It takes about sixty-three days to make a litter of puppies, but sixty-three years later the people who loved those puppies remember the dogs they became.

When a puppy that fit into a baseball cap entered bestselling author and shepherd Marsha Boulton’s life she had no idea he was really a rambunctious kid in a dog suit. Wally (named after the poet Wallace Stevens), a loopy-nosed bull terrier whose face looked like a bicycle seat with eyes, became more of an experience than a dog from the moment he arrived at Lambs’ Quarters Farm. He proved to be a valuable hand on the farm and an even more valuable companion. The spoiled, personality-loaded, soccer-playing pup quickly developed a penchant for high-thread-count linens, organic beef, and gourmet cooking. Life was good.

            Then all hell broke loose. An intense legal battle engulfed Marsha’s partner, Stephen, and plunged the couple into a punishing, decade-long struggle. During that time Marsha was also diagnosed with cancer. With his indomitable spirit and wild enthusiasms, Wally’s unrelenting appetite for life and carpe diem attitude renewed the couple’s ability to step outside themselves and gave them the strength and perspective they needed to persevere. Whether playing class clown at puppy school or looking up the skirts of judges at dog shows, Wally the Wonder Dog ensured that serious laughter was a daily routine. Wally’s World is a raucous memoir, a roller-coaster ride with an irrepressible partner in paws who is impossible to forget.

"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." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

From bestselling author Boulton comes the heartwarming, hilarious tale of life with Wally the Wonder dog, a Bull Terrier who turned out to be much more than a pet.

Marsha Boulton is an award-winning, bestselling author and speaker. She continues to write and maintain her farm in southwestern Ontario with her partner, Stephen Williams, and their furry child, a bull terrier puppy named Monk. She has been a contributor to programs such as Fresh Air on public radio for a more than a decade. She is the recipient of the Leacock Medal for Humor and is recognized by a YWCA Women of Distinction Award in Arts and Culture. She is the only Shepherd-Author listed in Who’s Who of Canada.