Interesting thread. Joyce's post about her mother reminds me very much of my grandmother. Although my Mother did have a dog when she was a teenager (an Eskie as a matter of fact), it was she and her father that took care of the dog. Grandmom never really knew what to do with the dog, but when she got older and moved in with my parents she started carrying dog biscuits around in her pocket. My father never had a pet growing up, and even when we were children his rule was no four legged pets. Actually, when I was young we had a rabbit, then we had a dog for about a year and a half (all when I was under 10 years of age). But after we got rid of that dog (my father was worried our nasty neighbor, a police officer, would hurt the dog), my father said no more four legged pets, so we had birds and fish. It's funny, because they were in their 60's my parents adopted a beagle from the shelter, and spoiled her like a baby.