It was a little over 3 years ago (I was 14) that we lost our only pet, a 10 year old rabbit named Hopper. He was a nice pet, who hopped freely around the house and was even potty trained. The only downside was that he would always be nibbling on the corners of any wooden thing in his reach.

Needless to say, he had lived 3 years past his expected death and was partially deaf and blind. Mom made the call to take him in to put him down. It was saddening to see good old Hopper go. He was a good friend.

A year down the road mom started pushing to get a dog. Dad was a big no pet guy and was the real force pushing back on that decision. I was pretty neutral on the decision, as I thought that having a dog would be nice, but because I am lazy, I thought the added responsibility would be too much.

Eventually Dad gave in and it was time to go looking. Mom was set on getting a rescue dog because you could skip the puppy phase. We decided that we were going to get a mid sized dog, as small ones are too yappy and annoying and a big one would be too hard too handle.

We first went to Wright Way Animal shelter. Unfortunately,  a few years ago, the main shelter was destroyed by a bus. We went to one of the temporary shelters, which was chaotically filled with dogs and cats of all sizes.
Looking at all the dogs stuck in their cages, thin, lacking much love and attention, made you feel bad that you couldn’t just help them all. As we walked from room to room all of the dogs would begin to bark for attention. The small cramped rooms made the noise carry to the other rooms, where then those dogs would start barking. It was very loud and overwhelming. Some dogs where playful and were right up next to their crates, while some were shy, and hide in the backs of theirs. Unfortunately there were few mid sized dogs. We thanked the helper who was leading us through the building and left.

The next day after school we all got in the car again and drove over to Heartland Animal Shelter. This shelter had a lot more open space than the last one, and was a lot less overwhelming. As we walked to the entrance, we saw a few dogs out in their small outdoor areas, basking in the sun. Inside this building was a lot less hectic.

We walked from pen to pen. Each one had a laminated paper with information on the dog whom resided there. There was a wide range of dogs there, a big pit bull, a chocolate labrador, a wire haired doxen, and the list goes on. As we got to one, we would look at it and ask each other what we thought about it.

We were getting near the end of our visit and we had not found a dog we could all agree on. We had gone through almost every dog, taken some on little walks, and someone always had a problem with every dog. We then came to a dog who was apparently returned. She was a mix of many breeds, with ears of a pit bull, body and the color of an english pointer. We took her out to a little pen area, and she ran around playfully. She even gave my brother a big doggy smooch in the face. How could anyone return this dog, I thought. We were told that it was impossible to get her to go to the bathroom on a leash, which was a big problem for the previous owners, who did not have a yard to put her in.She was also a very athletic dog, and seemed obsessed with pulling her leash as hard as she could, even if that mention literally strangling herself.

With these problems I could see why the returned her. Although she was a nice loving dog, she had some big problems. If we decided to get her, we should get used to picking up poop in the house. We would also need to take her on many walks a day.

We had a decision to make as a family. This dog was pretty much the only dog that both mom and dad liked. She was a very energetic dog and had some potty training problems. These are two things that are very against my grain. Fortunately my opinion didn’t matter. My family decided to get her anyways.

We had to wait a day before we got her because they had just gotten her back and they had to file paperwork and give shots. We came back the next day to pick her up.

She was excited. Her tail was wagging back and forth so wildly that it was moving her entire butt.

My parents signed some paperwork and then we let her hop into the car and off we drove. We then had to start thinking of a name for her. As she was jumping from person to person, dad jokingly suggested Wiggly-Butt. My brother suggested Hazel, for no particular reason.

We eventually settled on Hazle. The next few weeks were very labrous. As we were told, she never pooped on a lease. After getting very tired of poop scooping, we finally set up a temporary fence in our back yard. With this issue solved I stopped regretting our families choice and began to love Hazel. She was definitely a change in our lives, mostly for the better. If you are on the fence about getting a dog, you should go for it, it will change you forever.