Rachel Campbell

Junior Rachel Campbell said her mom bought her dog, Leo, at a local pet store. “He was given to me for my fifteenth birthday,” she said. “My mom said that she picked him up from Petland after seeing him on their website.”

Campbell said they have adopted all of their pets from pet stores because of the family feel.

“The pet stores are so clean and neat,” she said. “My family often goes there to just pet the puppies.”

After adopting him, Campbell said that he liked to cause trouble and was very devious.

“He would always unroll all of the toilet paper and steal my little brother’s shoes,” she said. “I know he was just playing, but he was super annoying the first week.”

Campbell said her favorite thing to do with Leo is take him on a walk or run.

“I run a lot because of Cross Country, so it’s nice to have someone run with me,” she said. “He usually outruns me, but we are pretty even for the first mile or two.”

Adopting him when he was a puppy, Campbell said he hasn’t grown much.

“He is a little bigger than when we got him, but he is supposed to be a small dog,” she said. “Its fun because it his eyes, he thinks he is a beast, but in reality a poodle could beat him up.”

Campbell said Leo was her favorite birthday gift all time.

“I was shocked when he came strolling around the corner of my living room where I was opening my present during my birthday party,” she said. “I yelled to my dad saying a random dog had gotten in our house. He laughed.”

Campbell said she couldn’t have gotten through middle school without him.

“I didn’t have a lot of friends at school so it was nice to come home to Leo after school. He is one of my best friends. I know that sounds silly, but I love him so much. I don’t think I would be as happy as I am today without him.”

Amelia Andrews

Freshmen Amelia Andrews adopted her dog Rogue from the Kansas City Pound.

“All of our animals are rescued. We always adopted from the pound because they unfortunately have to euthanize their animals if they don’t get adopted.”

Andrews said her family choose Rogue because she was on the list of animals to be put down.

“My mom always wanted a German Shepherd and when we saw she was on the list we were shocked because she was so beautiful and pure breed. We later learned that she was really sick.”

They later learn that Rogue was diagnosed with Distemper.

“Distemper is a neurological disease that is often found in puppies. It messes with the brain and body. Dog who get it only have around a 10% [chance to live].”

Andrews said they decided to adopt her to celebrate the rest of the time she had.

“The doctor at the pound said she probably would only live for two more weeks,” she said. “We wanted to make those week the best.”

Not only was she sick, but she had also been abused by her previous owners Andrews said.

“They found her tied to a tree behind an abandoned house,” she said. “She was 40 pounds underweight and starving, dehydrated, and her collar had grown into her neck because she had been tied up so long.”

Andrews said they took her to their family veterinarian.

“Dr. John really helped Rogue recover. He gave us some medicine that might help and gave her a few test drugs. He said the only thing that we could do was keep her comfortable and pray.”

As weeks went by, Andrews said Rogue began to have a remarkable recovery.

“I don’t know how it happened, but it didn’t. She beat the odds and was able to fight the disease. Dr. John was amazed and called her “The Miracle Puppy””.

Andrews said that Rogue is 100% healthy and is living life to the fullest.

“She loves everything and everyone. Frogs, walks, food, her kitty pool, snacks, other dogs, strangers, shag rugs, our cat…I could go on for hours.”

Jenny Tabakah

Sophomore Jenny Tabakah got her dog, Martha, three years ago from a rescue shelter in Tennessee.

Her mom immediately started searching petfinder.com after their other dog, Teddy, died.  Her mom really liked Martha, “Love-bug” at the time, because she was the same breed as their old dog.

“She looked a lot like [Teddy] as a puppy.”

Her mom contacted the shelter in Tennessee, and was originally going to drive there but decided that trip would be too long.  One of Jenny’s mom’s patients offered to fly his plane to go get the dog.

“On that day he was supposed to get [Martha] there was a terrible storm, so he wasn’t going to be able to fly.”

The patient sent someone to Tennessee to pick the dog up, via car. He surprised [Jenny’s mom] by bringing [Martha] into the office.

“She was found in a field, so we assume that she was abandoned as a puppy. She hasn’t shown any symptoms of being abused, so I don’t think she was.” Jenny shared.

Jenny has one other dog, a cat, and a bunny. Martha gets along well with all the other animals. Except, the bunny is afraid of Martha; although, she would never hurt her.  “[Martha] is a very fun, crazy dog. She’s very sweet and intelligent.”

Martha cared for their other dog, Lily, when she was younger; she is very motherly.

“When she goes to the dog park she runs around, she has a ton of energy. She’ll come lick you for hours on end. She’s just a really loyal, caring, fun, loving dog.” Martha understands both English and Russian because both languages are spoken around the house.

Addie Roudebush

Junior Addie Roudebush said her family bought her two dogs from a breeder.

“We go Amber and Ashley from a breeder because we needed some hunting dogs,” she said. “We are a big hunting family so hunting dogs were essential.”

Roudebush said the dogs went straight into training as soon as they got home.

“We were not allowed to play with them until they were properly trained,” she said. “My dad worked with them for about three months.”

During hunting season, Roudebush said she loves to have her dogs by her side.

“They are so much fun to have around,” she said. “It’s weird because they know when it’s time to play around and when its time to get serious and hunt some ducks.”

Roudebush said she loves both of her dogs equally, but they are very different.

“Ashley loves to snuggle,” she said. “She is around forty pounds, but she thinks she is a lap dog. She will jump on my dad when he is on the couch. It is really funny. Amber is extremely active and just wants to play. She could go on a four mile jog and come home with even more energy.”

Aside from hunting, Roudebush said she does a lot of different activities with her dogs.

“They love to go to the dog park and meet others,” she said. “They also love to play catch even though the ball is a rubber ducky chew toy.”

Roudebush said her childhood wouldn’t have been the same without Amber and Ashley.

“I honestly can’t think of what it would have been like without [my dogs],” she said. “Even to this day, I play with them as soon as I get home. It’s something I look forward to during school.”

Riley Adelmund

Junior Riley Adelmund said she has grown up around animals.

“I have always had some kind of pet growing up,” she said. “My family loves animals, especially dogs.”

Adelmund said her family adopted Snuffles from breeder in South Dakota.

“We have a house up there and we were passing a farm that had a sign that said they were selling puppies,” she said. “We checked their website and fell in love with their selections.”

Adelmund said she choose Snuffles because of her big, bug eyes.

“She had, and still does, the most amazing eyes,” she said. “They made me laugh at first, but it did not take away from her cuteness.”

With Snuffles’s birthday around the corner, Adelmund said they throw her a birthday every year.

“We always bake two cakes,” she said. “One for the humans, one for her. She loves it so much.”

Adelmund said her favorite thing about owning her dog is that she never gets lonely.

“She always greets me when I get home and her tail is wagging so hard it shakes her body,” she said. “She also wait for me when I am about to get in bed and go to sleep. She is definitely a cuddler.”

Adelmund said that as Snuffles gets older, the more health issues occur.

“She is slowly losing her eyesight and hearing,” she said. “It is really sad and I don’t know what I am going to do when she leaves me.”

During the weekend, Adelmund said her favorite thing to do is to take Snuffles to the Petsmart to buy treats.

“She loves the treats,” she said. “It’s sort of like a tradition. Its kind of sad, but I will blow off friends to spend time with her. She is the kindest dog I have owned. She is close to surpassing my mom on my favorite list.”