When I was a little kid, my sisters and I had a dog (Dillon was his name -- don't ask me why). Plus, over the years I had a turtle and various birds (magpies and parakeets, notably). But, as an adult, I've rarely had pets. As a consequence my kids have been deprived of pets for much of their lives. After I separated from their mother (she and I had an agreement as to no pets; I've no idea all these years later whose original idea it was), I met a woman and we had a golden retreiver for a couple of years. Plus, the girls' mom moved in with a guy who had a dog. All of a sudden my kids got their first real exposure to pets (mostly dogs, although their mom now has 4 cats).
I wonder how important animals are to kids growing up? I suspect they are more important than I gave them credit for. Animals are just plain cool. They have personalities, they learn, they love, they annoy, they communicate. To my kids -- I'm sorry we never gave you the opportunity to have pets.
Now, after more than a half dozen years again without pets, I find myself in a house full of them. We have three cats and a dog. I will blog about the cats at a later time, but suffice it to say that I love them and thoroughly enjoy their very distinctive personalities. But this dog is just so damn lovable and cute. She's a golden cocker spaniel named Lady. Now, my first reaction was -- "where's Tramp?" But, no. Her full name is "Three Cats and a Little Lady". She will be 15 years old next month. 15! She's deaf. When she gets up at 5:30 in the morning needing to go out, she will head for some part of the house to pee and in order to gain her attention I have to switch on and off the light. Then she perks up, turns, and literally bounds to me (at 15!). She is senile now. She forgets things and ends up using the house as a toilet, which I hate beyond words. But, she still loves and runs and plays. 
And she loves the snow. She will run through it snuffling until she finds the perfect spot and then throw herself into it and roll onto her back, looking forever like she's creating snow angels.
I know that 15 is old for a cocker, but I hope she lives at least another year or two. The Girl has had enough death in her life for a while. Within the first month that I met her, we had to take one of her cats (a 20 year old that could no longer walk and had wasted away to just fur and bones) into the vet to be put down. It broke my heart. The Girl has had Lady since she was a tiny puppy. She talks pragmatically about her eventual death ("We will replace this carpeting as soon as Lady is not around to destroy it again"), but I know it will be hard on her.