TOD - we had a few dogs growing up. All of which were "status" for my step-father, who liked to have his dog, but didn't like to take care of them. We loved the dogs, but he didn't seem to want anything to do with them, just lock them in a cage, but he had a dog, so that's what mattered. That alone turned me off to dogs.
We attempted cats growing up, but that was disastrous also.
In 1992, I adopted a cat named Smokey. Smokey had many MANY lives and we were always amazed that he survived the outside world as he did. He was a great cat. He left us in 2006. He had a great life.
Also, in 1998, I decided it would be fun to have an iguana as a pet. My partner at the time had one, and it seemed like a good idea to have a second one. I named him Kyle (yes, the iguana) Well the relationship (with the partner) didn't last, but I kept Kyle a few more years. I ended up passing him on to a science teacher. I'm not sure what happened after that.
Nowadays, it's all about Otto, the mini-schnauzer, who is definitely one of the family. The DP has always had a schnauzer as they have hair and not fur, as the DP is allergic. Everybody loves Otto, especially his Dads. In fact, they would go as far as buying a house with a HUGE backyard for him to play in. What Otto doesn't know, is that we are expecting to adopt his yet-to-be-born nephew at the beginning of the year. So he'll have to share his yard (or whatever he has at that moment).