Over the years I have read about dogs having to be re-homed or sent to the animal shelter because their elderly owners either died or had to go into the nursing home. For assorted reasons, family members don't want to take them. That is sad because animals grieve for their owners and can't understand why, all of a sudden, nobody wants them.

I understand why some people pay thousands of dollars for a dog; Police K-9 comes to mind and so do Service Dogs that aid the disabled and the blind.

I paid a few hundred dollars each for my pups and a few hundred for Vet checks, immunizations, blood tests, and worm tests, and for Mollie to have minor narel surgery. I bought them a nice feather bed to sleep on but that didn't work out. They soon discovered that it worked well for a trampoline and night time turned into playtime.

When Leona Helmsley died she left $12 million for a caretaker to live in her mansion and take care of her dog. I think it died a couple of years ago.

Michael Jackson paid $15 thousand for a diamond studded collar for Elizabeth Taylor's dog.