Ever since I was little, I remember asking my parents for a dog. They were hesitant because they worked all day and my brother and I were still young. I remember having millions of fish through my youth, and I remember them all dying. All I truly wanted was a REAL pet, one that I could see when I came home from school, one that would see me and get excited, one that I could take care of.

After a while, I gave up asking. I didn't think that we were at a place as a family to have the responsibility of a dog. Both my parents worked full time and they always said it was not possible to take care of a dog and stay sane ourselves. My brother and I had just about given up hope that we were ever going to get a dog, when one day, my parents told us to get in the car because we were going somewhere. We complained the whole way there because they didn't tell us where we were going or what we were going to do there. I remember pulling into a driveway of a house I had never seen before and being very confused. We walked into a strange house and had about 6 puppies running at us from every direction.

Now, two years later, our dog Rosie is the center of our family life. Having Rosie has made me more responsible in more ways than one. Having a dog is very much like having a baby. They need to be watched all the time or your favorite flip flops will end up in their stomach. Having her certainly taught us how to clean up after ourselves, so she wouldn't eat anything on the ground. It also gave us a reason to be outside and be active. Having a puppy who was so energetic got us all outside running around to keep up with her. Without Rosie, I wouldn't have my own responsbility when I came home during the summer. Rosie showed all of us that we really needed to be there for her and get our acts together. Having a dog is a huge responsibility that I didn't realize when I was younger. As much as I wanted one, I don't think my brother or I could have handled it when we were little. There is a lot of added pressure that comes with raising a puppy and without the maturity we have now, our parents would have to do all the work. Without Rosie, our family would not be the same, and we thank our parents for her every day.