Remembering Alex

Found another that I hadn't posted...written sometime during the past year.


"Ah, Mom, you know you want a dog." both daughters were trying to persuade me to say yes to the cute little Lhasa Apso puppy.

Several weeks earlier our friends Lhasa had given birth to puppies. I think there were 6. I had seen them soon after they were born and they were adorable. Susan, the dog's "mother" had sold all but one puppy and she really wanted us to take the last one. She only wanted her puppies to go to people she knew. But, I am not an animal person. I am allergic to cats. The only pets I've had success with are fish. Jennifer had childhood allergies so a dog had been out of the question. Up until now the kids had been happy with the fish and hamsters. But we had moved to a house with very little carpeting and a large fenced in backyard and Susan was asking us to take "Goat".

I'm not sure why they were calling him Goat; he was cute. He was the runt of the litter, a little brown fur ball. How could I say no.

We brought Goat home and changed his name to Alexander the Goat and immediately began calling him Alex. The kids played with him and took care of him and tried unsuccessfully to keep him from chewing up the furniture. He really was hardly any trouble and neither Jennifer nor I had any allergy problems from having him around.

Alex quickly became a part of the family. I don't think he ever realized he was a dog. He was part of the family. We installed a doggie door so he could come and go on his own. We established self feeding and he was great, he didn't over eat and seemed to be in great health.

One summer we decided to take a summer vacation. Alex would not be allowed to go with us, so we did the normal thing. We took him to the kennel. When we went back to get him at the end of the week, they told us never to bring him back. Evidently he stayed in the back corner of his cage and shook for a week. The next time we needed to leave him we asked a co-workers son to come and stay with him. Three days into the trip Mark called and said, "Alex has not eaten since you left." We figured there wasn't much we could do from out of state and told Mark we guessed he'd eat when he got hungry. Alex was glad to see us when we got home, he was thinner but in good shape.

It took us a while, but we finally learned that Alex didn't want to go to the kennel, nor did he want anyone else staying in "his" house. So, for any other weekends away or family vacations, Alex stayed by himself and we had a neighbor come in daily to check on him and make sure he had food and water. Alex was much happier with this arrangement.

The years past, the girls grew up and left for college, Alex stayed with us. He was aging, seemed to be losing his hearing, had some vision problems, and had a little trouble jumping down from furniture but nothing major.

I came home from work one day and could not find Alex. I was sure he had crawled under a bed or outside under a bush and quietly died. I searched frantically, no Alex. The back gate was open, someone had been in the yard a left the gate open. Where in the world had Alex gone. He had hardly ever been out of the yard. He didn't like to ride in cars so we didn't take him out except to the vet or the groomer. He walked with me to the mailbox but that was the extent of his world outside the backyard.

David came home and he called several neighbors but no one had seen Alex. The next morning we called the local radio station and sure enough a lady several streets over and across a very busy street had Alex. She and her husband had seen him and since they, too, had a Lhasa they decided to take him in for the evening. So Alex returned home. To this day I cannot figure out how Alex managed to get across that street.

More years passed, we decided to sell our house in Kentucky and retire in Florida. Alex was more than 15 years old. What should we do? Jennifer had 2 dogs of her own but was willing to let Alex come and live with her. But would that be good for Alex? A strange new house, strange dogs to share his life with? Clare had just graduated from college and was in an apartment so she couldn't take him. Should we take him to Florida? At least he would be with us and our routine would be similar. We took him to the vet to make sure his shots were up-to-date and discussed what would best. I remember thinking the vet might suggest it was time to "put Alex down". But the vet said he thought Alex would be fine in Florida.

We purchased a crate, and got the sedatives that the vet had prescribed. David would be driving the truck and I would drive my Highlander filled with assorted clothing, househould items and Alex the 600 miles to Florida. I wanted to start the trip without sedating Alex. After all he hadn't traveled before maybe he'd do fine. Twenty-five miles down the road we stopped at the first rest stop and gave him the pills, he had howled the entire time I had been driving.

Alex adjusted pretty well to Florida. There were steps, lots of steps in the new house but he did just fine. He lost his freedom because the yard was not fenced, but seemed fine to stay in the house or go out when we took him out. So we all adjusted to our new life.

About a year passed and we decided to go to visit Clare who was now in Chicago. Jennifer agreed to keep Alex, so we went to her house first and dropped him off. It had been a while since she had seen Alex. She commented on how old he seemed. A few days later when we returned to pick him up, Jennifer said she had discussed Alex with her mother-in-law, who had raised and trained dogs for many years. Then Jennifer said she thought it was time to put Alex down and even suggested we go to her vet. The vet had just put Bailey down, Jennifer's hyperacted, adorable Brussels Griffon. Bailey had fought a long hard fight with cancer but had recently lost his battle.

I knew that Alex's quality of life was not what it once was, but to put him down. How could I do that? Nearly seventeen years ago I had not wanted to bring this little, brown fur ball home with me. I was not going to be the one to take care of this puppy, but somehow I was the one who had gotten attached. Now I was the one who was going to take him on one last journey.

Jennifer called and made the arrangements. The next morning David and I put Alex in the car and drove the few miles to the vet. David said he would not go back into the room with Alex. I could not let Alex go alone, so I went back with him. The vet and the assistant came to get him. They would give him a sedative and bring him back to me. They were gone for a while. When they brought Alex back in his eyes were open but he was limp. I remember thinking he was gone, but the vet then gave him a shot and it was over. Alex was gone.

It's been about 4 years since Alex, I still think of him. I often see his face when I look at other dogs. I will never own another dog, but I am glad that I let Susan, David and the kids talk me into bringing Alex into my life.