Personal Essay: My Personal Experiences

I could see the country hills go by out the window as the car bounced across the uneven road. My family and I were heading towards the Virginia border to finally meet our new family member. Next to me was a crate and a bright pink collar ready for when we were finally able to take her home with us. This was last summer when we finally made the hard decision to get a Corgi puppy, who we named Roxy, and is one of the biggest and best changes to my life.

When we finally got to the farm called “Farm Pups” we met with the owner and saw Roxy’s parents who were, like her, Pembroke Welsh Corgis. The mother had the common coloring while the dad was Merle (gray and white with black spots and blue eyes.)

When we went inside my mom immediately exclaimed

For a long time we did not have the responsibility of supervising a pet and could be out of the house for as long as we wanted without worrying about a pet at home. I love the excitement and playfulness in her when playing fetch and tug-of-war, but had difficult training somewhat at first because of the stubbornness and the herding aspect bred into Corgis. Going on walks at first were difficult since through her stubbornness she lay on the sidewalk often not wanting to move (probably because of the summer heat) and tried to chew many things in the house she wasn’t supposed to. Because of this we thought that we would hear howling the whole night while she was in her crate, but to our surprise she didn’t make a sound once. What we also found unexpected was the amount of shedding that she does on a daily basis which, although is part of the routine now, creates quite a big clump in the end! A few weeks later after she had all of her shots taken we took her to puppy school across from my neighborhood. The four weekly trips were a big help with training her to behave, and was a great experience for her as she got to meet many other dogs, including another Roxy. My family and I could begin to see her adjusting and fitting in with us as she knew the routine of each day including when we go on walks, when we eat, and when she

She was able to meet lots of people who wanted to say hello to her and other dogs of many breeds. One would think that she still had tons of energy left after our walks there, but when we get back into the car she falls asleep right away in her crate. Going on these trips is one of the several reasons why we got a dog since not only is it a motivation to get exercise it is also creates great family experiences.

This January along with blueberries, cheese, stuffed toys and daily walks we found a new favorite thing of hers: snow. Because of her short legs she gleefully hopped through the snow and even ate some of it out of curiosity. What was once a perfectly flat and undisturbed yard of snow became a playground for one very excited puppy! It is amazing how she has grown so much after the seven months we’ve had her so