Over the years I've come to appreciate how animals enter our lives prepared to teach and far from being burdened by an inability to speak they have many different ways to communicate. It is up to us to listen more than hear... (Trout, 2010, p.XV).All classrooms are active social systems; the middle school classroom involves complex interactions between and among peers as well as between students and teachers. the elementary years, attention is often given to nurturing students and fostering relationships, yet when young adolescents transition to the middle school, a focus on control and discipline tends to be the norm (Schmakel, 2008), contrary to the middle school model with a primary emphasis on relationships and democratic community where students have responsibility for exploration, integration, and the development of selfworth for all. Indeed, this ideal drives the Association for Middle Level Education's (formerly National Middle School Association [NMSA]) position paper (2010) that presents four attributes of a successful middle grades school: developmentally responsive, challenging, empowering, and equitable.This article centers itself in the premise that all humans desire a sense of belonging; this craving is achieved through positive, persistent, caring relationships (Baumeister & Leary, 1995). But fostering relationships require the capacity for interpersonal attention. Thus, to develop this capacity, one must engage in caregiving activities (McHugh, Horner, Colditz, & Wallace, 2013; Noddings, 2002).Given this foundation for understanding young adolescents, the year I taught sixth graders, I decided I wanted a pet for the classroom-a guinea pig to be exact. During pre-planning, I brought my request to the principal. His response was, Why? His question was expected, and I began to discuss the nature of young adolescents as the basis for my rationale. I focused specifically on the social and emotional needs of young adolescents and how a safe and positive environment is needed for learning to occur. I went on to share how providing for a pet would allow the students to see how actions directly impact another being, and the sense of pride and accomplishment that can come from caring for another life. Affording these opportunities via a class pet could serve as a bridge to developing positive relationships with peers. I closed with the statement, In short, middle school students and guinea pigs are the perfect combination. Although not entirely convinced, the principal acquiesced.Accepting the guinea pigs into the learning community afforded the students opportunities to participate in providing care for another while nurturing a sense of belonging. A few examples of the positive impact the pets had on the students' social and emotional development and sense of belonging throughout the school year are highlighted here. While the guinea pigs interacted with all classes, the students in the intensive reading class experienced the deepest bond with these class pets.Symbiotic relationshipsWhen Delmus entered the classroom furious about something that had taken place in the hall, I asked him if he could give Oreo a little love. He lifted her from her cage, cradled her in his arm, and petted her with such a delicate touch. Oreo helped calm the anger raging inside Delmus.Roderick took to Angel immediately, as she was the tiny one, and he, too, was the smallest student in the class. Roderick was picked on by students throughout the day... especially in the halls and at lunch, but he developed a relationship with Angel and found solace in her company.Alisha and Keosha referred to themselves as the babysitters. While the cages were cleaned throughout the day, all students took ownership of the Good Housekeeping Award, but Alisha and Keosha came in every morning before school to check on the guinea pigs and make sure their babies started the day with clean cages. …