The Dog Experience
By Elliott Yau
A lot of people love dogs, and like any ordinary children, my brother and I really wanted one. Although there was one problem: My brother and I knew absolutely nothing about dogs. We initially proposed the thought to our parents, but like any sensible adults, they were not about to buy a dog for two children who knew absolutely nothing about dogs. So, like most children, we spent the next few months reading entire books and articles about dogs. We compiled all of our findings into a slide deck and planned to present it to our parents. The day we presented our slideshow, they took us very seriously. I remember staring at the dark wooden table as my brother said our closing statement, praying that we could get a day. Getting a dog is a big responsibility for two children, and they wanted to make sure we were 100% ready to take care of one.
After our presentation, my dad decided he really didn’t want to have a dog that sheds. Given this our family agreed that a Labradoodle dog breeder all the way in Virginia was the best option. So we planned a trip and decided to also take a vacation to Washington D.C. right before to make the most of it. I had been learning about colonial America in my 3rd grade class, so I was excited to visit the sites I had learned so much about. The trip was amazing, we visited the National Mall. I saw the Lincoln, Jefferson, and Washington Memorials. My favorite part was going to colonial Williamsburg which had a full reenactment of what the old colony town back in the 1600s would have looked like. There were even horse-drawn carriages and authentic colonial food. But the rest of the trip was a blur, because I was so excited to get a dog.
We planned to meet the dog breeder in a random shopping mall in Virginia. The sky was pouring rain, and the wind was blowing so hard that the trees looked as if they were about to fall over. The traffic on the highway was bumper-to-bumper, and it looked like the storm wasn’t going away anytime soon. In the back of the car, my brother and I were ecstatic to finally get a dog, and we already had a name: Jigsaw. After what seemed like hours, we finally arrived at the mall. But to our dismay, we still had time to kill, so we decided to eat at The Cheesecake Factory. I scrambled to eat as fast as I possibly could, because when you want something to happen, you try to do things as fast as possible, even if you know it won’t help.
I can still remember sitting on that couch in the loft of the mall waiting for the breeder. We were stressing about the breeder not showing up, but eventually we saw her, with a cute little puppy in her arms.
“Hi, I’m Leslie,” the breeder said.
“Nice to finally meet you!” my dad responded.
“This is the dog we’ve talked so much about,” Leslie said, carefully handing us the dog.
I wish I could remember the rest of the conversation but mostly I was just overjoyed to meet the dog. Jigsaw was small and looked extremely cute and vulnerable like a little stuffed animal, and was a mellow darker-apricot color, his fur was luscious and super fuzzy. But soon it was over and it was time to leave with the dog, so we carried him out.
“Here is the food I've been feeding him, call me if you need anything,” said Leslie.
“Thank you!” We all responded.
And with that we took the dog out in his bundle of blankets. Before we went outside, we looked through the door to see the rain still pouring down, and it looked like it could flood soon. We rushed out of the door as fast as we could, through the pouring rain. Jigsaw was shivering and my mom was trying to keep him as warm as possible. When we finally got to the car, everyone was calm, except for Jigsaw. He was still worried, but throughout the ride he calmed down. We were going to the airport and my dad realized he hadn’t booked a flight that particularly said they allowed pets in the cabin, so we decided we would still smuggle the dog, but try to hide him under blankets.
Once we got to the airport, everyone was worried. We checked our bags, got our tickets and walked through security. We sat at the gate waiting for the airplane to be ready. My parents had tried their best to swaddle Jigsaw in blankets. We also had a bag made with breathable material that the breeder had given us for Jigsaw to sleep inside of. We nervously boarded the freezing cold cabin of the plane and slowly took our seats. We bought three seats in a row on the window side, so we got Jigsaw as far away from the aisle as possible. The plane ride was tense; all I remember was sitting there watching movies and trying to use my body to block the flight attendants’ view of Jigsaw. But Jigsaw seemed pretty comfortable, so that was a relief.
Once the plane landed, it was already 11 pm because of the time difference, so we took a cab home and got ready to sleep. But that night, sleep was the last thing we would be getting. All Jigsaw did that night was howl and bark, as he was unsettled because he was in a new environment. We spent most of the night comforting him and he ended up sleeping in my parents’ room.
The next day, all we did was spend time with Jigsaw. It was the middle of summer and being 8 years old, I had nothing better to do. We started training him on the basics like “sit,” “stay,” and “down,” as well as just playing with him so he could be active at a young age. There is a concept of “socialization'' that is crucial to a young dog. You have to introduce the dog to many different people and things, so that when they grow up, they have a sense of what is going on and don’t bark at everyone. I remember this one time when my parents and my brother thought it was a great idea to bring Jigsaw to the mall to familiarize him with different people and things. But I threw a fit because he hadn’t gotten all of his vaccines yet and I was really scared of Jigsaw getting sick.
Getting a dog was an experience that was great for me. I spent a lot of time learning about something I wanted, and acted on it. As children, my brother and I took initiative on an idea we had, and made something of it. Getting a dog was important to my identity because I learned that I was able to make a difference. To this day, the difference I made when I was only 8 years old still affects me. Taking care of Jigsaw is important to my identity because it showed what I was capable of in my mind. It proved to me that I was able to not only take care of myself, but attempt to take care of something else. A lot of people love dogs, and like any ordinary children, my brother and I really wanted one. Although there was one problem: My brother and I knew absolutely nothing about dogs. We initially proposed the thought to our parents, but like any sensible adults, they were not about to buy a dog for two children who knew absolutely nothing about dogs. So, like most children, we spent the next few months reading entire books and articles about dogs. We compiled all of our findings into a slide deck and planned to present it to our parents. The day we presented our slideshow, they took us very seriously. I remember staring at the dark wooden table as my brother said our closing statement, praying that we could get a day. Getting a dog is a big responsibility for two children, and they wanted to make sure we were 100% ready to take care of one.
After our presentation, my dad decided he really didn’t want to have a dog that sheds. Given this our family agreed that a Labradoodle dog breeder all the way in Virginia was the best option. So we planned a trip and decided to also take a vacation to Washington D.C. right before to make the most of it. I had been learning about colonial America in my 3rd grade class, so I was excited to visit the sites I had learned so much about. The trip was amazing, we visited the National Mall. I saw the Lincoln, Jefferson, and Washington Memorials. My favorite part was going to colonial Williamsburg which had a full reenactment of what the old colony town back in the 1600s would have looked like. There were even horse-drawn carriages and authentic colonial food. But the rest of the trip was a blur, because I was so excited to get a dog.
We planned to meet the dog breeder in a random shopping mall in Virginia. The sky was pouring rain, and the wind was blowing so hard that the trees looked as if they were about to fall over. The traffic on the highway was bumper-to-bumper, and it looked like the storm wasn’t going away anytime soon. In the back of the car, my brother and I were ecstatic to finally get a dog, and we already had a name: Jigsaw. After what seemed like hours, we finally arrived at the mall. But to our dismay, we still had time to kill, so we decided to eat at The Cheesecake Factory. I scrambled to eat as fast as I possibly could, because when you want something to happen, you try to do things as fast as possible, even if you know it won’t help.
I can still remember sitting on that couch in the loft of the mall waiting for the breeder. We were stressing about the breeder not showing up, but eventually we saw her, with a cute little puppy in her arms.
“Hi, I’m Leslie,” the breeder said.
“Nice to finally meet you!” my dad responded.
“This is the dog we’ve talked so much about,” Leslie said, carefully handing us the dog.
I wish I could remember the rest of the conversation but mostly I was just overjoyed to meet the dog. Jigsaw was small and looked extremely cute and vulnerable like a little stuffed animal, and was a mellow darker-apricot color, his fur was luscious and super fuzzy. But soon it was over and it was time to leave with the dog, so we carried him out.
“Here is the food I've been feeding him, call me if you need anything,” said Leslie.
“Thank you!” We all responded.
And with that we took the dog out in his bundle of blankets. Before we went outside, we looked through the door to see the rain still pouring down, and it looked like it could flood soon. We rushed out of the door as fast as we could, through the pouring rain. Jigsaw was shivering and my mom was trying to keep him as warm as possible. When we finally got to the car, everyone was calm, except for Jigsaw. He was still worried, but throughout the ride he calmed down. We were going to the airport and my dad realized he hadn’t booked a flight that particularly said they allowed pets in the cabin, so we decided we would still smuggle the dog, but try to hide him under blankets.
Once we got to the airport, everyone was worried. We checked our bags, got our tickets and walked through security. We sat at the gate waiting for the airplane to be ready. My parents had tried their best to swaddle Jigsaw in blankets. We also had a bag made with breathable material that the breeder had given us for Jigsaw to sleep inside of. We nervously boarded the freezing cold cabin of the plane and slowly took our seats. We bought three seats in a row on the window side, so we got Jigsaw as far away from the aisle as possible. The plane ride was tense; all I remember was sitting there watching movies and trying to use my body to block the flight attendants’ view of Jigsaw. But Jigsaw seemed pretty comfortable, so that was a relief.
Once the plane landed, it was already 11 pm because of the time difference, so we took a cab home and got ready to sleep. But that night, sleep was the last thing we would be getting. All Jigsaw did that night was howl and bark, as he was unsettled because he was in a new environment. We spent most of the night comforting him and he ended up sleeping in my parents’ room.
The next day, all we did was spend time with Jigsaw. It was the middle of summer and being 8 years old, I had nothing better to do. We started training him on the basics like “sit,” “stay,” and “down,” as well as just playing with him so he could be active at a young age. There is a concept of “socialization'' that is crucial to a young dog. You have to introduce the dog to many different people and things, so that when they grow up, they have a sense of what is going on and don’t bark at everyone. I remember this one time when my parents and my brother thought it was a great idea to bring Jigsaw to the mall to familiarize him with different people and things. But I threw a fit because he hadn’t gotten all of his vaccines yet and I was really scared of Jigsaw getting sick.
Getting a dog was an experience that was great for me. I spent a lot of time learning about something I wanted, and acted on it. As children, my brother and I took initiative on an idea we had, and made something of it. Getting a dog was important to my identity because I learned that I was able to make a difference. To this day, the difference I made when I was only 8 years old still affects me. Taking care of Jigsaw is important to my identity because it showed what I was capable of in my mind. It proved to me that I was able to not only take care of myself, but attempt to take care of something else.
