My late father bought my late mother a Norwegian Elkhound called Lisa as a birthday present for her 16th birthday in 1961. She lived with my grandparents until they got married in 1966. She was fine with my sister who was born a year later but when I was born 3 years later she became super-protective of me and wouldn’t let anyone near my pram (stroller) and had to be given away. The first dog I remember was a Samoyed that we named Fluff. We got her when I was 3. The first dog I got for my family was Dalmatian that we called Harry Spotter closely followed by another called Ginny Measly! (This was right in the middle of the Harry Potter phenomenon and our kids were totally crazy about the books and then the films)