A little late, been busy, but here's my story. I grew up with dogs. When I moved out on my own I always wanted a dog, but never had the space. I did have the most wonderful cats - Suzy and Mike (Rainbow Bridge). I finally got a dog, Dusty, a Basset/lab mix from a shelter. Dusty was with us for 3 beautiful years until a tragic mishap, which I have posted before, but would rather not go into. I was living in Georgia at the time. I got transferred to Belgium, went pet-less for a couple of years and finally landed stateside again. I moved into a somewhat big house with a nice backyard and started yearning for a dog. Out of habit, I always look at the pet section of the ads in the newspaper. There it was; "free to a loving home, half Basset, half Lab. So many memories of my beloved Dusty came rushing back. I had to call. I arranged for the "owners" to come over and Jeffrey was a big hit! He is just like Dusty except he is solid black, where Dusty was golden. He came in my house running and ran straight upstairs. When he was called to come downstairs he fell down the last three or so steps and rolled into the wall. Clumsey just like Dusty! I was hooked. Bandit, my Pug, was living with my daughter's best friend. I work in the same building as the little's girl's mother, so through our children, we got to know each other. She received orders to Japan and found out she wouldn't be able to get a large house so decided to give up Bandit. She saw how much we loved Jeffrey and asked if we would take Bandit. I am a single parent and having the un-trained Jeffrey was like having a 2 yr old baby so I was a little hesitant. My friend brought Bandit to my daughter's 11th birthday party and we hit it off instantly! He and Jeffrey played together so well, even with 10 10-11 year old girls screaming and running throughout the house. Bandit ended up spending the night and we have never looked back. I've said this many times before but Jeffrey is my rough and tumble dog, who is progessing nicely in his training, and Bandit is my snuggle buddy who sleeps under my covers at night. So different (Pinky and the Brain, as my daughter says), but the perfect combination.