"Are you sure we're going the right way, sweetie?" my mom asked my dad who drove the car. "I think so," my dad warily replied. My sister and I exchanged nervous glances as we drove further into the rural farm land. You see, my hard-working parents have never even considered what we were about to do. But, my siblings and I finally persuaded them! Our family was driving to Michigan to visit the 4-week-old Cavalier King Charles pups.

My family and I received photographs of the puppies as newborns a few weeks ago from the breeder. They were all extremely cute, but one puppy stuck out in my mind. "I need this puppy," I remember thinking, "This is the one we are going to get."

Jasper Kalidunn Waterloo is his official name. I know what you're thinking, That is a ridiculous name. Why would someone name their dog that? Trust me, I have no idea. We just call him Jasper though. He is a tricolor which means he is black, brown, and white. He has shiny, black fur on his ears and back. His face and chest, which is as smooth as silk, is mostly white, and he has some light brown fur on the back of his legs.

"We're here!" exclaimed my mom from the front seat. As my father parked the car, I eagerly hopped out onto the drive-way. My brother quickly ran to the front door with my family right behind him. We were all very excited. My dad knocked on the door to alert the breeder that we were here. The door slowly swung open, and an old lady, about sixty years of age, with short gray hair and crinkles by her eyes from smiling, greeted us. She appeared to be the breeder, Alice.

She sweetly welcomed us into her home, and we immediately heard barking. I looked over at my parents who had worried looks on their faces. The internet said that this was a very calm breed. So, we were very shocked that the dogs were being so rowdy. After about a minute, the noise died down, and Alice let the dogs out of their crates. All of the adorable Cavaliers came up to us, no longer yippy and loud. You could tell they just wanted to be pet. Alice unlocked the screen door and let the dogs out into the fenced-in yard.

"Are you ready to meet the puppies?" Alice questioned us. We nodded in return and followed her to one of the back rooms. Slowly and carefully, she began to hand us the small, delicate pups. I was very happy when I was handed a puppy named Frasier. In my opinion, he was the calmest of them all. My mom was given Jasper. He was even cuter in person! We followed Alice outside with the rest of the dogs. For the next hour, we played fetch, conversed, and watched the dogs frolic around the backyard.

Alice had told us a week or two before that we could only get a boy from the litter of seven puppies. She also said that we couldn't bring a puppy home until they were 12 weeks old since they are very hard to take care of when they are young. After we discussed the matter, we chose Jasper. He was all our favorite puppy, and we had fallen in love with him right from the start.

Shortly after the decision was made, it was time to leave. We thanked Alice for the wonderful opportunity. After saying our farewells to the pups, we exited her house and drove all the way back home. Now, all we had to do was wait until Jasper was 12 weeks old, and he would finally be ours.

When I think back to that day, I am very pleased with our decision to get Jasper. In my eyes, he is the best puppy, and I have no regrets in getting him. Jasper is the kindest dog. I feel like her brought our family closer together. He is a great addition to the Erickson family.