My family has always adored pets, especially dogs. Ever since I was little, I have been in an environment with dogs. For my first birthday my parents gave me a Yorkshire terrier that we called “Bear,” which was very ironic considering her small and scruffy size. Years later came a King Charles Spaniel mix whom we named Bella. Bella was an energetic and always optimistic companion who loved to roll over on her back for belly rubs. However, we ended up giving Bella away to my grandparents who lived on a big farm so she could run around with all the freedom in the world. The absence of Bella was of course filled by another dog.

Tighe is an Australian Cattle Dog with a beautiful blue coat. We adopted her from the Humane Society in 2017 after we gave Bella to my grandparents. Tighe was apparently found by the Humane Society in an alley in downtown Omaha looking very scared and hungry. She has a socially anxious personality and therefore does not like to meet new people. Sometimes she even feels uncomfortable around people she is used to if they make sudden movements, so we try to be very aware of that. We think that she most likely had a rough upbringing before the Humane Society found her, which explains her mistrustfulness towards other people. It seems that Tighe is always glued to my mom’s side and will often try to get attention from her. Tighe is territorial of my mother and gets jealous when my other two dogs are given affection from her.

The next dog we adopted was Bowie, named after the famous musician David Bowie. Bowie is an Australian Cattle Dog like Tighe but has a red coat and probably some Pitbull in him. We got Bowie from the Humane Society when he was just a puppy the day after he was posted on their website. Bowie was found by the Humane Society roaming the streets of Bellevue in freezing and snowy conditions. Luckily, he does not appear to have any trauma at all from the snow and is a very strange and hilariously adorable dog. Bowie loves to lay under blankets and often sleeps under the covers during the night in my younger sister’s bed. My dad says he never liked dogs that much until we got Bowie. My mom and dad have a funny ongoing rivalry over whether Tighe or Bowie is the better dog.

Boots is the most recent addition to our family. He is the third Australian Cattle Dog we have and has a blue coat like Tighe’s but is much smaller than her. We adopted Boots from my dad’s boss around the beginning of last summer. Boots is still a puppy and is very energetic but sometimes can be a cute couch potato when he lays on Bowie. Boots is attached most to my little sister who claims she is his mother. Now all we need is a dog for me and we will have successfully doubled the size of our family with four dogs.