Personas: Tracy & Alec

Tracy is a twenty-five-year-old accountant, who has been living with her boyfriend, Alec, for almost two years. Alec is a twenty-seven-year-old electrical engineer. They both work full-time day-shifts and are renting a one-bedroom apartment in the area where they work.

Tracy and Alec have been together for about four years and have discussed one day getting married. They would also like to have kids someday. Before they take these next steps in their relationship, the couple would like to get a dog.

Growing up, Alec had several dogs in his family, and Tracy’s family had one cat that lived to be about twenty-three. Some of the couple’s friends have dogs that Tracy and Alec dog-sit when their friends go out of town.

In their spare time, Tracy and Alec like to take walks in their neighborhood and local park, go hiking, and spend time with their families, including Alec’s nieces and nephews. They discussed that any dog they would get would need to be good with children.

Alec has shared that he had a dog that got sick and passed away at a younger age than expected, so he thinks they should keep an open mind about the age of the dog they get. He would rather rescue a dog from a local shelter.

Though Alec does not have a preference on the dog’s age, Tracy believes they should get a puppy from a local pet store because she is concerned about the lifespan of an older dog.

“It would be great to be able to raise the dog from youth and, not to be depressing, have more time with the dog.”

Tracy and Alec have agreed to do more research about where to get a dog and set aside time to visit their local shelter.