Bud and Priscilla Shaftoe’s car pulled into the driveway one night around dusk.

“You guys want a dog?” Bud asked, smiling a mischievous smile.

“Um, no!”

“It’s just a puppy,” said Bud, “from a litter born to some friend of ours. They say if we can’t give it away, well…ya know…”

Yeah, we knew what “ya know” meant. Bud was suggesting the pup would have to be put down. It was a guilt trip in the making.

“Well, that’s really sad,” I said, “but no, we don’t want a dog. We have cats. Try someone else.”

“We’ve tried everyone we know,” Bud sighed. “Ya know, I bet little Peter would love a puppy.”

Just then our young son peeked out the door.

Before I could stop him, Bud smiled (an evil smile). “This puppy says he wants to be yours, Peter. You want a puppy don’t you?”

By now Peter was out the door, running toward Bud to see the puppy more closely. The dog’s tail started wagging furiously and soon enough he was passionately licking Peter’s face. “Why don’t you just take him overnight and try him out?” Bud offered.

I couldn’t get the “No!” out of my mouth fast enough.

“Can we dad? Can we??”

“And ya know,” Bud grinned, moving in to close the deal, “he doesn’t even have a name yet. What would you like to name him, Peter?”

“Walter! I’ll name him Walter!” That was the name of Pete’s best friend’s Teddy Bear.

My wife Sandy and I looked helplessly at each other. We suddenly knew what had just happened.

Damn! We were getting a dog!

“He’s gonna love it here!” Bud bubbled, joyfully passing the pup into Peter’s waiting arms.

“Oh and there’s one other thing,” Bud continued.

“What’s that?”

“Walter isn’t a he. He’s a she.”

And that’s how the story of Walter the Wonder Dog begins.

Peter and Bethany with Walter the Wonder Dog