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.
