Category: Alex

Alex was Aunt Mel’s first dog. He was incredibly smart and understood hundreds of words. For many years, Aunt Mel worked at a design studio and Alex was allowed to accompany her to work every day.

Early in the morning, Alex and Aunt Mel would get in the pick up and start their 2-hour drive to downtown Atlanta. Alex would sit in the passenger seat gazing out the window. Sometime he got sleepy and would lay with his head on Aunt Mel’s lap until they reached the office.
At the office, Alex would follow Aunt Mel around the office and to every meeting. When working at her desk, he would crawl under the desk and nap. Everyone enjoyed Alex’s company and he certainly enjoyed all the attention.
Alex was given several duties in the office. He would carry things from desk to desk in a basket, like a delivery service. Sometimes Aunt Mel had to meet clients away from the office. Alex would patiently wait at the front door until she returned.

Alex’s award for being a good co-worker was a set of his very own business cards! Good Boy Alex!

Alex was that once in a lifetime, very special dog. And how Alex came to be part of Aunt Mel’s life is also special. Aunt Mel and her boyfriend Chris decided they wanted to get a dog. Chris liked to duck hunt so he wanted to find a black lab puppy. So they began to inquire about available puppies.

One of Chris’s friends, Lester, called to say his old lab dog just gave birth to three puppies and did we want one? This was her last litter and Lester was sad that all the pups were black. His old lab had seven previous litters and Lester wanted a yellow pup. Despite different colored daddies, every puppy came out black. And such was the case with this litter of three all black puppies, two males and one female. Chris wanted a male. Lester picked the smartest pup and tied a string around his neck so we could identify our puppy.

A few weeks later, the pups were old enough to leave their mother. Chris and Aunt Mel drive nine hours to Alexandria, Louisiana for their new puppy. When they arrived at Lester’s home, the mamma lab and two puppies ran to the car to meet them. But the puppy with the string around his neck was missing. Lester called but the puppy did not come. A search of the yard ensued but the third puppy was nowhere to be found.
Then Lester heard something under the house. He crawled under the floor and pulled the yelping puppy out by his tale. He placed the squirming pup in Chris’s arms. “Here is YOUR dog”.

Aunt Mel and Chris named the puppy on the spot – Alex. It was the perfect name for this chubby, peculiar black Lab puppy. All the way back to Atlanta, Alex slept on Aunt Mel’s lap. Aunt Mel and Chris were very happy.