Pup's Furever Home

Turning 18 years old, freshly graduated from high school and having your parents going through a divorce is a lot to go through. My parents divorce really traumatized me; I felt alone, misunderstood, guilty, and ashamed. I am the oldest out of 4 children and being the oldest has its demands. My siblings needed me for comfort. I mothered my siblings while my parents fought through the divorce, literal fighting. I held my siblings at night before bed, I took my siblings out of the house because they should not have had to see or hear the fighting. I was there for them in every way; but who was there for me?

As a kid, I was never allowed to have a dog because they were messy and loud as my parents would constantly tell me as I begged for one. I had cats and fish but it wasn't a dog. The day I rescued my dog was the day that changed my life forever. I had been working for a while now and had saved up enough money to be able to take care of a dog. I was living with my father at the time and he had said, “If you want a dog, you will need to pay for it all on your own and take care of it all on your own.” I selectively heard “you want a dog, go get it!” I had shown my father the money I had saved up and that same day I went and bought all the new puppy equipment I needed to make sure that my puppy was coming home to a good home. After buying all the equipment and unnecessary items, all the cute dog toys they had, I researched rescues near me. I always knew I wanted to adopt a dog from a shelter because it's one more dog being saved and if I could save at least one I was going to do it. I found Maricopa Animal Shelter and asked my father to drive us there because it was far and as a new driver I had only been within 10 miles of home and driving the same streets, these were all new roads and even more terrifying, the freeway! As we drove there, I thought of several names for girls and boys but I had to see my puppy before choosing the name. As we pull up I hear all the dogs barking with excitement from seeing all the people around. They had fenced off certain areas to play with your puppy and get to know him/her better and see if they like you. We walked through the doors and into the back room where the dogs were lined up in their cages, howling and barking. I remember walking down the aisle and seeing all the dogs eyes on me and I felt so terrible that I couldn't take each and every one home with me. I stopped in front of a cage with a little tan Chihuahua. His name was Chico. He was so tiny and trembling with fear and excitement. He stood there with his tail between his legs with the biggest puppy dog eyes I had ever seen. I told the shelter employee, “That one please!” The employee had set us up in a fenced off area to play with Chico and feel it out. Sitting in the grass, I waited anxiously to see Chico again and hoped that he'd love me. The employee brought Chico in and gave us a couple minutes. Chico didn't like me. He would not come near me, he would not let me pet him or get close to him. I tried my hardest to think of ways to get him to come to me and give me a chance and he would not give in. After a couple minutes, the employee comes in and asks how it's going and could see that I wasn't too sure about him, but I thought if I took him home and show him a good home and give him all the love I had that he'd definitely like me. “I would like to take Chico home, please.” The shelter employee went to go get the leash and make sure he was up to date on his shots and go from there. I was so excited! The shelter employee comes back very quickly and says “I'm so sorry, he's been adopted already, they didn't put the sign up.” I honestly felt my heart sink and I was about to cry. I looked at my father and said “one more time around and if I can't find another one then we can go home.” My father agreed. As I'm walking down the aisles again, searching for the perfect pup for me, I felt at a loss, I couldn't find a puppy at all or even an older dog that didn't look at me like it was going to eat me. Then while walking to the exit doors, my father said “Wait, what about that one?” I looked over with so much hope in my eyes. It was a dark brown Chihuahua mix hiding behind a Shar Pei. This adorable little girl was hiding behind a bigger dog. I asked the employee to visit with that one. We went back into the fenced area and the puppy ran right to me and jumped in my lap, licking my face and wagging her tail so hard I thought it would fall off! I knew she was the one. I asked the shelter employee if she could make sure she wasn't adopted already and the employee came back and said she was ready to go to her forever home. My heart filled with so much joy! As I waited in line to pay for my puppy I couldn't contain myself, I was smiling from ear to ear and felt my heart swell because of how happy I was. I paid for my puppy and waited in the back for them to bring her out to me. As I'm standing there, they have her on a leash and she is fighting it with all her might to get out of there and run into my arms. The hand her off to me and I took that leash off and carried her all the way to the car. As we're driving home, I am sitting in the back seat and I start going through all the girl names I had picked out. I said each one and she didn't give any reaction and my last choice was Chanel. I looked at her and I said “Chanel?” and she jumped onto me and was licking my face and wagging her tail with every thing she had. That was her name!

My puppy saved me. The loneliness I had disappeared. She took care of me. She was always with me. When I would cry she would jump up on my lap and lick the tears away and she would instantly make me feel better. She makes me laugh so much. After her baths, she runs extremely fast through the entire house a couple times and then comes and sits next to me when she's done. She always sleeps with me and I feel safe and so much love from her. She was supposed to be in my life and I was supposed to meet her at the time that I did. Dogs are more than just animals, they are our best friends.