A whole life without a favorite pet

Ever since I was a little boy, I wanted to have a dog.
As I have always lived in a small apartment, there was no possibility of having one.
I remember the day when my father brought a yellow canary to the apartment instead of a small puppy. Then he said, if we feed him and take care of him, he will think about buying a dog...
Of course, the little canary was his responsibility, and we never got the dog :-)
The closest thing to a dog I had was an abandoned female mixed breed, which I once fed in the backyard of my cottage.
She stayed with us for many years, in the yard of the cottage, and a neighbor took care of her on the days when we didn't go to the cottage.
So that dog wasn't my real pet either...
And I love dogs.
My brother's dog was Black, a Doberman. That dog had its own house in the yard.
I was afraid of him, even though he was trained, he didn't like other people (except my brother) approaching him and petting him.
I was rarely, only near my brother, allowed to approach him...
On one occasion, early in the morning, I was returning from a night out and heard some strange noises coming from the direction of his house, like some rustling.
I approached and saw that due to turning in a circle, he had completely twisted the chain with which he was tied and that the collar pressed him so much that he started to suffocate.
I ran for a knife, cut the collar and allowed him to breathe.
The gratitude in that dog's eyes, I will remember for the rest of my life. From that moment, that dog became a real pet for me.
Every time I came to my brother's house, I played with him without any fear...
We remained friends until Blacs died...

And if I had my own house and yard or a bigger apartment, I would definitely buy a dog.
It would be a Retriever, white, gold, whatever.
A friend had him, he was beautiful, no one was ever afraid of him, he was cuddly and completely tame.

If it never comes to that, I will consider as a pet a cat that lives in the entrance of our building, that everyone takes turns feeding and petting, that enters all the neighbor's apartments...

Since I don't have a picture of my favorite Doberman, or even a desired Retriever, I am posting a picture of a "our" cat, so that there is no post without a picture, and to confuse you a little. A picture of a cat, and I write about dogs and a canary.