Hi, welcome to The Harper Chronicles. I’m Harper. The above photo is me and my mom, Kelly, on my second birthday, which just happened on November 29, 2023. I’m 3/4 Labrador Retriever and 1/4 Boxer.

This is me when I was still in my very early months. Mom fell in love with my face the first time she saw me. She’s a writer and this is her blog on her website. She graciously agreed to allow me to introduce myself, but after this post, what you see of me will be whatever pictures Mom posts and stories she’s going to write and share about me. That’s why these posts will be called “The Harper Chronicles”.

Before that happens, I get to tell you that I am Mom’s third dog. She had two purebred black Labrador Retrievers, both male, before me. I was actually given, as a gift, to Mom the day after she had to say goodbye to her second Lab. It was a very hard day for her, but receiving me helped her feel better and she decided not to waste time building a very strong bond with me. That means I’m spoiled. I get lots of love and attention from Mom and some from the other members of our family. Mom buys great tasting healthy treats and lots of toys for me. She plays with me, sits with me, and cuddles with me. She also takes me places and takes me for walks.

I have been a challenge for her because I like to chew A LOT! She has spent a lot of time trying to teach me I’m not supposed to chew on people. I also have a lot of energy and I like to jump! That’s another thing Mom’s been trying to get me to stop. Apparently people don’t like it when dogs jump on them. I have gotten better in these areas, but I haven’t stopped completely.

I guess the last thing I’ll tell you is how I got my name. You see, Mom doesn’t like to give her dogs ordinary dog names. She likes to give them unique names. I think that’s the writer in her. The fact that I’m a girl was a bit of a disappointment to her at first, because she had a boy name already picked for her next dog. So, she was in a quandary about what to name me. She searched her bookshelves in hopes of finding a story character she liked enough to name me after. Yeah, she reads a LOT too. The boy’s name she had picked was a character from To Kill a Mockingbird, so when she came downstairs after searching her bookshelves to no avail, Dad asked her who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. That’s how I became Harper Lee. Yes, Mom also gives all her dogs a middle name. Before me were Elvis Aaron (yes, named after the King of Rock and Roll), and Gentry Allen (not named after anyone. He was actually named for his gentle disposition), and now me!

I hope you’ll like the stories my mom writes about me. She’ll post them here on as many Wednesdays as she is able. I also hope her stories aren’t too embarrassing for me.

I don’t know if she’ll let me post here again, so “Goodbye”!