The Hess sisters have taken their case for getting a puppy to the highest reaches of the United States government.

A petition designed to convince their father, Trent, to add another canine to the family was recently sent to the White House, requesting the signature of President Trump.

"We have a dog, but she's too big (for me)," said Ruth Hess, who was born with a rare blood disorder. "I have to take this medicine, and I think it would be nice if I had a dog."

Ruth's mother, Emily, noted that a nurse at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) informed Ruth, "If you make a petition, I'll sign it."

Ruth, who is 10 years old, wrote a petition and enlisted the help of her older sister, Caroline, 12, and younger sister, Heidi, 8, who is in teacher Christina Cylc's life skills class at Quarryville Elementary School. "I think it's pretty cool," said Caroline, who, like Ruth, is homeschooled.

"Ruthie had the idea," Cylc said. "She brought it into school in Heidi's folder and Heidi came out and said, 'Dog and sign.' So that's where we went with it. We do community-based instruction over at Central (the nearby school district administration building), and we had everybody sign it over there. We even got (state Rep.) Bryan Cutler to sign it."

The girls' grandmother Terri Parmarter suggested Ruth send the petition to President Trump. Ruth did just that in mid-January and is anxiously awaiting a response.

"I said, 'If you can get the president to sign the petition, then I'll get you a puppy,'" Trent promised.

Emily is happy her daughters are enjoying a learning experience. "I think it's fantastic," she said. "As a homeschool parent, one of our objectives is to get them to understand real-world assignments and things that are meaningful. When the idea was presented to write a letter to the president, and she had written a rough draft, I said, 'This is really a good start. Now let's look at how we write a formal letter.' Then she got to do that next piece of looking at how we address somebody formally and how we write in our best handwriting and created a nice letter. So, as a mom, as a homeschool mom, I thought it was a really neat assignment."

More than 50 people had penned their John Hancock on the petition as of Feb. 3. Robert Brody, the family's pastor at New Danville Mennonite Church, signed, and the bishops followed suit.

Ruth has decided she wants a Havanese if her wish is granted. "A nurse doing an IV was talking about a puppy, and he said, 'I had a Havanese when I was a kid,' and he told her about it, and then Ruth started looking at them and she said, 'Oh, they're very cute and small. Perfect for cuddling,'" Caroline recounted. "She keeps tabs on all the Havanese for sale and shows them to me daily. That's our homework."

Ruth was born with thalassemia. "They had told us that there was a 50/50 chance that she might need blood transfusions at some point in her life," Emily said. "About two years ago, that needed to happen. She couldn't make it through a day without needing a three-hour nap, so she started getting blood transfusions. She goes every three weeks to CHOP for blood transfusions."

Ruth was on an oral medication, but it was impacting her liver. "The only other choice that is available for her right now is an injection, and it is a medication that we mix for her," Emily said, adding that Ruth hopes a puppy will help take her mind off the pain of the injections. "In her letter to the president, she said wanted the puppy to make her happy."

The doctors stated that another dog could help the entire family navigate trying times. "On a personal note, one of the things that (CHOP) suggested was a distraction for something really challenging like this in your life," Emily said. "It started off as just a fun distraction and then it kind of snowballed into something bigger. And it's been fun."

Trent acknowledged he will consider getting a dog even if President Trump doesn't sign the petition. "There's probably wiggle room, but I'm not committing to that," he said. "If I say yes to that right now, obviously they would take that as a yes. I haven't said that yet. We'll see."