To dog or not to dog? That is the question...

So at Christmas time we got the kids a chocolate lab puppy. It seemed like a good idea at the time. She was a beautiful dark chocolate with that utterly delicious puppy smell. She was smart, cute, and quite charming. She was also a huge ball of urine and frustration. As of right now we are not doing the best financially, and she was purebred so we payed a pretty penny for her. Then came the problem, she seemed to be doing well with housebreaking, but she dribbled urine all over. I thought at first it was a submissive thing, then maybe an excitement thing. But it seemed you couldn't even look at her and she was spraying down the room. We took her to our vet to rule out UTI, and got her a thorough look over. What our vet thought it was is a genetic medical problem that can only be corrected through a costly surgery. A surgery that we quite frankly could not afford. So as heartbreaking as it was we decided to ask the breeder that we got her from to take her back. They would give her a good home and find out what was exactly wrong with her. So she is gone now, and I miss her. I love the thought of having a family dog, but it just has not worked out so well for us. We had Bailey the lab/rot mix that had to go live with my mother in law when her hips got bad(we have too many stairs). She was a great family dog and we had her for many years. I have soft spot in my heart for the mistreated so next we decided to try to adopt a dog. So, then came Emma, the neurotic rat terrier that peed and nipped(she was abused). She eventually died of hepatitis-we had her 2 years. Cinnamon, the puppy mill pug/Boston mix that we could never potty train because of her puppy mill history, we gave her back after a few months of trying. Then Kona, the big urine soaked disappointment. I really want a dog, but I think maybe the God's are trying to tell me something. The truth is I don't miss the dog hair, but I do miss the dog. I miss taking her for walks, I miss her tricks, I miss playing fetch. I miss that unconditional love you can only get from a tail wagging pooch when you walk in the door from a rough day. I miss seeing my son laying on her giving her hugs. He kept filling her water dish days after she was gone. It was heartbreaking. I WANT A DOG!! So what to do?