After Annie died, I had no desire for another dog. In the Fall of 2003, I had a little
voice inside my head that said it was time to get another black dog. I started keeping an eye out and I had some friends
who are active in rescue start looking.
In about November, I got a call from my friend, telling me to expect a call from her 17 year old.
Seems she and her daughter had been helping a local rescue and at one point, the daughter aproached her with a
pup in her hands and said "Mom, I think Miss Mary needs to see this puppy". Mom agreed to bringing the pup home,
and a couple of weeks later, I met Mel (her rescuer had already named her "Melanie").
Not long after she came to us, we attended a picnic at a dog park in Georgia,
and took Mel and
Michael both. Mel had a great time; she fell in love with and trailed after a bull-mastiff named Moby, teethed on
a few humans (earning the name "Alligator Baby"), and finally fell asleep under a picnic table. Update: We also went the next year, she was not nearly as social. Part of that
is vaccinosis, I think, which we are trying to treat homeopathically with the help of Dr. Stagmeier
She and Michael get along fine. She absolutely adores her Uncle Johnny though, and he is amazingly
tolerant of her antics (the fact that he's another lab probably helps!)
She was going to be a Service Dog after Michael retired but he's still going strong and she has problems with socialization (she's
not aggressive, just scared of everything). She's become my Emotional Support dog. More info on Emotional Support Animals HERE and HERE.
In about November, I got a call from my friend, telling me to expect a call from her 17 year old.
Seems she and her daughter had been helping a local rescue and at one point, the daughter aproached her with a
pup in her hands and said "Mom, I think Miss Mary needs to see this puppy". Mom agreed to bringing the pup home,
and a couple of weeks later, I met Mel (her rescuer had already named her "Melanie").
Not long after she came to us, we attended a picnic at a dog park in Georgia,
and took Mel and
Michael both. Mel had a great time; she fell in love with and trailed after a bull-mastiff named Moby, teethed on
a few humans (earning the name "Alligator Baby"), and finally fell asleep under a picnic table. Update: We also went the next year, she was not nearly as social. Part of that
is vaccinosis, I think, which we are trying to treat homeopathically with the help of 
She and Michael get along fine. She absolutely adores her Uncle Johnny though, and he is amazingly
tolerant of her antics (the fact that he's another lab probably helps!)
She was going to be a Service Dog after Michael retired but he's still going strong and she has problems with socialization (she's
not aggressive, just scared of everything). She's become my Emotional Support dog. More info on Emotional Support Animals 
