Warming up to Alex

Being a dog lover (we have two), I was quite eager to get on a friendly relationship with Tracy and Andy's dog, Alex. Tracy affectionately refers to him as a Pit Bull in a Pompek's body. He came inside today so we had an opportunity to make friends with him. How? It started with dog biscuits -- one from David and one from me. Then I decided that he needed a pull toy. Now, Tracy wasn't sure what I meant when I suggested that she get an old, mismatched sock and tie a knot in the end to play tug of war. So I retrieved a used, knee-high stocking, tied multiple knots towards the end and dangled it in front of Alex. He was ecstatic! He played pull and tug and jump to get. He also likes being scratched behind the ears. At one point he came to me and growled. I put my open palm in front of him to sniff. He immediately touched my hand with one tooth, tossed his head and demanded an ear scratch. This is a dog who know what he wants!