I am a dog person. Not a cat person.  I never really could trust cats. Two events turned me off  of them early in life. First, when I was about 5 or 6 I was scratched by one that I tried to pet while it was perched on our fence. The second attitude shifting event was watching our neighbour's cat Snowball toy with a mouse until she killed and ate it. And there you have it...cats are cold blooded violent beasts. Later experiences of the needy mewling, leg rubbing and aloofness only tainted that image further.

Dogs on the other hand are typically loyal, affectionate, protective and good natured beasts. I have had the pleasure of having had 6 dogs in my life for varying periods of time ... Sam (a Welsh Corgi who was a bit of a nipper to be honest). Then there was Trapper (a yellow lab pup whose life was ended prematurely by a speeding ski-doo on Elgin St).

Sandy deserves very special mention...I loved that dog. He was a smart and incredibly athletic lab who was my best friend growing up in Chapleau.

Later in life when I was living in Toronto my wife Elena and I got our first dog Sheba...a sheba innu whose life ended prematurely in Maple after I mistakenly left the back yard gate open allowing her to run out and get hit by a car...actually in hindsight dogs would be well advised to steer clear of me. We got Sheba after we took Katy for a test drive...she was a german shepherd cross who just didn't work out and was returned to her owners within a week.

Now onto my current dog - and meaning no disrespect to any of her predecessors - the best dog I have ever had....Molly. Molly is a 50/50 border collie/golden retriever mix that we got in 2005 when we moved to Switzerland. We bought her from breeders who lived in the Jura region of France about a 45 minute drive from our home there.

Molly is an absolute sweetheart. Fast as lightning, incredibly intelligent and obedient and very affectionate. Perhaps her only fault is she can be a bit too affectionate at times but I guess that's not a bad problem to have. I remember a month or two after we brought her home I had to go on a business trip to Tokyo and was gone for about 5 days...when I was gone she cried and paced around because I wasn't home. That won me over and she has been a faithful and loyal companion ever since. She greets me at the door when I come home. Watches Kings and Blue Jays games with me. And together we brave the heat about 5 days a week on a 5-6 km walk around the Dubai Marina.

There isn't much point to this blog other than paying tribute to all of the dogs that have been part of my life. And leaving two bits of advice...first...pets can bring a lot of joy, comfort and companionship and you will never regret having one...second, always choose a dog over a cat!!!