Walter

In 1997, my sister and her husband got married. As an early wedding gift, a friend of theirs got them a puppy, an adorable male Australian Shepard that was brown and white. The big argument was his name - and my sister being the HUGE Disney fan she is wanted a Disney character name. My brother-in-law, Alan, being the sane person he is thought that was a little girly. He agreed to Walter, as in Walter Disney. We thought at the time it was an odd, old man name for a dog - but it ended up fitting this dog perfectly.

Walter quickly worked his way in to the hearts of my family. Growing up we only had cats. My parents each had dogs when they were young - but it had been awhile so we were all strangers to the concept of a big dog (besides my brother-in-law who grew up with a farm dog at all times).

My sister treated this dog like her baby. She and my brother-in-law took him everywhere. He would sit in the car and wait for them anywhere they went, and preferred to tag along to being left at home. A bred cattle-herder, his favorite trip was to Alan's parent's farm where he got to go to work doing what he did best.

Walter moved with Theresa and Alan from their tiny house in Champaign, to their custom home in LeRoy - where he was quickly knocked down a peg by the arrival of my niece Amelia, and then even further by my nephew Adam. About a year ago, Walter's ultimate dream came true and he got to move to their current home on the farm in Gridley - and he got to be the herding dog he loved to be only a daily basis.

Today we lost Walter. I can't believe it. He had been in poor health, as he was diagnosed a while ago with an enlarged heart that had slowed him down. He couldn't herd the cows in his old way, he didn't get around as quickly, and no longer tried to go upstairs to bed with the family as it was too hard on his old joints. He was involved in an accident on the farm and the emergency trip to the vet revealed that he wouldn't make it through the multiple surgeries that it would require to repair the damage - and his heart was not strong enough to make it through. He was 12 years old, and he had a great long life for a big dog.

Here's an old photo, not his best photo (especially for a dog that would sit for the camera) - but it's all I've got in my computer. I wish I had time to scan in some of his old "glamour" shots:

Walter was a great dog. My favorite memories will always be the following:
- The first day he met my parents when he ran right in our house and ran right down to the basement and pooped at the bottom of the stairs.
- Him eating my sister's brand new down comforter through his crate while they were at work all day. They came home to a bedroom that looked like a winter wonderland.
- Seeing how much he loved wrapping paper. Theresa & Alan's wedding gift opening, and every Christmas and birthday were like, well, Christmas to him.
- Going to Christmas Eve church with my family and Walter. He waited in the car for us while we were inside every year until Amelia came.
- He would HERD my sister into the nursery anytime sleeping baby Amelia would awake and start to cry.
- Watching him trail Amelia when she learned to walk and carry a snack in her hands. He would never take it from her - but boy look out if she dropped it!
- Seeing him dive into the lake fearlessly from my parents' boat even though we had no idea how he'd get back in.
- Taking Titrilac (like Tums) with my dad every time my dad went to get some.
- Watching him hustle down my parents' basement stairs to get a ball and run back up to do it again. It's really funny to watch a dog without a tail that had such a wide back end like he did.

There will be many more memories of Walter that I'm sure may appear here. I look forward to seeing them. I can't imagine not seeing him the next time I'm at my sister's house. He was a great dog...he will be sorely missed and never forgotten.