“Alrlo”

Halayna Yang

Maplewood, Minnesota | Hmong | they/them/theirs

Arlo is our dog, but sometimes he gets a little crazy. What I like about him is that he knows that I love him and we know that we are together. I chose Arlo because he was a special dog. It all started on my 6th birthday. I didn’t ask for gifts at my birthday party, instead, I asked for donations so that I could get myself a puppy. I raised about $500 from my birthday.

After my birthday party, my parents and I looked up pet places so that we could go look at newborn puppies. We eventually found one nearby. When we got there, I only saw Arlo! He was so small. His sisters and brothers were a lot bigger than him. He looked really sick so no one wanted him. Others probably thought he was going to die, but I chose him!

When I got him, he used to sleep with me on the couch. He’s a lot bigger now and sheds a lot so we don’t let him on the couch anymore. He used to love taking naps. When he’d wake up he is hyper for a few minutes, then he’d fall right back asleep. We used to walk him when he was a puppy and he would try to sit down and take a nap on the sidewalk after every couple of steps.  Now he doesn’t do that anymore. Yesterday, he almost ran away, but my sister and I yelled out “Squirrel!” and he ran back right away! Even though he’s a lot bigger now, Arlo is just one year old.