Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall....

Rest in Peace Old Boy, we really loved you.

It was October of 2000. A small brown puppy was born in a suburb north of us. We hadn't met him yet but we would. We had no idea how our life would change.

November 2000 I was diagnosed with MS. I was 50 years old and to say the least I was surprised. Being the pragmatic person I am I decided to milk it for all it was worth.  We had an older dog, Bluey. He was lovely. He was 12 years old and after spending years doing dog obedience and agility, having beach days, loving this dog, he was slowing down.  We needed a puppy to get him feeling young again. Enter Wally.  The day I went looking for puppies there were none to be found. The dog's home didn't have any, the
RSPCA didn't have any.  I did what I would probably never do again, I turned to the classified ads.  I read "10 puppies for sale. 8 Female- 2 Male. Call 1-800-xxx-xxxxx." I did. A used car dealer answered the call. I had heard of him and he was a bit shoddy. However I was determined.  I went to see the puppies on my lunch hour from where I worked at Disability Services. It was very nearby.

Wally at 8 weeks. A stuffy body, dachshund legs and a jack russell head.

As I walked into the car dealership I saw a box in the corner. One puppy had his head sticking up. The other 9 were asleep. I told the man I wanted a boy. I think boy dogs are smoochier. What kind of dogs are they?  Well, the father was a staffordshire terrier crossed with adachshund. The mother was a full Jack Russell. There were 8 small puppies who didn't stir much from sleep. But there was one big fat tummied puppy ready for life.

I didn't have to think twice as I picked the squirming bundle up, paid the man and took him back to work.

Our old dog Bluey taught Wally a lot and Wally loved him.

Life for him was to be very full, lots of fun, with lots of jobs he made for himself and he was like the chefs on the Bake Off shows when it came to food. He loved his food then and he never stopped eating his way through life.

Wally thought Bluey was the wisest dog on earth and they
doted on each other.

Fifteen and a half years have now passed and I am sorry to say Wally departed from his life, in his own bed, with his fuzzy blanket and with everyone he loved surrounding him.  The grief has been solid and we are only now coming out of it.  I know, people say "he was just a dog" but we don't have kids, we don't have family in Australia and our animals are our family.

Once Bluey passed away Wally became the "dog of the house" and

he took his responsibilities seriously. He decreed the beach

was the place everyone should hang out the most.

Fortunately we still have Odie and Molly, our other two dogs and our two cats, Uncle Buck and Cousin Eddie but all of us are a little bit lost because Wally seemed to manage the household in his own way and we sure miss him.



We are happy though we were there for him in the end and he never suffered any pain. He went downhill one sunny morning in a matter of hours and we didn't let him linger. This post is for you Wally.

He loved Christmas. Bluey had taught him how to open gifts and he

was good at it.

When the dog's home gave us a litter of very young puppies to foster for 

a few weeks Wally took over and taught them manners. They loved him. That is

our little Odie at the back of the picture on the mat.

The puppies went back to the dog's home when they were 

old enough for adoption.  We kept Odie. Wally accepted Odie from the start and

tolerated his questions, his playfulness and hours of being silly together.

He taught him to eat as much as you can, play with every toy and love the

beach. Get along with others and always be good. You're family now, be respectful.

Wally in his final years. He turned into a grand old master and we won't

ever forget him. His ashes are with us now and one day maybe we'll all 

be together again.