thanks again to all of you for your thoughts,
Ive had 3 dogs in my life and will likely get one again.
Right now we have young girls (a 2 year old and a 2month old) so it wouldnt be fair to get a dog for a while as little kids can be rough with puppies. And our cat Reavy probably wouldnt take it well either.
(I should actually say Sam was my parents' dog and I had him for quite a lot of the time and took him many places - he often jumped into the van whenever I was leaving)
cheers all.