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Memories of Pet Adoptions

It started from birth and only got worse the minute I could talk. I wanted a dog! My Mom would have ignored this request forever but my Dad was an undercover pet lover too so on the Christmas Eve that I was two, Dad did a last minute shop. He disappeared for several hours and when he returned he set a large box in front of me and said Santa delivered it early. (There are pictures of me and the box and you have never seen a face look more excited.)

I opened the box and inside was my very first puppy; a Border Collie we named Bonnie. Back in those days picking the right breed and knowing how to train a dog weren't really discussed. You got a puppy and somehow; if you were lucky, it became a great family pet.

We weren't so lucky. Bonnie was house trained pretty quickly but getting her to stay in the yard was another story. She even learned how to unlock the gate. After about a year of her escaping regularly; my parents made the earth shattering decision to find her a home in the country. I was devastated. My Mom tells me I cried for weeks. Eventually, I asked for another puppy but my parents held firm and for the next 9 years did not let me have another dog.

In 1974 my parents decided to move from the suburbs to the country and I decided we were getting a dog. My parents agreed and promised me we could have a puppy. Luck was with us; one of my friends dog was going to have puppies and she said I could have one. The next 10 weeks were the longest of my life. We had moved and I couldn't even go visit or pick out my pup. But eventually the puppy was old enough to leave its mother and my Dad went and picked one out since he still worked near where my friend lived.

The Day my Dad brought Nico home the whole family sat on the porch waiting Dad was still half a mile away when we started running towards his car. But he wouldn't stop and we had to run home. He got out of the car but there was no puppy. Four kids were grief stricken. But wait, what was that, a tiny black ear appeared out of my Dad's pocket to be followed by a black nose and itty bitty black body. Nico had arrived.

We owned Nico for over 12 years and I was away at college when I received the sad news of her passing. I had lost part of my family. Since then I have adopted countless wonderful pets, both dogs and cats. I have introduced my own family to the fulfillment of owning their own pets and today have 2 dogs, 3 cats, 2 rats and fish. I can think of no better reward in life than adopting and loving a pet.

Learn more about this author, Colleen Rocha.
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