Puppy Love

Today I made the hardest decision I have ever made.

On Thursday my puppy went to the vet to get "fixed." While she was there, the vet found something that we weren't aware of. At about 5:00, the phone rang. I looked at the Caller ID, it was my dad. My mom picked up. The first thing I heard was "This can't be happening us again." I knew right then what was going on. It felt like my world suddenly all came crashing down on me. My head started to throb and my eyes were filling up with tears. I've heard people say "heart ache" before, I never knew the meaning until just that moment. I couldn't let my brother and sister see me cry. I walked into another room and pretended to be doing my homework.

I couldn't get those words out of my head. "This can't be happening to us again" the words just kept replaying in my head. Horrible memories were flashing through my head. Memories of crying in the car with my mom. Memories of coming home to see an empty kennel.

My mom knocked on my door and came in. She sat down on my bed. She explained to me that Dory was deaf. She told me my choices. I could give Dory to a family that specializes in training deaf dogs or learn how to train a deaf dog and keep her. My mom left me to think.

A few minutes later, my dad brought Dory to my room. He set her on my bed with me. My family left to run some errands. I laid there with Dory for the longest time and cried 'til it hurt. I knew then what I was going to do. I put Dory in her kennel and cried myself to sleep.

Then Friday came along. I had an awful day at school. I must say I was proud of myself that I didn't break down in tears during a class. I went to bed that night knowing that this would be the last night I would wake up every hour to take Dory outside. It was so hard for me to think about that. Usually taking Dory outside is just a chore. But I was almost happy hearing the cute little bark in the middle of the night.

This morning our family woke up and we took Brittany to breakfast for her birthday.

We went home and I couldn't even look at Dory. My parents left to run some more errands. My mom called and told me to do two things, get Dory's blanket, leash, and CareBear ready. And the second thing was to write a paper about Dory and her behavior. I wrote the best five paragraph essay of my life. My parents drove up to the house and took Dory from me. I couldn't watch them leave with her so I ran and hid under my blankie. I don't know why this helps, but hiding under my blankie creates a way for me to "escape" from the world.

My parents took Dory to a family that trains deaf dogs. I knew this was the right thing to do, Dory will be happier and healthier. I guess that I feel sorry for myself. This sounds bad, I know, but when you love something as much as I love that dog, you get very emotional.

I was extremely depressed and my family was gone, so my mom called my grandma and told her to come get me. My grandma, bless her heart, tried so hard to get my mind off of things and took me on a long drive in the mountains. She took me to her house and I slept from 1:00 'til about 7:00. And although I got all this sleep, I am emotionally exhausted and I can't function. I don't know how people can loose close loved ones and still live life happily. I feel like there is no reason to get up in the mornings.

Dory was like a baby to me. I love her and will miss her very much. I will miss waking up every hour. I will miss seeing her slide down the slide. I will miss her splashing water and making a mess. I will miss her obnoxious bark. I will miss rolling around in the mud with her. Most of all I will miss her and our friendship.

Puppy Cravings

Four years ago, our family got a puppy. We adopted her from the Ogden City Animal Shelter and named her Pal. Pal was such a good dog right off the bat. So two years later we decided that getting a new puppy would be a good thing. We looked everywhere for another Austrailian Shepard puppy. One day, we came across a want ad with purebred Austrailian Shepard puppies. We drove out to the house, and it was like love at first sight.
We named her Zoe. She was the most beautiful puppy. She was mostly white and had unique coloring around her eyes. She was a very shy puppy, but once she settled in she started to play with us. Zoe attempted to play with our other dog Pal, but Pal never did like her very much. Then night came along, we locked her up to prevent doggy presents throughout the house. Zoe hated being alone. She would whimper and cry all night. Then it came time for her first set of shots.
It was a normal school day, my brother, sister and I went to school. My mom was going to take Zoe to get her shots. I wish I would have known then that was the last morning I'd see Zoe.
When I got in the car that day I could tell something was wrong. The first thing that came out of my mouth was "She's gone isn't she?" My mom couldn't even drive, we sat in the car for the longest time, just she and I, all alone. We cried and cried for the longest time.
She finally worked up the nerve to tell me what had happened. When she had taken Zoe to the vet that day, Zoe bit the vet. Normally this isn't a problem. (Puppies nibble alot because their teeth are just coming in.) However the vet was concerned because she was a white Austrailian Shepard. You see Austrailian Shepards have something called white factor. Its ok if they are white, but the problem is the patterns that the white is in. So the vet started running tests on Zoe. He checked her hearing, she was deaf in both ears. He checked her sight, she was blind in one eye and partially blind in the other. The poor thing also suffered from something called "Hip Displacia." The vet called animal control and ordered a brain biopsy.
Since them we have all wanted another puppy. My mom has been nervous about getting one.
The saturday before Labor Day my aprents and I went to Target. We were pulling into the parking lot and there was a man out one the lawn with a sign that said "Puppy." My mother and I jumped out of the car. She was an Austrailian Shepard baby girl. Her name was Phantom. I fell in love with this puppy but not her price. I'm sorry but I'm not about to pay 300 dollars for a puppy.
That day I got on the computer and looked up local shelters. I looked for what seemed like hours for the perfect dog. And then it happened, I found her. Her name was Abba. I knew then that we were meant to be together, we have practically the same name. I called the shelter and arranged to meet her in Salt Lake City on Monday. The shelter is in Roosevelt, Utah and my parents didn't want to drive clear out there.
My dad and I waited for twenty minutes. Those twenty minutes were the longest twenty minutes of my life. When the lady finally arrived, it wasn't the dog that I had seen on the website. This wasn't the dog I wanted, they had posted the wrong picture with the information. It was a white Austrailian Shepard. Right then I felt like crying, I couldn't say no to the dog, this lady had driven two and a half hours to bring me this dog. And she wasn't headed back to the shelter. I knew my mom would be furious the minute she saw the dog. We signed the papers, paid for the dog and drove off.
It turns out she isn't a purebred Austrailian Shepard, so the white factor doesn't affect her. After a week, I finally decided on a name, Dory. She has been the cutest puppy. I know we'll have fun growing old together.