The day started off like every other Friday, a cold winter morning and a tiring morning getting up for school. We did the usual things at school, getting homework, sleeping in class, and working hard until we got on the bus to go home. As usual, the bus ride home was loud and chaotic to handle, but the walk home was peaceful. We walk home and get into the house, getting greeted by our cat, Charlie, and our dog, Dash. We get into the living room and see our mom in a blanket with what looked like our other cat, Luna, lying next to her. She pulls out her phone and starts recording my brother and I, but we didn’t know why until we sat down. Trevor sat next to my mom, so he could see what the little lump was next to her, but I was distracted by the television. He asked, “Is it ours? Are we keeping it?” and I was confused because I wasn’t completely paying attention. I stood up and walked around the couch to find a baby chocolate Lab staring up to me.

I immediately fell in love with him and browsed through the internet to find the perfect name for him. I personally wanted Jack, Duke, or Bear, however, my mom didn’t like the name Jack and my grandparents used to have a dog named Duke. So we all agreed on naming him Bear. The first day he was very tired and shaky in a new environment, understandably so, but we all took turns playing and cuddling with him to make him more comfortable. Because he was only eight weeks old when we got him, he wasn’t potty trained, so throughout the day we had to constantly take him outside to make sure he didn’t “go” in the house. I stayed with him the first night and did a good job making sure he went outside and could go back to sleep afterwards.

Bear grew more comfortable with playing with Dash as the days went by, and the cats were getting more comfortable with him being around. We found out that he loved to play in snow the minute he got outside. For the week that he has been with us, we learned what he enjoys and what he doesn’t. He plays a lot and is very energetic when he wants to be; he can be too jumpy and snappy at times, but he is also just a puppy. Having a Lab takes a lot of responsibility, such as picking up trash around the house, not leaving food where he can get it, and knowing when he needs to go outside. Yes, it is difficult, but it is definitely worth it in the end.