I've been in the early stages of adopting a dog months before I even thought I'd need to recover. It isn't something to dump my problems on, it's something I feel like I've been building to for a long time and have wanted in every condition I've been in my life whether I was a child, an adult, depressed, happy, drinking and smoking or sober. I've already sent in applications to volunteer at shelters, which I plan on going through with (long waiting lists around here, no kill shelters are apparently very popular for volunteers) but I also don't think it'll give me much in terms of how life would be like with a dog in our house as the conditions would be very very different. That's the only real worry I have, is how it will change my home life. I'm a very habit based person (as per my addictive personality) and change of any kind or scale is tough, even the ones that are positive. It's not even that I want to play with a dog (which I really do) I don't want to do everything alone anymore, sleeping, watching tv, whatever. I feel silly sitting on a park bench alone with nothing to do, I don't have any motivation to walk around outside by myself anymore - I feel like a freak. Id love for a little friend cuddling on my lap or enjoying things with me. So for homelife change, it all sounds great except that I'm sensitive when it comes to work, studying and I have sleeping problems.