What a great picture of a boy and his  dog!! This is Alex Marrero and his new best friend, Mat. Mat is a yellow Labrador Retriever, born on March 20th and pictured here  at his first Puppy Plan appointment on May 17, 2002 when he weighed 11.6 pounds. Alex's Mom, Jeanette Valencia, tells us that their  family went to the SPCA to get a kitten, but found out that she was allergic to  kittens. They decided,  instead, to bring home this beautiful yellow puppy - what a great present just before  summer vacation from school - these two will be inseparable!!