We've got dogs, and fish, recently deceased gerbils, and have been through birds (2 year bird sitting job) and mice.
If you aren't sure about your commitment to the pet thing then no dogs. Only get a dog when you are good and sure you want one because they require your active participation in their lives every day. They are great family pets IMHO, as long as they get the attention they need.
As for rodents, rats are very smart, but you have to get past their rattiness to enjoy them as a pet. DD bonded with the rat in her 4th grade classroom last year and has been bugging us for one ever since, but DH can't abide the thought of a pet rat, so no go. This may be related to the rat problem in our garage, and damage afflicted on his car, or may be related to the pet rodent in the walls experience at his house when he was a boy. Not sure which.
You may be asking yourself how we've been through two other rounds of rodents if DH has such an aversion them, but he is a sucker for little girls who wrap him around their fingers. If you are going for something furry and small, do NOT get mice. They smell. Gerbils were nice, cute and furry, not too bright but ate out of DD's hands. Non-toxic bedding from recycled paper is available, we also used some cedar chips, which aren't recommended for their little respiratory systems, but little respiratory systems of rodents do not rank as highly as smell in my basement so we compromised with a thin layer of cedar and a thick layer of paper. To that we regularly added all empty TP and paper towel rolls for chewing fun. Gerbils were our most successful rodents.
