We are a dog family (my entire immediate family)

The story of my family is a pretty cool one but with some differences than most other families probably experience. There are 6 of us, nobody has had any major health issues and everyone is still alive (touch wood). We come from the midwest (the center of the United States) but for reasons I don't care to get into we ended up moving away from the midwest and setting up shop on the East Coast.

That move probably changed my family forever because back in the midwest people's futures were pretty predictable. You finished high school, then went to college if your future called for it, then you got married, had a bunch of kids, and then never moved very far from where you were born.

There is nothing wrong with that but I think the wanderlust got a hold of my immediately family pretty early and we traveled, a lot. These days for the most part very few of my family members even maintain a residence in the country that we have a passport for, and only one of us has ever been married, and none of us have human children.

Between the 6 of us though, we have 11 dogs.

here is the earliest known picture of Nadi, my one and only dog. I got her by accident as I came home from work one day and my girlfriend at the time had gotten a dog without consulting me first. At the start I was annoyed because I know that getting a dog is not a flippant decision that one takes lightly, it is a life-altering choice that has an impact on everything that you do from that point forward. Little did I know that this addition would end up shaping my entire existence for a decade to come. The girlfriend in question has long since been and ex, but the dog is the light of my life.

These two pictures are around 10 years apart. In the second one we have this silly game that we play where I put food items near Nadi that I know she doesn't particularly want to eat but since she is protective of food, she also doesn't want me to take them away. She eventually will eat the tomatoes, but I don't think she actually even likes them.

Here is a pic of a family member and her 3 dogs, as well as another dog that is a recent addition that belongs to a different family member. I admit that I am a bit jealous that they all seem to get along because Nadi doesn't get along with any other dogs and while it is very unlikely that Nadi will ever meet these doggos, she would hate each and every one of them for different reasons.

This dog is the most recent addition to the "family pack" and I have never met him. He loves the great outdoors and it is lucky for him that he ended up with a sibling of mine that also feels this way. They are always going on outdoor adventures and they are just the perfect match for one another.

Another family member of mine has "city dogs" because they live in one of the largest cities in the world and have a very different relationship with nature in that they don't get to see it very often. The sibling in question takes them to do outside stuff as often as possible and they are very well behaved. However, their lack of exposure to the outdoors on a regular basis has lead them to be very attached to this particular family member of mine and they rarely if ever, will allow her out of their sight. Despite being all half-Chihuahua, they are not yappy little things, which is great and always a fear with small breeds.

The city dogs are very used to being cuddled though and they will actually force you into situations like that if they are not getting enough attention. As Nadi's roommate, I never experience this because for whatever reasons, Nadi seems to be claustrophobic and while she enjoys being around you, she doesn't feel the need or even desire to be cuddled, ever. Some might see this as a plus because dogs that need constant cuddling attention, while cute, can be a bit annoying when you are trying to get something done.

Another recent addition that I have not yet met is a dog with many nicknames but most recently has been dubbed "Ms. Piggy." Piggy is very young and lives with a very old Dalmatian, and an extremely energetic Chihuahua. They all get along but in a very funny way. The very old Dalmatian is kind of left alone and both of them have respect for how young and "breakable" Piggy is. There is never any reason to worry that some sort of fight is going to break out.

I enjoy getting the videos from all of my family in the same way that some families would probably send videos of their human kids to one another. This is what my family does with each other. Everyone always contributes another picture to the family chat and we all enjoy it. I would say that we enjoy it just as much as my other relatives that are sending baby pictures around. I wouldn't really know what that is like because for reasons that I can't really put my finger on, none of my family ever had any actual children, nor do any of us have any regrets about that being the case.

One cool thing about our collection of dogs is that every single one of them is a rescue dog, including Nadi. It's difficult for me to imagine that someone wouldn't want Nadi and it is the same way for my family members and their dogs. They are all so good in their own ways and I wish we could get them all together some time but I know that wouldn't work. We would have to keep Nadi away from all of the rest of them for starters.

So we are an atypical family I guess? I don't really know what people do anymore these days but my family just didn't have kids. We have dogs, and none of us have any regrets about that at all.

if you have a dog I would like it if you would post a picture, any picture, of them in the comments.