Hmmm. if your dad was stationed in NJ..I'll bet it was Ft Dix I LOVED all those old photos.. super! When I was about 6, I remember our neighbor gave us one of her terrier's puppies, more or lesss shoved it at my parents as a "gift" and by the grace of God, we kept it...Yay! I don't remember much, I guess my folkd took care of it, but one day "Happy" (seee? I remember THAT!) ran out, we heard a yelp and he hobbled back. A broken leg resulted in hisbeing put to sleep as it never healed. In this day and age, I know that would never happen, but they knew so little then. I never played with dolls, only stuffed dogs and I also remember spazing out hysterically when they told me about Happy. Only one other time did I get "this close" to another dog. I was about 10 and a little pooch followed me home (yeah, right the folks said, but it was true)It was starved, filthy, flea/tick ridden but seeet and adorable and friendly. I broke my china piggy bank to get coins to buy food. We had a pretty active lifestyle back then, so my folks said "no way", esp; after Happy and honestly, I guess the stray just ran away again. I never did get the dog food (fed it bread I gues) but got bloody hell for breaking the bank. Funny, my parents still remember this story. I swore from that day on, that I would someday get a dog, as a responsible adult and nobody could ever say a word. So at age 41, I got Cody (Hi folks, we're getting a dog) and 11 years later, I still say it's the wisest, best thing I ever did. Odd, though, my mom was raised with cats and dogs. She is so highly allergic, it's pathetic, but loves Cody so much, puts up with it. Luckily I have a boyfriend who KNOWS he comes 2nd to Cody. hee, hee