don't have my own pet right now, but whenever I go see my parents', their black and white Pekingese pretty much becomes mine. He sleeps at the foot of the bed and is always expecting me to give him belly rubs. I love that dog. We had a mostly wiener dog but part something else so it actually stood up a little more stout and didn't have the typical back problems of dogs when I was growing up that I cried for days over losing. One of my earliest memories was picking that dog up and she died my senior year of high school. Pets are definitely a part of the family in my mind.
I've got a 3 year old Beagle. She spends most of the day outside chasing birds, insects, and airplanes. She sleeps with me at night and is simultaneously one of the most retarded and smartest animals I've ever seen. She's never met a person she didn't like. Like you, I'll cry like a baby when she dies.
