Brett and i started our "Family" with bringing home an amazing chocolate Lab puppy and we named her Nikayla. Shes been a gift to us, our friends and our family.
When we went to pick our puppy we had all this little lab puppies jumping all over us, then strolls over Nikayla and she walks over to me, licks my hand a bit then strolls off to the side and lays down as if she was saying "I will just wait over here, come get me when your ready". Nikayla was the runt of the litter, so quite a bit smaller then the rest. She also had this little grey mark on her tail which almost lead to us not taking her home.
We continued playing with the other puppies but we were both still so drawn to Nikayla. There was something special about her and could not quite put our finger on it but we knew she was the one for us and she knew we were the ones for her. We took the "risk" and both decided we would take the anti social puppy in the corner of the room with the little grey mark on her tail. We brought Nikayla home and she started to show us just how special she was right from day one. She slept through the night and very quickly became both of our shadows however she had the independence to be ok when we were not around. We went through the process of puppy food, puppy toys, "potty training", teaching her rules and boundaries and all at the same time showing her how much we loved and appreciated her.
Nikayla was never a "dog" to Brett and I, but rather an extension and start of our family. Often we would hear from friends saying "You know guys she is a dog not a human" and did we listen or really care? No... Nikayla was teaching us accountability, responsibility and introduced us to idea of parenthood. Once we expressed that to some people we got "Having a dog is not like having kids". Of course, we know that but we can not discredit how instrumental Nikayla was in our own personal process to get us to where we are today and we love her and thank her for that. Some people also say that our priority will change when it comes to Nikayla when we have a baby. Yes priorities will change to allow room and love for our new little addition to our family but our love and admiration for Nikayla will never change or become any less then what it is today. 
So What I have learned through all of this is everyones process is different when it comes to your own lives. We are all empowered chose our own path and I can honestly say we are very comfortable and happy with the path we have chosen. To some Nikayla is "Just a Dog" to us she is a very integral part of our soon to be growing family.
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