Certainly not a rant here. Seems like there are quite a few people here that really like dogs so I thought maybe you'd like to share pictures of yours. Here are a few of mine:
This was the first time I met our Great Dane, Hudson, at the breeder's house.
Hudson's favorite toy: our other dog Polly, which is short for polydactyl; a condition where they're born with extra toes. In our case, Polly has 6 toes on her back legs. You can barely see them in this picture. It looks more like a large duclaw.
This is Polly's favorite chew toy.
I usually solicit the help of my dogs for a couple reasons. 1, it's just nice to be around them and 2, they get used to all the loud noises associated with a garage and so later on in life, they're not skidish of loud noises like thunderstorms and firecrackers.
Here's Polly being very tolerant of little girls burying her in sand.
Lastly, here's Hudson laying next to one of the inlaws. He's still just a pup at 9 months of age so he's got a little bit more growing to do.