You may have guessed from the picture that my best friend is a beautiful border collie mix. His name is Pete, although he has nicknames, and he is a great friend. He loves to just walk quietly with me and just let me think. He always knows when I have had a bad day and loves to hug me when I am down.
Pete is a rescue dog. He was part of a litter that a very loving organization had taken in and put up for adoption. It's hard to walk past those groups at pet stores and not want to take one or all of the pets home. Of course that's not possible.
Please look carefully at your family situation and see if you have a place for a friend to move in and brighten your life. Look carefully at the amount of time you can spend with your friend and research what kind of personality different breeds lean toward to make sure you find the friend best suited for your situation.
Older animals are also available for adoption and make such wonderful companions for people that don't want to have to go through puppy training. In many cases they have lost their family though no fault of their own and need love and attention as much as a puppy.
Just look at Pete's happy face. I can't imagine not having him there to greet me at the end of a long day.