I've always wanted a dog. Ever since my brother and I were little, whenever someone we knew got a dog, the first thing we would do after we had visited their new puppy was beg for a dog of our own. But unfortunately, my mom was beyond scared of dogs and would run the polar opposite direction of wherever the dog is. Even though this was in the back of mine and my brother's mind, and we knew we wouldn't be able to convince her, we still pleaded to get a puppy almost all the time.

But then, to everyone's surprise, something changed.

For my birthday, my family surprised me with a picture of the puppy we would be getting! My mom had finally agreed! She had made a huge compromise for me, and even saying thank you every day would not be enough (that's how scared of dogs she is).

My birthday was on a Wednesday, and that Sunday, we went to get our newest family member. She's a morkie who was 9 weeks old and absolutely the cutest puppy ever! She was so tiny and shy, and we fell in love with her as soon as we saw her.

That day, we brought her to her new home and let her get accustomed to her surroundings. The breeder had told us, "If this puppy teaches you anything, it sure will be responsibility." When she said this I just took it light because at that time, all I could think about was how much I'll be able to play with her everyday after coming home from school and how insanely cute she is. But, what I didn't really think about was getting her potty trained, how much attention she needs and almost everything else that required a lot more effort than just playing with her.

Over a span of a couple days, I quickly realized that I'd done more work related for the puppy than I would've done for myself.

Since we were still trying to potty train her, she would frequently have accidents around the house. When my parents agreed to get a puppy, one of the conditions was that my brother and I would have to assess her needs (they would help of course but we were the main people in charge). So whatever situation I would be in, I dropped everything and came to take care of our dog. Since she's still a baby, she needs twice as much attention as an adult puppy would need which means more responsibility. Our new puppy has taught me to be extremely responsible and how to handle situations.

I'm not saying that you can't have any fun when you have a dog. I'm saying that you should be willing to put his/her needs before your own wants and be ready for that responsibility.

To me, this huge responsibility seems like only a fraction of my time because the joy my puppy brings me is not even close to compare to how much time my family puts into taking care of her. Whenever I come home from school, she's always jumping and wagging her tail around in her cage (sometimes she even pees in excitement). So, yes, having a puppy has taught me responsibility, but she has also brought many smiles and fun that are all worth the work we put in for her.