Today was an emotional rollercoaster

Paul will have to blog the details later, because I don't even know them. All I know is that it started out sad because we had to say goodbye to Wally. Paul was doing pretty good until Noah hugged him and told him not to be sad and it was ok that Wally was going to the farm. So Paul & Dena left around 9:00am to head to Arkansas to meet Wally's new owner.

I got a text about 12:20 with a picture of Dena that said "Meet Wally's new owner". At first I thought the new family must not have been a good match, then I saw the time. Yep. They called her 20 minutes from her house and said nevermind and turned around. I guess Dena just couldn't say goodbye. So she's officially the crazy dog lady with 3 dogs :) 3 happy dogs and we are SO happy! Now we don't have to say goodbye forever to our furry friend. He's just going to stay with a friend.

Tomorrow is going to be a hard day

As most of you know, we've been looking for a home for Wally for several months after he showed aggression towards Elliot. He was still in his puppy years when Noah came into our home, but as an adult dog, apparently it's not that uncommon for Chows to have a hard time accepting a new member of the pack. It's been hard, but we've kept Wally and E separated daily and have worked really hard to be sure that E is safe. We can't just keep doing it.

Tomorrow Paul is driving to Arkansas to meet a family that wants to take him on. They have on grown kid (21) that lives with them and one other chow. They are familiar with chows and we've told them all about Wally's quirks. Dena is also making the trip. He is at her house all the time (his 2nd home) and she is ready and willing to take him in, if needed. But, she has 2 dogs already and is busy. If this family and Wally seem like a good fit, he'll stay there tomorrow. If not, he'll come home with Dena.

This is going to be a hard day for Paul. At least I'll be home busy with the boys all day. I've been wanting this for months, to find him a home and get him out of this house. Trying to keep E away from him is a pain. But, now that it's here, I feel a pit in my stomach. I'll miss that dog. :(

First Day of Spring 2010

"In the spring I have counted one hundred and thirty-six different kinds of weather inside of four and twenty hours."

~Mark Twain

Twain (Samuel Clemens) grew up in Missouri...It was nearly 70 degrees the two days' prior.

Walking the dog

Noah has loved walking Wally almost since he could walk himself. He doesn't quite have the hang of it yet, but he's getting better. And when it's a 39-lb boy versus a 70-lb dog, sometimes pulling with all your might is not enough to keep things going. Without a Gentle Leader, even Mandy and me have trouble getting him to come along when he's not ready.

To make matters more interesting, Noah's concept of a walk is running - no time to stop and smell the roses. Wally's concept of a walk is a leisurely stroll, stopping to sniff every few feet.

Wally looks like he's thinking, "Isn't it supposed to be the other way around? Me in the grass, and you on the sidewalk?

Untangling the leash. Again.

Making progress.

Noah hasn't quite gotten the concept of obstacles vs. leash yet.

Ok, now we're making progress.

Ooops. Another obstacle. You better believe Wally's stopping at this one.

Making it look easy.

Little help here?

The perfect team - looking both ways as they cross the street.

Whoa there, big fella...

This walk thing is a lot of work.

Another pretty frequent occurence was Wally walking ahead and pulling the leash out of Noah's hands. Noah would run after him and try to grab the end of the leash, but would always miss by a few inches. It tickled him so much he started belly-laughing as he was chasing him, and it usually took Wally stopping to sniff before he could finally catch him.

I wish I had gotten a picture of him doing this last summer, when they were practically nose-to-nose.

Doggy Heaven

The only thing Wally likes better than being off a leash, is being off a leash in fresh snow.


Wally was our first child. He was found in a box on the side of the road with several siblings, who had all already been adopted when we stumbled upon him. When Mandy brought him home, I was skeptical. I thought he looked like a 'designer dog', one that we'd end up carrying around in a purse or something. He was small, too fluffy and looked nothing like the dog I was really picturing myself owning. Even the Humane Society, who we picked him up from, didn't know what he would turn out to be. You can see how excited I was when I first met him.


But he caught Mandy's heart, and so home he went.

It didn't take long before I had to admit he was pretty cute. Smart too - I remember horror stories of training my own puppies growing up, but Wally potty trained three days after coming home, never dug, never barked and never chewed up anything around the house.He had an uneasy truce with the cats - he could look interested in what they were up to, but that was all. One of the funniest things I remember was Wally and Sampson (one of our former cats) meeting on the stairs. Wally looked uneasy as he looked for a way around him as he was heading down. He took a wrong move in the direction of Sampson, who was coming up, and received approximately 128 punches to the face in the span of three seconds. He never looked so grateful to be down the stairs. Delilah was no better.
But he was a true friend, who loved his family and as big as he got, he never stopped being a big lap dog.



If you're his friend, he's still a big lapdog. The only thing you're in danger of is being squashed as he looks for affection by trying to lie down in your lap (at 70-ish lbs). If you're not his friend, he's not so affectionate, and can scare the bejeesus out of people. He's started being highly protective of the family when Mandy first got pregnant, and he's very protective of both our kids. He's generally a low-energy dog, with the exception of a few minutes each day, and with the exception of snow. It's hard to take pictures of him in the house without him looking like a wolf or a lion, but outdoors is a different story.








I'm really glad she saved him. He's become a great friend.