (I witnessed it) when they were running free again. Some guy pulled up in a pickup, whistled, the dogs came running, jumped in, and the guy drove off. I had hoped then that they went to a home that loved them.

The second set of neighbors had two malamutes. We helped walk, play, and bathe them. I think that's when my love of big dogs and the husky/malamute breed set in.

For some reason, I'm a medium to big dog person. Small dogs are cute, but I personally wouldn't want to own one.