My boyfriend and I have been together 21 years. When I met him he had three dogs. He called them his kids. Said he never wanted skin kids, so he never had any.

He helped raise my skin son. As we were doing that we raised and lost a couple of furkids. Now that my skin kid is married and on his own we are raising more furkids. Maybe they are not a substitute for skin kids, but a chance for both of us to pour out the love and affection we have to share. When and if my son and his wife have children, I don't expect they will suffer any less for our having furkids.

I'll agree with Dawn on this
Let's face it, when I come home from a rough day-they greet me and are always happy to see me. They never cheat or lie, and as long as I love them-they will love me and never turn on me. And when they grow up-they won't leave home. They are never ashamed of me or embarassed to be seen with me, and when I'm upset or down-they are always there to chear me up!
So if people tell you that you should or shouldn't have children, I'd ignore them. They may mean well, but they don't have all the facts. Lord knows there are enough people having children that don't have a clue what's happening. And you know if people had to spend a little time raising a puppy, they'd think twice about having a child. It's good training, but it's a lot of work.