The love of a dog

I have been hearing a lot of dog talk around work lately. A co-worker just had to say goodbye to her faithful dog of many years, while another just brought in her new six week old puppy. Definitely the two extremes of owning a dog colliding at once. The joy of a new puppy and sorrow of letting one go.

All the canine banter has got me thinking about my own dog, Walter, and how lucky I am to have such a good little beagle. I could not ask for a better companion. Walter is five years old now, and it just seems like it was yesterday that I was standing outside in the bitter cold potty training him.

Walter's been through a lot of changes since coming to live with us. With the two biggest changes being the arrival of Ari and Emilie. It's silly now to think we were worried about how he would react to Ari, because he has done nothing but love them since they have been born. In fact, he has become much more protective of the house since they have been born; barking at every strange noise, and every person or animal he might see walking by.

I've said many times that he will be the last dog I'll ever own, just because I don't think we could ever have a dog as good as Walter. I really wanted to give a quick tribute to the good dog. He's always there to give us love whenever we need him and asks for nothing in return. He does his fair share of the barking in our neighborhood, but if that's my only complaint, I think he turned out pretty good. Here's to you, Walter!