There we all were, my family and I standing on the black pavement of our driveway on a chilly, January morning. All four of us couldn’t wait to get in the car, and drive out to a farm and pick up our golden retriever. This was no ordinary pet, as in my family's history, we had never gotten a dog. The drive out was tense as I thought about everything that could go wrong, what if she wasn't friendly or bit people, or she couldn't fit in at our house, but those issues quickly faded as we drove near the farm. We pulled into the gravel driveway and quickly parked and hopped out of the car. We strolled on wet morning grass way back to this large barn, with the wood scaling the sides, and the high, brown roof towering above our heads. With the very pleasant temperature and feeling of comfort, it was truly a penthouse for the dogs. The barn doors swung open as we were greeted by 5 puppies laying around their mom in what appeared to be a horse-sized stable. Immediately one jumped up and ran over to us, and at that instant, we knew she would become our dog. After learning about her, we walked her back to our car and hopped in.

“So, what will we name her?”, I ask as we start driving away

We had previously discussed a few different name opportunities, but the main consensus was Zoey.

“Zoey.” My parents replied.

    From the farm, we drove home, carefully with our new member of the family wrapped in a pink blanket in the backseat. 

As we first brought Zoey into our house, our two cats came downstairs in an instant to investigate the mysterious new beast. We quickly found out their opinion of Zoey would be less-than-favorable. Our oldest cat, Nick would hiss at Zoey's presence, and in turn, she would give chase until we caught up to her and separated the two. Our youngest and other cat, Ruby would avoid the dog at all costs as she would hide in the bedroom until the coast was clear. Day in and day out there would be some issue between the dog and the cats. Barking, chasing, and everything in between and quickly we would have to purchase a baby gate to put between the upstairs and main level, as the cats had taken the bedrooms as their safe haven away from the dog. Despite our large strides to remedy this, with treats and toys she would still make it an absolute necessity to try and play with the cats which of course, they were having no part of. Zoey was consistently energetic and brought tons of energy however the energy would be too much as the large playful dog would be frightening for the small tabby cats. Sometimes hours could be spent with treats in our hands trying to teach the dog how to stay calm with other animals around. Struggling to keep her head in the game as other distractions went by would prove to be quite the challenge, but not something that patience and determination couldn't fix. Each segment of time brought more learning, to eventually remedy the issue fully.

I’ll never forget the moment we brought our first dog home. The playful, small, golden creature filled to the brim with happiness. The excitement of the times spent together and the troubles that we fixed by teaching and training. The passion, dedication, and time we put in, and what a wonderful outcome we got.