Meet Lola: MO/AD Office Dog

Luis and Jo rescued Lola eleven years ago from the Pasadena Humane Society, adding this fawn-colored boxer with black ears to the family before their three kids appeared. Jo confesses she grew up a cat person, but settled on a boxer when she found an old “poem to a boxer” written by a grieving owner. “It was like, yeah, that’s what we want in our lives.”

Boxers are remarkable animals. They’re known for their lean, perky bodies and stout noses. They’re playful and silly, generally considered the “clowns” of the dog world: curious gassy creatures that prefer wet kisses to scuffles and sometimes consider themselves lap-friendly despite their middleweight size.

It wasn’t always that way. Boxers were first bred in Munich, in the 1880s, from Bullebeissers (now extinct) and British bulldogs for hunting purposes. (The first on record, Flocki, was born in 1895; a “boxer club” was dutifully established a year later.) They were quickly put to work, first with the police then as messengers in WWI. Things got more family oriented in the decades after, when they became popular in the US.

Lola’s main occupation of late, as Modern Adventure’s office dog, is to meet and greet, then sleep a lot. “She’s truly been one of the loves of my life,” says Jo, the one-time dog skeptic. She remembers Lola’s sweet welcoming of her and Luis’ three kids, and keeping Jo company in wee hours during the early parenting days. “She’s such a comfort. But, really, it’s such a long time to have something you’re attached to.”

Nearby Lola, on her day bed, let’s go a growl. Usually it means she wants salami, or to go on a walk. Jo thinks, this time, it’s more of a blush.

“She’s like, ‘stop it.’”