It is true, you can never replace a pet with another pet since they are all so unique with their own personalities, even with the same breed of dog. After we lost Binka, I was so distraught and sad I told Jim I wanted another one. Yes, Meko is my #1 girl and so full of love and personality but I have had two who were my own for 8 years now and I really liked having two of them with me all the time.
As it turned out, Rena, one of the techs at CAVES where we brought Meko when she was diagnosed with IMHA (read about it in my soon-to-be-published book, "Miracle Dog") was on duty when we brought Binka in just about a month ago now. She mentioned that she still had the two Poms and was still looking for a home for them. I know she thought Jim and I were the perfect pet parents since it is obvious we love and take the best care of our pets. I wasn't thinking about adding another one to our pack, until we lost Binka. And I knew exactly where we would go first, to Rena.
Kitsune's Story 
Rena had Kitsune (we renamed her from Zsa Zsa - all I could think about was the Gabors and I just had to change the name) and her brother Butters for about a year. Their original owner died and the husband was very upset about losing his wife, tried to commit suicide himself a couple of times, too. It sounds like there may have been something else going on with him, like Alzheimer's maybe, because he also had a couple of Huskies and took them out and shot them and was about to do the same to the Poms when they were rescued. It is a sad story.
Although I was concerned about separating the two Poms, Rena was happy that we were taking Kitsune (which, by the way, means "Fox Spirit" in Japanese - very appropriate, I think!). We have never had a male and wasn't sure what affect having a male with all females would have on our pack but mostly, Butters has a collapsing trachea that causes him to cough and then he needs medication. With the medical bills that have added up for us over the last 2 years from Meko having IMHA and now having Binka die while having surgery (yes, we still have to pay for that), we could not take on a pet with a known medical condition.
Kitsu (her nickname) is sweet, loving, fun, playful, and almost exactly the same size as Meko. Jim and I already love her and I think over time Meko and Jacks will love her, also.