Your Pet Tributes

by Ashley Hart
(Logansport, IN)

I remember the day I got them like it was yesterday. We had just moved into our new house and my little sister met this girl who lived down the street. She asked us if we wanted to see her dog's puppies, so we to her house. They were so cute. She told us all of their names.

My favorite one was Chole. I fell in love the moment I saw her. she was so perfect, I couldn't believe it. I asked her if we could take her to show my mom. She said sure, so I picked Chole up and took her to my house. I showed her to my mom.

At first my mom said no, but I did not leave her alone. I told her I would take care of Chole myself. She finally agreed to let us keep Chole. I asked my sister's friend when we could take her. She said today if we wanted to. We just had to tell her parents first so we went to go tell her mom and dad that we were going to take Chole home with us. She said it was okay so when we finally got back home I couldn't believe that I had a dog all to myself.

My mom took us to the store to get her a collar. I picked out a blue one because it matched my sister's softball teams color. Chole went everywhere with me after that day. I never left her alone. About a month after we got her we got a call from my aunt, asking if we wanted a chihuahua puppy. At first my mom said no but my aunt told her if we didn't take him he would have to be put down. I cried when I heard this, so my mom agreed to take him. My aunt was going to bring him on Sunday.

When he finally got there he was so scared all he wanted to do was hide. No one knew what to name him. I'm the one who finally came up with a good enough name, Chico. We all agreed that would be his name. After a couple of days he got used to us. He seemed to like me the most and he was really over-protective if anyone came near me while he was on my lap. He would try to attack. He was a crazy dog but I loved him anyway.

We had them for about 4 months and then one day I was looking at Chole and I asked my mom if she looked a little fat. She said she did. A couple of weeks later she was huge. It wouldn't be long before she had puppies. We made her a comfortable bed.

A couple of weeks later, she started crying and we didn't know why, so I ran across the street to get my friend Ty's mom. She came as fast as she could and she helped me with Chole. When she was finally done having puppies, Ty's mom went home. Well, we thought Chole was done.

Around 8 she had another puppy. It was all black and it was adorable.

It was May 28 that the puppies were born. We had no idea what to do with all the puppies. They grew up so fast, and it took us forever to find them homes. On July 4, I took Chico to the fireworks. I had such a great time with him. When it was time to watch the fireworks, he put his head up and watched the entire time. I think he had as much fun as I did. When we got home we all went to bed.

On July 8, I decided to stay the night with a friend but that night I felt like there was something wrong but I ignored the feeling. When I got home the next morning and knocked on the door and neither of the dogs barked, I knew something was wrong.

When someone finally answered the door, I went to check on Chole. She was in the chair with my sister and she wasn't moving, but when I got closer to her I could see that she was breathing, but barely. I begged my mom to get up and check on her. When she finally got up she walked over to her.

My mom started crying and she ran outside. I knew my little dog was dead. We took her across the street to bury her with her brother, who had recently been hit by a car. It was one of the worst days of my life. My mom told me to go and find Chico and see if he was okay. I went into the house and checked under my mom's bed and I found him there, but what I saw was horrible. My other dog was dead too.

I could deal with losing one of my dogs, but I didn't think I could deal with the loss of both of them. I begged my mom to let me keep the last puppy we had, so I had some part of my 2 dogs with me.

I later found out that they died from parvo. It broke my heart. I will never forget my two little dogs. Their lives had just begun. They were no more than 2 years old. I have a scrap book of them, and whenever I forget something about them, I go back and look at their pictures.

I still have their puppy and he is now 4 years old. He is my best friend. What I would do without him, I don't know.

I will never forget you guys. I love you. Rest in peace.