Just wondering how your childhood experiences/expectations have affected your choices for pets as an adult. For example, when I was a girl, we had a tri collie that I helped train with my dad, and it was a hugely rewarding, bonding experience for all three of us. We also had a sable collie and a golden retriever that my parents didn't end up keeping -- they didn't have the time to train the dogs and rehomed them instead to family members that lived on a large acreage.

In any case, when my husband and I went looking to adopt our first dog for our family (we have five kids), we wanted a dog that would be a great match for a family like ours -- we ended up with a tri collie much like the one I had growing up. It hadn't necessarily been our intention to find the same dog, but circumstances brought us to Bijou and we feel so fortunate to have her!

Has anyone else discovered a connection between the breeds you knew or raised as a child, and the kinds of dogs you have now?