I was so happy to see that an English Springer Spaniel won
Best In Show at this year's
Westminster Kennel Club. Springers will always have a special place in my heart.
Four years ago this week we lost Alex, just days shy of his 15th birthday. But Alex wasn't just a dog to me -- he was my best friend.
I still think about my darling Alex all the time. I was lucky enough to have him in my life from elementary school all the way through my last year of law school. He's the best study buddy a girl could ever ask for.
I clearly remember the day we drove up to Pennsylvania to pick him up. Alex was the last pup left in the litter. We saw his mother in the backyard of the house and then saw Alex, still not entirely steady on his rapidly growing legs, wobble out next to her.
At first my brothers and I weren't convinced this huge liver and white thing would be our new family member. We were still mourning the loss of Chad, the Cocker Spaniel, who even at full size was a little smaller than Alex at just 12 weeks.
My parents, smart enough to realize that the three of us kids were still growing ourselves, knew Alex would make the perfect-sized companion for us.
Puppyhood was quite the challenge. Alex soon took over half of the kitchen as we erected wooden barriers to keep him from wandering the house. Not happy to be confined, he registered his discontent by removing the moulding from along the wall, chewing up the kitchen table and chairs, and knocking over the television set.
As he grew, so did his curiosity. Alex loved the backyard, especially climbing atop the green turtle-shaped sandbox, where he could survey his territory. We also soon learned how springers came to be known as springers as Alex somehow managed to get himself perched inside the fence we put up to block him from chewing on the air conditioning cords. Silly boy got in easily enough but couldn't figure out how to extricate himself.
Always the charmer, when Alex was 3-years-old he fell in love with a stunning 2-year-old Springer Spaniel up the street. Alex and Roxy were a pair made in heaven. Whenever he let himself out of the house (he was particularly adept at opening the screen door) he would make a bee-line for Roxy's house. Roxy's family moved away a few years later and you could tell Alex still thought about her and their romps in the yard.
I think the one thing that made Alex so special was that he had the innate ability to make each member of the family feel we were the only one who really mattered. Alex was fiercely noble to my father, obeying his every command as long as he felt like it. Alex slept in bed with my parents, always cautious to make sure he afforded my dad enough space, all the while shoving my mom off the side.
But Alex loved mom too. He knew she was a sucker for his cute face and enormous ears. While he wasn't one for toys, Alex never turned down a treat. Alex plied many a treat from my mom.
Alex also had a special relationship with my twin brothers. One of only a few who could actually tell them apart from one another, he knew exactly how much he could manipulate each of them. He knew subtlety was lost on Danny and that he'd have to bark right in his face if he wanted something. Matt was generally a little quicker to respond to Alex's whims but unfortunately Alex only repaid him by leaving 'presents' on the floor of his bedroom. (The carpet has never been the same.)
Finally there was Alex and me. Always protective of me, as I got older and started spending more time away from home, Alex positioned himself between the front door and my bedroom so he knew when I came home. He wouldn't come upstairs and climb into bed until he knew I was home safe and sound.
The years passed and we all grew up and Alex outgrew his puppy exuberance. I went away to college and my parents brought Alex down to visit me at St. Mary's. Leave it to Alex to wander out of my dorm room into the hallway just as the assistant director of residence life came through. A new rule prohibiting "visiting pets" in the dorms appeared in the following year's student handbook.
When I returned home for law school, Alex was ready and waiting to help me study. With my brothers away at college, I had Alex all to myself.
But as Alex aged, we often wondered how much longer he would be around. His arthritis could usually be kept under control with the wonder drug
Rimadyl, but his hearing and eyesight were not what they used to be.
As senile as he was, Alex still managed to put a scare into the mailman. One day I heard some barking coming from the front porch. The mail truck was already up the block but my poor old dog was covered in pepper spray. We tracked down the mailman who swore than Alex lunged at him but considering Alex's condition, I find that hard to believe.
The subsequent visit to the vet revealed the need for surgery, as Alex needed to have a fatty tumor and a toe removed. The weeks that followed were touch-and-go and we really didn't think Alex would last much longer. Somehow he recovered and made it another two years.
Like his life, Alex's death became a legendary story in itself. Alex chose to die right in the middle of the President's Day Blizzard of 2003. We had no way of getting out of the house so we had a few extra days to spend with him. The vet advised us to put him outside in the snow until we could dig our way out.
The local pet cemetery said that because the ground was frozen, they wouldn't be able to bury him until spring. We didn't want to let our best friend sit around in a freezer somewhere all that time so we ultimately decided on cremation.
This turned out to be a very good choice. David Mason of
Beloved Pet Cremation and Burial Service was an amazing help. He came to our house with his doggy hearse to pick up Alex's body. He sat down and talked with us for a while about Alex's life and what he meant to us.
It's such a comfort to have Alex in the living room at my parents' house. We still talk to him all the time. It's such a fitting final resting place considering he spent so much of his time trying to convince us that he should be allowed in the living room anyway.
It's never easy to know when it's the right time to put a pet down. Alex was kind enough to take that decision out of our hands. It's just one more reason that we love him so much and will never forget him.
We finally have good news to report for both brothers. Matt is finally a CPA and Danny has a good job offer! 
