Wally's World: Life with Wally the Wonder Dog

Author Boulton (Letters from the Country, Just a Minute More) and her longtime partner, author Stephen Williams, have shared their Canadian farmstead with a number of dogs, but Wally the Bull Terrier is the one who ""shaped our life and saved it too."" Boulton's wide-ranging memoir starts strong, a lyrical ode to the ups and downs of life among the canines, gleefully recounting obedience training and Wally's puppy days, run-ins with skunks, the sudden death of loveable bull mastiff Hank, etc. Unfortunately, Boulton loses the narrative to some weighty personal issues; a lengthy police investigation against Williams, regarding a notorious serial killer case and the two books Williams wrote about it, eventually overwhelms (though Boulton's serious run-in with skin cancer receives surprisingly little attention). Anecdotes about Wally are interspersed throughout, but charming tales of dog shows and tussles with local wildlife take a back seat to the grim legal proceedings. Though Boulton's intended message is clear-a dog can make the bad times bearable and the good times better-her anger and frustration with the justice system speaks far louder, making this a disjointed and unsatisfying entry into the me-and-my-dog memoir camp.