The Day I Got My Dog

Ellie Wynne-Eyton

It was a Thursday evening just after school and my two years of nagging had finally paid off; I was nine years old and it had always been my dream to own a little puppie. Even though I had a cat, it just did not seem the same.

I had been looking forward to this Thursday for weeks and weeks. I still did not believe that I was actually going to buy a cut little fuzzy bag of joy, but as our car drew up to the RSPCA, my face lit up with I smile I never thought I could have. Finally, I was to get my hands on a dog.

As I jumped out the car on to the cracked tarmac, the sound of dogs barking overwhelmed me. They sounded so happy but this was hard to believe as they were locked in a tiny cage for hours on end. We went to the front desk and asked them about their finds. We had to wait but it was all worth it. We sat down on the moulded chairs waiting for one of the carers to be free. I was so nervous yet excited. I could almost feel the butterflies jumping out my stomach and through my entire body. I started to twitch my legs against the back of the chair. I looked around the waiting room and stopped immediately after seeing the annoyance in people's eyes.

Minutes ticked by for what seemed like hours and happy families wandered in and out with gleaming smiles on their faces and leaping dog by their side. Finally, someone was free to take us round the kennels and I leapt from my sticky, leather chair. Suddenly as if my mum was moving a snails pace; why wouldn't she hurry up? The sound of the barks got louder as we turned the corner to the building where the rescued dogs were kept. The smell of dog food immediately reminded me of my earlier childhood. Each cage I walked past contained a cute little dog. Whether they were pedigree or not I wanted to take every single one home with me. Their puppy-dog eyes fazed up at me and filled my heart with a warm and fuzzy feeling. Finally, the last cage came into view and a black, silky collie leaped from it's basket with its tail whacking against the wall. This dog seemed different from the rest, it was quirky. I glanced up at my mum and I could see she felt the same way. We took him for a walk around the rescue centre's grounds. We were not able to see why someone would want to get rid of him. We told the volunteer that we wanted to take him home and then we had to fill in a long and complicated form giving details about our home life. Just another week I told myself.