A Dogs Life for Me

Going to the gym has been a hobby of mine for a while but the thing I like the most about it is the drive home. There are many different ways that I could take home but I always take the same way for a certain reason. On this route, I come to a stop sign and see two dogs in the window of a house. There must be a couch under the window because they are always laying or standing on it to look out the window. Every time I see them I can only smile. Dogs can make your day better so why not get one?

The first dog I ever got was a mini dachshund and I wasn’t supposed to get one. During the fall of my seventh-grade year, I went to the mall with my mom shopping for pants. Every time we went to the mall for anything we would stop and look at the dogs in the pet store. For some reason, this time we fell in love with this little dapple. As soon as I was eye to eye with her the employee asked if I wanted to hold her. They had little booths so you could go interact with the dogs. As I sat in the booth, the dog walked around sniffing the floor. Then she hoped on her hind legs, put one of her front leg on mine, and looked up at me. The employee told me to pick her up and hold her. From that moment on I knew that I wanted to bring her home. We named her Rosie, and she would not be the only dog in my house.

Rosie was a great dog. She loved to play fetch so much that sometimes while you were sitting on the couch you would hear the ball rolling on the floor, look up, and see her staring at you to throw it. We realized a slight problem a few months later though. For most of the day I would be at school or a sports practice and my parents both worked, so Rosie would be home by herself most of the day. Thinking that she was getting lonely, we decided to get another dog to keep her company. This is when we got Boomer.

When we got Boomer, he was about a year old. It was so cute coming home and seeing him run around the kitchen all excited. We called him big paws for the first couple of years because they were the last thing that he grew into. He was the first dog that we got out of state and over the internet, something I did not know you could do at the time. My father went online looking for a playmate for Rosie and came across a pet adoption site located in Oklahoma. After making sure that the dog had all his shots and was medically fit for adoption, we paid for him online, which was scary for my mom at the time, and he was flown to New York four days later. My parents picked him up at the airport and brought him home. After meeting him, we were so happy that he was now a part of the family that we got in touch with the breeder to thank him again and let him know how happy we were. He asked what we decided to name the dog and when we said Boomer he said he knew that he made the right choice sending him to us. It turns out that this was the first time breeding dogs, and he was also nervous for the dog.

Rosie and Boomer got along great together. They liked playing with their toys and Boomer was mainly a lap dog so there were nights where I would be kicking the ball to Rosie and petting Boomer who was laying on my lap. But one day Rosie started acting weird. She never cried in pain but would try to walk with her paw curled up under her. Then one day all her paws were curled under her, and she could not walk. It turns out that pure breed dachshunds are known for getting a build up of spinal fluid in their backs and Rosie had one on a nerve. On the day that she went in for surgery everything went fine, but she never came out of anesthesia. The vet called us to tell us if we hurried we could say good bye but none of us made it in time. I don’t know what was harder, saying good bye to the first dog I’d ever had or coming home to see Boomer realize that Rosie wasn’t. This would lead to the same problem as before, except now Boomer was lonely and you could see it.

To solve this problem, we did what everyone would do. We went back to the internet. This time we found Penny. Another dachshund, she was a rescue from Tennessee. Penny had an interesting journey to get to us though. Through the site, people arranged an underground railroad for dogs and Penny took a trip on this line. Three or four volunteers would drive anywhere from 50 to 100 miles and hand off the dog to the next in the chain until she was close enough for us to retrieve her. Living in New York at the time, my parents decided that New Jersey was not that far to pick her up. She seemed scared when we got her but my mom sat next to her carry on in the back seat, left the door to the carry on open and put her hand next to her. By the time we got the George Washington Bridge, Penny was sleeping on my moms lap.

She got along great with Boomer. The only downside was that they were both lap dogs and would fight over who got to the lap first. Unfortunately, a few years later Penny would also need the same back surgery that Rosie needed. This made us nervous, but she made it through great and came home a two days later. Penny lived a couple more years before passing away. We felt great knowing that we were able to give her a good home for as long as we did. We thought that we would have the same problem as when we lost Rosie but Boomer seemed to be OK on his own for the time. It wasn’t until we learned of dachshunds being rescued a town over that he would get a new playmate.

When we learned that 27 Dachshunds were rescued from a house fire, we thought we would take a look at them. They were kept inside all the time and not fed well, so they fought for food. Getting to one of the shelters that took them in, we learned that there were only two or three left after being there for three days. I took Boomer in to meet with the other dogs to see which one was the best fit. This is how we got Oscar. Again, another lap dog, but he did not fight with Boomer over anything, so they were a good match. The two of them would curl up together even if people were home. Oscar is so soft that you want to keep petting him forever, and he will let you especially if it's belly rubs. He has these eyes that look right through you and make your heart melt. That was when we knew we made the right choice picking him.

It's hard to lose a pet at any age. Losing a dog seems to be the hardest thing to go through because all they want to do is be around you. Still, I would take in more if I could because the time you spend with them makes everything else worthwhile. Boomer passed away from old age three months ago. He was 16 and a great dog. Oscar misses him but at the end we think even he knew Boomer didn’t have much time left. Oscar doesn’t like to be left along but with the pandemic someone is always home with him so as of right now he will not be getting another brother or sister. Yet, if we come across another dog in need, we will always take a look and see if we can give them a nice home.