i had mongrel dogs as a kid, especially my first cocker mix teddy and then in my 20s i had Frank, best friend forever (a girl). i have thought about this since getting zack.
From the time when Frank died and when i got Zack, it was about 27 years without a dog, and during that time, i had a daughter who is now 23. before my daughter, i never felt maternal before, and to me, my dogs were my friends, pals, they were like my human friends, someone to hang out with and enjoy, but not someone who's health you worry about, like if your friend as the flu, you are sorry but you are not axiety stricken. but with my daughter, suddenly i was so maternal, all those instincts, protective, nurturing, and easily becoming anxious if she was sick, and i was also worried about people who snatch kids and kill them so i kept my eye on her.
It was wonderful, for my heart to grow and deepen like that, it was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me, to be responsible for a vulnerable dependent little being. i had never thought of my dogs that way, they were healthy and low maintenance, until teddy got hit by a car at age 5, i was 14, and Frank died fast of cancer at 13 when i was around 30.
but when i got zack, it's been just like how i felt about my daughter, and i feel that way about my daughter's cavalier belle too, i feel responsible and very nurturing and protective, they don't seem like buddies and pals to me very much, more like little kids.
The day i got zack, he moaned and cried pitifully in the car driving home and i didn't know what was wrong, i felt so helpless. so i kept him in my lap. Then he immediately was sick with bloody diarrhea. You bet i worried, blood coming out of his butt the day i brought him home! it took 5 weeks and seeing vets several times a week, and changing vets several times, until i found one who cured him of his diarrhea and vomiting. Until he was helped, i couldn't relax or rest, i had to figure out how to help him. when we were in the emergency room waiting to see a doctor and he vomited in his crate, and i cleaned it up, i was telling him we are in it for the long haul, and I will take care of him and do all i can for him. i had had him 3 weeks then.
Since zack has been well and healthy, i have, gratefully, been free of worrying about his health. But one thing you mentioned that i do feel bad a lot about is leaving him alone when i go to work. I never gave any thought to leaving Frank alone. Frank came with me almost everywhere, and i never owned a leash, we were buds, we hung out, but i did leave her sometimes of course, for some hours, and i went to Europe once and left her with friends, and i just never worried about her at all. But Zack is another matter.
i don't really see a whole lot of difference between how it was with my daughter and how it is with zack, in my heart. A child is way harder, way more needs, more complex, dogs, even young ones, are more independent than young children. But in my heart, it still feels pretty much the same, and it's good, i like it, i like having a little being to care for and to sacrifice for (like coming home from work at lunch, even though it is not convenient, and is sometimes a hardship).
I have enjoyed my daughter at all her developmental stages, and would not want to go backward, yet i still have felt wistful and sad at the thought of never again getting to have those feelings that i had when she was very small, and then i got Zack, and it was so unexpected to feel as i had about my child. i'm very happy to have this experience.
i haven't thought of my part of the US as that dog friendly. I live near the beach and it's huge, it goes for a thousand miles, but there's no dog beach near me. There are some nice dog parks. But what was really dog friendly was when i went to France way back in 1969 and there were dogs and cats in the restaurants, i thought it was cool, a cat walked behind me and rubbed against my back while i ate. Does anyone know, is it still like that in France? It was in Paris, but also i think it was in other cities too, Bayonne or Biarritz.
and my coat over my arm and sat down the back it was so funny she kept sticking her head out to see what was happening :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: 
