The Decision

I'd been wrapping my brain around the idea of getting a pet, and when my sister beat me to it, that sealed the deal. She adopted a puppy, a black hound mix, from the local shelter and named her Bella. From the very beginning, Bella was very shy and cautious, and thus required a lot of time and devotion. While everyone took turns caring for her, I quickly realized the strength of the love and companionship that a dog brought to the family. I figured, "why spoil my sister's dog when I can get my own?"...

At that time, we were all in our final year of college, and were graduating soon. William (my boyfriend) and I would soon have to spend our time searching for jobs. If we wanted to get a dog, the time was now. With our flexible class schedules, we could use what time we had to train it and love it and teach it tricks... but what kind of dog would we get? One from a shelter? A breeder? And so the search began...