Dogs

I only ever owned one dog as a child. His name was Butch. I'm sure he was a huge mix from the doggy gene pool. But he was wonderful. In Kentucky, the family dogs just wandered the areas in which you live unless it's not a nice dog and then they are chained to a tree. At least, it was like this when I was growing up. Butch never had to be chained to a tree and whenever I was outside (which was a lot) he was always nearby.
The day we got Butch, we were visiting someone and I think he was their dog or their neighbors but somehow we ended up taking him home. He was already an older dog and very mellow. I loved Butch.
I did not have such fond memories of other dogs though. For some reason, dogs and I just did not seem to click. For instance, my next door neighbors dog was huge and barked and barked and barked at me all the time with an added growl here and there. Fortunately, he was chained up. Another time, we had family from California visiting so I was so excited to come home from school. The school bus dropped me off at the bottom of the hill I lived on but at the end of my driveway was a dog. He would not let me up my driveway. He kept barking at me. I finally started crying and just stood waiting. My family thought this was funny and stood at the top of the hill laughing.
Another memory I will apologize now but please remember I lived in a rural area of a very small town. There was a dog and it could possibly have been my neighbors mean dog that I was terrified of. I did not want to play outside because it frightened me so much(no fences to keep ya safe). My father shot it, yes, I know. We took it down the road and dumped it over the hill. I have to admit that it was a happy day for me.
In junior high, I did have a puppy for about 3 days. Puppies are a lot of work and it was too much for my mom. So I came home from school and she had replaced Pepper with a Siamese kitten.
When my son, Cody, was a baby I would take him for walks but would avoid certain streets just because of the barking dogs.
I now own two dogs. Shocking, huh?! I got our first dog out of necessity. Cody was terrified of dogs, all dogs. He would literally climb up me if he saw a dog even if it was not nearby. Simon has been an amazing dog. Without him, Cody might still be scared of dogs.
They have been great for my children, especially Sydney who LOVES dogs. In fact, as a preschooler I think she believed she was half-dog. I love my dogs (a lot) but I never became a "dog lover". Do I hate dogs? No way. I just am not that comfortable around them. I just won't own another dog once mine are gone. I just won't have a need for one.