AXEL "SPIKE"
IN MEMORY 1989-2000
In my long search for my vision of the perfect boxer, one of which reminded me of the dogs I grew up with, I came across this dog as an 8 week old puppy. Having been searching for 10 years, I knew exactly what I was looking for. This dog's litter was not registered, but not in the dog show game yet, I was looking for a companion and that did not matter to me at the time. I saw the pedigree and pictures of the sire, a champion, and the beautiful dam of which I saw in person and was more impressed with. She was of European stock, like the dogs I grew up with, and I could definately see that in the puppies size and bone. I brought him home and he was my constant companion, accompanying me on my late night jogs. This dog proved to be more of a protector than I could of imagined saving my life in one occassion, warning me of a stalker in another instance. He was always vigilant of my every move and glanced behind us always when we walked to make sure all was clear. He was a lover of children, always wanting to fetch. He constantly had a tennis ball near by, waiting for the opportunity to bring anyone his tennis ball for playing. He is my template for boxer temperament, and my future dogs are to be modeled after his character, temperament, strength and acute sense of his surroundings. Impressing many onlookers because of his size and substance, but also because true to a boxer, he carried himself with confidence and was always alert. He finally started suffering from arthritis at the age of 10, it got worse and we had to make the sad decision to let him rest at the age of 11. He will always be missed.
