Hope Rule, a junior at Arvada West High School, has been surrounded by all different kinds of animals. She has grown to love all of her 16 animals very deeply, and individually. And her very first pet, Jinx, is what started it all.

Rule’s first pet was a dog named Jinx. He was a rescue dog that she had adopted when he was one year old. Being a rescue dog, Jinx was very reclusive and submissive. Throughout the year of having him, Rule worked very hard to bring Jinx out of his shell, so to speak, and get him to be more comfortable around people. As she made headway, finally getting him to be more outgoing, he unfortunately got hit by a car. This event, while tragic, has shaped her to be the kind of person she is today.

Rule’s philosophy with raising all of her animals is giving them a loving and cherishable home.

“I just want to give them a good life and keep them out of the tiny cages out of the shelter,” says Rule.

This mindset for animals has led her to own 16 pets: four dogs, six lizards, three hamsters, one hedgehog, and two rats. While these animals aren’t the average pets one would see in every household, her love for them is nothing less what she always wanted for them.

Her routine for taking care of the animals includes feeding her lizards and hamsters once a day, the dogs (Bella and Bear) she feeds two times a day (morning and night) while the other two dogs (Max and Prancer) are fed at night. She has to let the dogs in and out a couple times a day, take them on walks, clean out all of her other animals’ cages once a week, and purchase all of the animals’ food. Her motivation for working so hard to do all of this and balancing it with school, work, and Warren Tech goes back to that philosophy.

“I would want someone to feed and take care of me if it came down to it. So, if I don’t feel like feeding them, I just think: what if someone didn’t feel like feeding me?” says Rule.

Of course, all of her animals have their own personalities.  

“You live with them and it’s life living with a new roommate, you just live with them and start to develop a friendship and get close with them,” says Rule.

With all of these different personalities on the house, Rule’s favorite is Jerry, her hamster. Jerry is a sweetheart, and he is also funny as he escaped from his cage. What made this experience so funny for Rule was that fact that when Jerry escaped, he sat outside of the cage rather then roaming the whole house.

Among all of her animals, Rule’s absolute favorite is her dog, Bella. Bella is a black Chihuahua with a stubborn personality.

“She’s a brat, she’s stubborn and when she is mad at you she won’t give you kisses,” says Rule.

Rule got Bella through a friend whose dog was having puppies. One night, Rule and her friend were together and their puppies were born. After that, Rule spent every day after school at her friends’ house where her bond with Bella started to form. After a while, Rule “called” Bella and no one was allowed to sell her. She went to the store and bought all of the stuff for owning a dog and was disappointed to find that she was gone when she came back. After a couple days, to everyone’s surprise, Bella was returned and Rule took her home that day. 

Ever since May 2018, Rule has worked hard to make sure that Bella was properly trained, sending her to puppy school. At puppy school, Bella learned to be around other dogs, and Rule was taught how to teach Bella commands like sit, stay, ect.

Her puppy Bear, who she has had since February 2019, will attend the puppy school as well when he gets old enough.

After Rule graduates, she is left with the fact that some of her beloved animals will be left behind. However, they will be in good hands as her mom will care for the lizards, and the two dogs Max and Prancer as well. As for Bella and Bear, they are going go with her wherever her journey takes her.

“People come and go in your life, but animals don’t really choose to walk out and leave like humans.”