A dog is a great companion, just we got a few befriended wild cats and one tame one that I raised since it was a kitten now. Our german shepherd had rear leg problems, and got to where it couldn't hardly walk and had to be put down, and my little feist (sp?) got cancer. I'd love to have one but I couldn't raise one on my own due to costs, as I'm only 18 and working on the car and school lol.