The Day I Met My Dog Summer

by IAJ
(Califonia)

I leaped into the car. I was so excited to go to Auburn! And the reason why I was so happy was because I was about to get a new golden retriever puppy! 3 hour drive-way too long!

At last, I got there and stepped onto the doormat and rang the doorbell. An old breeder opened the door and I went inside the house. To my surprise, I saw MANY puppies!

Before I knew it all the puppies were on top of me! I was lying on the floor and the other puppies were all piled on top of me! Each golden retriever puppy had a collar and the collar had a distinct color. The color that was on their collar was their name before they got an owner.

For example, there was Purple Girl, Burgundy Girl, Green Boy, Red Girl, Pink Girl, Orange Boy, and so on. I had laced shoes on my feet(my mistake!!). Three puppies found those laces irresistible--Burgundy Girl(the biggest), Purple Girl(the cutest) and Violet Girl. And I wanted Purple Girl a lot.

I finally managed to get out of the golden retriever pile. I saw the breeder near a big red closet. I decided I should ask the breeder a question. I went to the breeder and started asking, "Do you, by any chance know who my puppy is going to be?"

She said, "Yes sir, I definitely know who your dog is going to be. But you have to wait to wait to find out in two hours."

Oh man! I couldn't believe I had to wait that long to find out. I started drinking a can of coke. Then I talked to some people. It seemed like forever but finally 2 hours were over.

The breeder started announcing the names of the puppies (by their collar color) and matching them to their owners. Then she said, "And now for the puppy that belongs to the guy in the blue shirt (which was me). . . PURPLE GIRL!"

Awesome! I really wanted Purple Girl anyway. She was so cute (as were they all) and she was always hanging around me during my visit. I thought I saw something magical and mishcievous in her eyes.

We started driving home and I could tell she was starting to get carsick. Well, we actually got home pretty fast--at least I thought so.

When we got home it took me a long time to decide her name. It took me two hours. Then I decided to name her Summer! It was a perfect name because was the color of the summer season and had a sunny disposition, always wagging and happy.

Now the first thing Summer wanted to know was how to climb the stairs. I expected that I would have to carry her up the stairs because she would be scared. But believe it or not, she put one paw on the first step. And another and another. She reached the top with no help! I was amazed. Totally amazed!

Summer explored upstairs and started chewing on some stuff. I started telling her "NO." She kept chewing on it and I finally picked Summer up right into my hands. She started trying to get out of my hands by squirming but I didn't let her. Before I walked down the stairs I decided to give Summer a chance to see if she could walk down the stairs. I was 99.9% sure that Summer could not walk down the stairs.

She looked a bit more carefully down the stairs than she had up the stairs. She didn't know how to walk down the stairs, I could tell. But, she tried by putting one paw on the top step. After that she got too freaked out and decided she was to scared to walk down the stairs. I picked her back up in my arms and started walking downstairs with her.

When I came downstairs I spread a blanket out so that Summer could lie down on the blanket. After all, it was a pretty cold day. It was about 40 degrees outside. And I could tell that Summer was tired. But Summer would just not come to lie down on the blanket. Instead she lay down on the freezing marble floor. Wasn't she freezing? But she seemed very comfortable.

So that was my first day hanging out with Summer. We have had many adventures since then but I will never forget our first day together. Even then, I could already tell that she was going to be a very naughty dog...