Pets are a great part of life and can brighten my mood anytime. My mom recently shared a video of my dog, Piper, getting scared of our new Roomba and it made me laugh so hard. Piper recently turned ten, and that got me thinking about how important pets are in my life. We adopted Piper, a white golden retriever, when she was a little puppy and I was in third grade. The day that we picked her up is one of the most special days of my life.
Since then, she has never failed to make our life more interesting. From eating a sock that had to get surgically removed to tearing both of her ACLs on separate occasions, she has fondly been nicknamed “the million-dollar dog”. She always gets excited when we come home and loves to counter surf. I’d say her favorite people food is cheese and steak, although she has eaten quite a few gingerbread houses that were left unattended.
I have a picture of my dog hanging in my dorm room, and it is a nice reminder that she is waiting for me at home. Even though I miss her a lot, she is always happy to see me. After her initial excitement, she acts like I have never left and goes right back to doing her own thing. It is nice to have something to look forward to seeing at home in addition to the human members of your family.
In addition to all of the cuddles and kisses she brings, taking care of Piper helped me and my brother become more responsible. We have to remember to feed her, take her out, and play with her. Funnily enough, she doesn’t play fetch. I’ll throw the ball and she’ll go get it, but then she flops down and lays in the grass.
Pets are a great form of stress relief and I am so thankful that my parents eventually let us get a dog after years and years of begging because I couldn’t imagine my life without Piper by my side. She never fails to cheer me up when I am sad. Even though she knows how to get herself in trouble sometimes, she always makes up for it. Piper has improved my life a lot, and even though I miss her she sheds a lot so I tend to find her hair on my clothes here at school. I like to think it’s her way of reminding me that she’s thinking about me.