PERSONALLY: dog people

This is Clifford, our big red dog. We adopted him from Flora's Pet Project shortly after we were married 9 years ago. Sadly, Clifford passed away recently. It was unexpected and sudden. Did you see Marley & Me? Clifford was struck with the same awful stomach bloat/flip, and due to his age, the condition and some other health issues, we had to make the difficult decision to let him go. It was very sad and there were lots of tears. But, Clifford lived a good, long life, climbed lots of mountains, ate plenty of steak and was able to pass away while snuggled up to me. Those things make me feel happy.
What is strange for me, is suddenly finding out that I am, in fact, a dog person. Clifford was a wonderful dog and I loved him. But I never really considered myself a dog person. Maybe it is because when I was in highschool my family had this obnoxious dog that use to eat my toothbrush and steal my chocolate. Or maybe it is because I don't feel any desire for dog themed bumper stickers/keychains/Snuggies. Not that there is anything wrong with that mind you (ok, I do take a rather firm stance against Snuggies) It is just that pets have never been a primary focus of my life, although I've had cats and/or dogs since I was a baby. In fact, I told a good friend, just a few months ago, that when Clifford eventually passes away I will be terribly sad, but I'll also be happy not to pick up dog poop in the backyard any longer. I had no plans to get another dog.
So guess what I've been doing since Clifford passed away... Well, there has been a fair amount of tears. Every night when I go to let him out one last time and every meal when I actually have to sweep up the kids' dropped food, I get a pang of sadness. Didn't really expect that. And I have been obsessively checking Petfinder and all the local animal shelters, just in case there is an awesome dog there that needs to come live with us. Yeah, the lady who didn't want another dog REALLY WANTS ANOTHER DOG. So I suppose I am a Dog Person. Just not the kind that wears paw print Snuggies while reading Dog Fancy. Not that there is anything wrong with Dog Fancy.