I received this book in June 2012 from a good friend who was fighting cancer. Unfortunately a few months later she lost her fight and it took me until now to read this book and be ready to let it go. As I was reading it I liked to think of her chuckling over the antics of this irrepressible dog who helped his owners through a difficult time.

Marsha Boulton left the frenetic world of big city journalism to move to a house in the country and become a shepherd. In addition to sheep the farm grew to house horses, chickens, fainting goats and, of course, dogs. Marsha's partner, Stephen Williams, commuted between Toronto and the farm for a while but after he covered the Barnardo/Homolka trials he settled down to write a book about them. Wally the Wonder Dog hucklebutted his way around the farm getting anyone who came near to play soccer with him. Stephen appreciated the release Wally provided when he was charged with breaching a court order for disclosures made in the book. He was eventually acquitted and Marsha, Stephen and Wally settled back into life on the farm. Then Stephen decided to write a book about Karla Homolka and became the subject of more police scrutiny. So, yes, this is a humourous book at times but it is also an exploration of freedom of the press. ( )

OK, I saw the dog on the front, read the blurb about the great bull terrier... and had to take the book out from the library. However, instead of being a typical my dog in my life memoir, Boulton includes a lot of details about her partner's extended legal battles over his writing and the way their family and farm are affected by the trial and police. To simplify, his first book was a nonfiction work about a true murder crime that was bungled by prosecutors and police - his sources were many, and most were confidential. Charges were brought up that he had used sources that were closed to nontrial participants... and police wanted him to name his sources. He refused... and a ridiculously long and extended battle began. Wally is a constant source of joy and distraction to both of them during these times, and the book talks about many of these instances.
I liked this book a lot because it had this added dimension, and the author tries to refrain from many of the phrases that get overused in dog books. ( )