The first year that my parents owned me was not bad. I had all the food I could want and more attention than I knew what to do with. Fetching things was my favorite; mom or dad would throw a stick for me, and I would run and get it for them. They seemed to like it a lot, but not as much as I.

Alaska wasn’t as cold as everyone made it out to be; it didn’t get that warm in the summer, but it was probably one of the most beautiful sights you’ll find. When my parents showed me the Northern Lights, I was amazed; the lights were impressive. Seeing the glaciers year round was neat too. I was born in Michigan, so I had never seen anything like that before.

Watching the Reagan election was kind of interesting, I didn’t get into it as much as my dad though. At the time he was in the ARMY, so he was really into politics and government and all that legal kind of stuff. That was actually our reasoning for coming from Michigan to Alaska. He was put on base in Anchorage, Alaska where he would stay for two years.

Though nothing seemed very different, I was actually quite excited about this year, after all a whole book was titled after it, 1984 by George Orwell, a classic in itself. I’ve never read it because dogs can’t read, but my mother was talking to my dad about how everything is supposed to be different in this year, but how everything was the same. Everything would gradually and eventually change, but I don’t think it would be exactly how he said it would.

Little did I know, things were getting ready to change into an unimaginable state. It’d be hard for me to think that I would no longer be the center of attention for my parents. It never even crossed my mind until I noticed a few changes.

Several months before the incident I noticed my mother’s stomach was growing bigger by the day. She always made my dad put his head on her belly as if he was listening for something with great anticipation on his face. few seconds later he’d look at mother and give her a big kiss. I wasn’t sure what was going on at the time, but I was a little nervous.

In the last month of the year 1984 my baby brother was born. Though he didn’t look at all like me, I treated him the way any sibling would. He was a very chubby boy weighing over nine pounds, and at first it seemed as if things were going to be fun and enjoyable with the new edition to the family, but to my parents it was inferred that they would care for him or me.

The first month was terrible; I barely achieved a belly rub once a week. They were so in tune to that kid it made me sick. I was their first, I am still most important, or so I thought.

As the weeks passed it gradually got better. They started to include me in their household activities. The newborn wasn’t very mobile, in fact he barely moved at all. His only hobby was whining. I couldn’t stand the screaming. I wished I could just talk to him and work things out so that he could have his way and I could have mine. I tried talking, but it didn’t come out the same, and then my parents said I talked too much so they put me out back.

It was Alaska, and it was wintertime, meaning it was colder than anything cold, and I was stuck out in it. Not for long though. My dad decided to come outside and grab some snow to educate the toddler. He had set him by the back door in his little ground level chair to see the white abyss for himself. When dad turned around with the snow in his hand, I realized that he wasn’t here for me. So I jumped into him, attempting to get his attention, but all that caused was trouble. Not ready for the pounce, he fell forward flinging the snow out of his hand and onto Steve’s head. With quick remorse for what I had done, I swiftly ran towards Steve and licked off all of the snow. Though angered, my father realized that Steve and I could get along without any worry of me attacking.

Steve and I got along great. Our companionship was like none before. By the time Christmas came around, we had gained almost equal respect from our parents; of course he had a little more under the tree. I think it’s because he looks more like them than I do.