My wife and I have never had a puppy together, but we have adopted older shelter dogs. Here are two of my boys. Jake was 3 when we adopted him in 2007. As far as we could tell, he was a purebred Flat Coated Retriever, but he often had the aloof personality of a cat, preferring to do whatever pleased himself, rather than his humans. He loved walks and being brushed and was the most gentle dog you could imagine. Even with smaller dog friends who would easily fit in his mouth, he was super gentle. I started and ended ended e very day with a walk with Jake for 11 years. To my frustration, he hated to get wet, which is weird for a retriever, which was OK considering it took three towels to dry him off because he was so fluffy. People would sometimes mistake him for a small Newfoundland due to his fluffy black fur and big smile. This is Jake in the top 4 photos.
The last two pics are of George, a Labrador Retriever. We adopted him at 13 years old, so we didn't change his name, even though it made his full name "George George." That was fitting, as a goofy dog deserves a goofy name. George was as "Lab" as a Lab can be...dopey and thickheaded, but a lovable lug who would follow me everywhere. He loved to swim and play with tennis balls. He had a unique way of playing fetch. He would chase the ball and pick it up, but never gave it back. As a result, he would often run around with THREE balls in his mouth at once. And still managed to bark the whole time.
photos: Bill George