All my life, my family has owned Boxer dogs. My childhood boxer dog, named Bella, grew up with me and was well loved. I was even there when she first got her. My dad came home from work and she excitedly ran up to him and accidentally hit her head off his car door. No matter how old she was, she was always healthy until she hit her head. After that, she started spiraling downward and eventually had to be down. It was a devastating occurrence and took me years to overcome it. Though once my childhood boxer, Bella, died it was no surprise that we would eventually get another boxer dog. My dad said for years after Bella died that he did not want to buy a new dog. He said he didn’t feel like housebreaking in another dog.

My dad is often known for joking and messing with our family. So often he would joke about surprising us with a puppy. It was brutal not knowing what was or wasn’t the truth with him. One day he took it to a whole new level by sending my sister and I pictures of boxer puppies claiming he was on his way home with one. Of course, my sister dana and I were screaming with excitement hoping that a new puppy was on his or her way to us. We waited by the front door for hours until my dad’s white Honda Civic pulled into the driveway. Then, with heavy hearts, we watched as my dad got out of his car briefcase in hand and no puppy. My sister and I, so full of anger at my dad, didn’t speak to him for the rest of the night. The next day was a Saturday, and little did we know it was not going to be like any other Saturday. The next day my dad left the house, which was extremely weird considering he didn’t work on Saturdays. My mom called and called, yet he never answered her. Finally, he called her back a little while later and said he was running errands. A little suspicious, my sister and I wondered what exactly my dad was up to. But we pushed those thoughts away and kept up with our normal Saturday. I was on the phone talking to a friend when my dad came through the front door. I quickly looked in his direction. I saw the most precious little boxer puppy looking at me. She was so tiny I almost looked right past her. He was struggling to hold her since he was holding the door and her cage at the same time. I quickly hung up on my friend and cried tears of joy while my sister ran up to my dad grabbing the puppy for us to hold.

Piper is now one-year old and still just as precious as the first time I saw her.

She has so much personality for a puppy and is well loved among all my family members. I look forward to seeing her when I go home, and I dread leaving her when it's time to go back to college.