Dogs are great.
They may screw up from time to time, but you have to remember, these are intelligent creatures and yet the only education is our training. They are forever like children, and children are little shits from time to time yes?
What a lot of people never quite "get", is that people will severely scold and punish a dog for a screw up, say chewing on furniture. But yet never recognize how rare that behavior might be in comparison to the rest of the dog's behavior.
Take for instance my parent's dog. When we/they leave the house for an extended period of time, like a vacation and couldn't bring her, she might presumably decide she is not happy with this "neglect", and might decide she wants to chew on the chair legs in the dining room.
This is something we took a lot of effort to break her off when she was a puppy, chewed and chewed and chewed, as puppies often do. She rarely does it now. We scold her briefly, show her the damage (and she clearly understands the whole situation, her behavior says it all - and what that exactly is, is just hard to describe. many dog owners will share the same experience), but ultimately move on quickly. She even seems to have a way of apologizing.
The point is, her wood chewing moments are very rare. In comparison, all the times she behaves as expected can be seen as good behavior. I try and build on that when she does something well behaved, even simple things.
And I tell you. What she gives in return for the care and love we give her... she's just something else. Very emotive, her personality is just something else. The way she constantly welcomes us every day when we come home, hard to remember any worries of the day when she mauls us with her affection the way we does, and just her general excitement when she sees our cars pull up.
Every time I return home for a weekend or for winter/summer break, I absolutely look forward to her greeting. And she has a specific style of interaction with each person of the household too. She has specific bonds with each of us. I guess that's the Australian Shepherd breed. And the Lab in her just amplifies the affectionate side of her personality.
I am going to require myself to get a dog probably the second week of moving into my own place for good, which will likely happen this summer or fall, unless I get lucky and get an early branch basic course slot. A dog just completes a home I think, especially as I'll have a place to myself most likely.
Unless I set up shop in Columbus, as I'll have a monthly weekend commute to the Cincinnati area, can't leave a dog alone for a weekend and have no relatives in the Columbus area.
If I live near/in Cinci this won't be a concern.