“Hey Tyler, happy birthday!” one of my good friends yelled driving away from me.

“Thanks,” I yelled back standing in the Kenowa Hills Middle School parking lot waiting for my dad to pick me up. It was a big day for me. My class had just gone on a field trip to Michigan Adventure and it was my birthday, June 8th 2011.

I thought, “I’m thirteen now. Sweet! I’m older than most of the kids in my grade. Hmm, I wonder what I will get for my birthday?” Then I heard my dad’s car motor break into my thoughts. My dad pulled his car up and I got in.

“Hey dude,” my dad said, “How was your field trip? Did you have fun?”

“Yeah. I had a lot of fun,” I said tiredly.

“Well happy birthday! I know you’ll love what we got you,” My dad told me.

“Well I can’t wait!” I exclaimed. Right then we pulled into the garage.

“I’ll meet you inside,” I explained to my dad. I got up and walked inside. Right when I walked inside my sisters Tia and Ally both came running up to me. They were so crazy jumping around that they almost knocked me over!

“Geez! Calm down,” I thought.

“Tyler go outside! Go outside!” they yelled. I set my backpack down and headed toward the sliding glass door. I heard some muffled barks come from the backyard.

“Oh my gosh” I thought, “could this be what I think it is!” I opened the door looking outside excitedly. Then I saw what it was.

“A dog!” I screamed with joy “What’s his name, breed, when did you get him, is he a boy or a girl...” I kept rambling on with questions.

Then my mom said, “His name is Tracker, he is a beagle-lab mix, we got him earlier today and he is a boy.” While my mom kept answering my annoying questions I walked down the wooden deck stairs to see my new dog.

“Hi Tracker,” I said uneasily hoping he would like me. I was so excited and nervous at the same time that I broke into an easy sweet. Tracker was waist high on me. His fur looked jet black with a snowy white belly and a touch of brown above his eyes and on his snout. Tracker also had three white paws and one brown paw. He had brown eyes and floppy ears. Tracker had a long brown and black tail with a spot of white at the end of it. Tracker galloped over to me and looked at me carefully. He had a curious look in eyes. I reached my hand out to touch him. His fur was medium sized and felt rough and stiff. Right when I walked up to him,

I thought “Holy cow! Tracker needs a needs a bath. Maybe three or four!”

“So,” my mom said, “Pick up that tennis ball behind the pool and throw it for Tracker.”

“Okay” I exclaimed already halfway there. I reached down to pick up the neon-green ball. It was covered in wet disgusting drool. I could tell the ball had already been used.

“Man, I’m going to have to pick up disgusting ball. Then I’m going to have to run halfway across the yard and finally throw the ball so I’m going to close my eyes and grab the ball.” I thought. Finally, I ran back up to the middle of the yard with the ball. Then I threw the ball all the way to the brown wood fence. Tracker took off after the ball in a dead sprint.

“Go get it Tracker! Go get it,” my mom and I yelled. He grabbed the ball and trotted back to us. Then he started sprinting at me. Finally, at the last second, he jerked to the side and ran a circle around us. Tracker wanted to play. So then I started chasing him like a maniac around the yard. When I ran out of energy Tracker dropped the ball at my feet and looked at me.

“Hey Tyler,” my mom said, “Let’s go inside and finish opening your gifts.”

“Sounds great to me,” I agreed. Then we walked inside. I started opening my remaining presents. I got some video games, clothes, some movies and some gift cards. The last present I got was a dog toy for Tracker.

“Tyler do you want to go on a W-A-L-K with Tracker,” my mom said. She spelled out walk so Tracker didn’t think we were going on a walk.

“Okay that sounds like a great idea,” I replied. So I hooked up Tracker and his leash and he got very excited. I had to lean backwards so Tracker didn’t pull me over. I called my mom telling her Tracker was hooked up. Then we went out the door and started our walk around the neighborhood block. It was very dark out. It was about 9:00 p.m.

“So how did you like your birthday? What was your favorite gift?” my mom asked.

“My birthday was awesome! My favorite gift was Tracker.” I replied. Then my mom and I just stopped talking and watched Tracker. I noticed that Tracker did zigzags back and forth across the sidewalk to sniff. He also pulled a lot so I had to adjust to him when we got home I put Tracker in his crate and went to bed.
I thought, “I can’t to wait to see you later Tracker!”