Dogs are nice; they need special care, and besides they are a big responsibility and can make our life a little difficult. When I see someone on the street walking their dog, I ask the owner, “What is the dog’s name?” For a moment, I think that I want to have one for my own. When I go to the mall and I see little puppies barking or playing with other dogs, I want to get one. If I see a movie in which the owner gets home and opens the door, and the dog wags its tail, I think it would be nice to have one like that. Dogs are like cars; they come in different colors, and prices. We need to think carefully about what kind of dog we want to get because some dogs need more care than others.

       Dogs are a big responsibility and need special care. Apartments are small places for them to live. People who have dogs in apartments don’t realize that dogs need big places to live, like houses with big patios or yards where they can play, run, or walk as they please. Another thing, they need to have a healthy life. Dogs eat special kinds of food; they need to go to the veterinarian and get shots which will keep them from getting sick. Sometimes the medicine costs the same as medicine for people. Dogs need to be cleaned with special shampoos that prevent bugs, and sometimes they need a haircut.

       Dogs can make our life difficult. When dogs live in apartments, they can destroy and mess up the place. They can cause problems to our belongings, like chewing our clothes or shoes. Also, they can stain the carpet, or jump on the sofa or on our favorite chair leaving fur all over. Even worse dogs can bite our furniture and they can leave a bad smell.

       Sometimes dogs leave a bad impression for visitors. When people visit us, sometimes they don’t like to be around animals, or they don’t like animals. Of course, we can send our dog to get trained, but we don’t know when they can act crazy. Training a dog can be another expense.

       One day, I visited my friend’s friend apartment, and it wasn’t funny. The apartment smelled really bad, and the carpet was stained. I sat on the sofa, and it had fur all over. When I was talking to this guy, the dogs were bothering me. They wanted to bite my shoes, and they jumped on me. Lucky for me, the dogs were small. I didn’t say anything, but I wondered why the guy didn’t do anything about it, or at least say something.

       Don’t get me wrong, I like animals especially dogs. In fact, I had dogs when I lived in Mexico. My first dog was a Doberman Pinscher. He was 6 months old when he died. My second dog was a German shepherd. His name was “Rocky.” He was very smart dog, but he ran away. The third dog was a regular brown dog that I took home. She was walking in front of my house, and I decided to take care of her. Her name was “Loba” (female wolf in English). I really liked this dog because when I took the bus she walked with me until the bus stop and when I returned home, she was waiting for me outside of the house. She could smell me from very far away; she would jump on me, and wag her tail. It looked like she was very happy every time she saw me. She had a lot of puppies and my friends always wanted to have one because they were very cute. “Loba” got old with time and she died. I was really sad when that happened; she was a really good friend to me. My last dog was another regular brown dog named “Coqueta” (trouble maker in English). She was very small when I took her home. She was really rude with strangers, but not with me. I was the only one who could touch, feed, and bathe her. She was 3 years old when I left her in Mexico. She died a couple of years later. My mother told me that “Coqueta” stopped eating and looked very sad. I guess she died from sadness.

       Dogs can be cute and be our best friends. These are the things we need to consider before we get a dog. They are a huge responsibility; sometimes they can make our life difficult, and if we take care of them, they will be happy and healthy.