Farewell to Frisky, A Gamble on Poker: Excerpt from Follow the Dog Home

Excerpt from Follow the Dog Home
as told by Bob Walsh: 

Mom and Dad made it clear: Frisky was going back

to the pound. Even if Frisky wasn’t a comfortable fit for
the family, there’s an instant discomfort when you take a
dog away. Crazy dogs bring something important to the party
too. Be it sound, spirit, a presence, whatever; when they’re
gone, there’s a void. We felt it, but in many ways, we felt
helpless to do something about it because of the family’s
financial situation.

    

Not wanting to try a pound puppy again, Dad must
have been cooking something up in his head. He missed
having a dog in the house too. Then, one day in 1948,
without any heads up, Dad came home with a small dog
under his arm. It was a Cocker Spaniel with a tan coat.
Dad named him Dealer’s Choice. Apparently there had
been a successful night of Dealer’s Choice Poker, and Dad
walked away with $50 in winnings from his card play.
He used the money to buy a dog, which we affectionately
called Poker.

Poker was a great dog and really Dad’s dog more than

anyone else’s. Dad had a red leather chair where he read
the newspaper and enjoyed a smoke. Nobody else was
allowed to sit in that chair, but Poker could. When Dad
was gone, Poker was all ours. He loved to play. I would
take him out back and throw the ball, which he dutifully
retrieved. But often his attention was divided. There was
a cat named Smokey who lived next door. He loved to
taunt Poker.

Smokey looked like his name. He had a smoke-colored

gray coat and bright yellow eyes. He had a way about him
that let you know he was looking at you. You could feel
his eyes on you, turn around and there he was looking you
right in the eye with a bold gold stare. I kind of admired
his gumption, but Poker wanted nothing more than to get
at that cat.

*In the next excerpt of Follow the Dog Home, what Smokey

did to bring Poker to his doorstep and a showdown.

Meet 10-year-old Samantha: Author of Follow the Dog Home

Hi my name is Samantha Walsh, and I am ten years old.  Get to know me down here!

Nicknames: Sam, Sammy, and Sammy Cakes

Sports: Skiing, Tennis, Lacrosse, Dance and Gymnastics
Hobbies: Typing, Writing, Doodling, and Reading

Book: Scat and The Red Fern Grows

Movie: Titanic (Because Leo's in it!), The Spy Next Door
TV Shows: iCarly, Victorious, Good Luck Charlie, Shake It Up, So Random, Ghost Whispers Criminal Minds and Without a Trace
Food: ICE CREAM!!
Song or Band: Almost everything on Kiss 108- (107.9)
Saying or Quotes: “When the fat lady sings, throw lemons and make lemonade!” And “Oh my stars!”
My best experience: Having Dunkin Donuts at the Reader’s Breakfast at my school
My best project I completed: Building my own dream house for a school project
What I want to be when I grow up: Veterinarian (Animal Doctor)
Advice I’d Like To Pass On: Don’t ever come to my school and order its lunch!
What you do know about me: I have a dog named Beverly

 About Follow The Dog Home: I am so happy to be in life, and to make this book. We loved writing it, but it was, and still is a lot of work. Since we want to sell copies of Follow The Dog Home, besides writing about it, we have to do some other things: create the title, edit it, put the pages together and create a website. That got a little annoying for my dad. I am busy doing other work on the book. The only thing I know how to do for the book is to write about it and edit it. I've been practicing my autograph.

When we finish selling this book, we will make another book called “Why Are Dogs Smarter Then Cats?”  The reason why I got the idea for a new book is because there was this girl at my camp, and she thinks that cats are smarter than dogs. Do we know the truth? I will set up a voting competition online and see what you customers think. Once I get the answer I will report it on line and on TV for interviewing us. I will tell you if dogs won, or cats won. There will be a trivia question about dogs every month.

Meet Bob Walsh, aka "Grandpops": Author of Follow the Dog Home

Hi, I'm Bob Walsh, aka Grandpops. I live in Ledyard Connecticut and I am married to Mary McGrattan. We were both widowed and between the two of us we have 9 kids and 20 grandchildren. When we were first married, I of course had a dog. Her name was Daisy and she was a deaf Dalmation. Enough said. The second problem was that Mary was from New York City and had never owned a dog. Despite all of this I loved them both. And so we began our life together: Mary, Daisy and me. It's been a glorius adventure ever since.

 

Mary and Me 

This is where my journey with dogs started.

In the foreground is my first dog, Dee Dee.

My mother is holding me, and my sister Boots

is holding my twin brother, Dick. 70 years later

with the help of my son, Kevin, we returned to

the home where my journey with dogs started.

Returning to my first home, 2011

Recreating the photo seventy years later with new faces and new dogs

I've always had a dog, some good and some not so good. When I found that Daisy had died one sad night, I was at a loss. It was two weeks before Christmas and I moped through the holiday and for a few weeks after. I was in such despair and grief that Mary finally told me to "Go get a dog. Just get yourself a new dog."

I started feeling better immediately as I began my search. It wasn't long before I found a thoroughly agreeable and delightful little Corgi named Annie. She's full of vim and vigor and is absolutely full of herself. Mary has come to grips with my need for a dog, and the two ladies get along just fine. 

Annie is my current dog.

Why did I want to write a book about my dogs? Perhaps it's because I'm getting older and wanted to share some of the special things that made my life so rewarding. Or, perhaps it's because the dogs' stories need to be told. Susie (my Golden Retriever, below) contributed so much to me and my three sons during my first wife Carole's terminal illness. Susie showed saintly compassion as she sat bedside, night and day, in Carole's room. Each and every dog has provided me with companionship, loyalty and a variety of challenges. These stories suffice the book, Follow the Dog Home.

The Walsh Family with Susie

Yes, Kevin and I had some disagreements over the content and flavor of the book. He thinks Beverly is the big star, but he's wrong about that. Susie is. In the end though I think we reached a balance between two pig-headed authors which tells a true and exciting tale of dogs in my life, Kevin's life and Samantha's too.

An editorial meeting. 

Meet Kevin Walsh: Author of Follow the Dog Home

Hi, I'm Kevin Walsh. I'm 41-years-old and I live in Wellesley, Massachusetts. I have a beautiful wife named, Jean, and she's blessed me with two lovely daughters: Samantha and Amanda. I am also Beverly's father and owner. I work in the television industry which has taken me around the world. I have seen so many different cultures and changes in industry, values and life. There is but one constant in life though that keeps me grounded and always gives me heart. It's the love I have for dogs, and the love they return tenfold.

Back, Kevin and Jean Walsh with Stanley Cup.  Front (L to R), Amanda and Samantha Walsh

My late mother, Carole, with my brothers and me and dog Susie, 1988

 

My brother Chris and me with my dad and the neighbor's loaner dog, Susie.  1975

I became a part of Follow the Dog Home largely by accident. And it's among the best accidents I've ever had. I was talking on the phone with my dad and he told me he had been writing. "About what?" I asked.

"My dogs," he said.

"That's cool," I told him, "what are you going to do with it?"

"I'll write the book and you just get it published for me when I'm done."

Discussion among authors: Bob Walsh,
Kevin Walsh and Samantha Walsh

He acted as if getting published was similar to, say, scoring free tickets to a Red Sox game. Yeah there's effort, but not much more than a couple of phone calls. It doesn't work that way with publishing. It took me ten years to get my first book, The Marrow in Me, published. But that was my problem now wasn't it? Dad had some really cool dog stories to share, and always has. I had to convince him it wasn't enough though; there needed to be more beyond the anecdotes, more for the reader, which sort of meant less for him.

Dad is stubborn. So am I. That ignited some spirited debate. The good news it also sparked creativity with fresh ideas and voices. I joined the writing and so did 10-year-old Samantha. No longer would the book be a hodge podge of favorite dog stories. It would be an ongoing discussion of how our dogs connected us as a family almost as much as blood. And it wouldn't be just about us. Other families could see a part of themselves with their dogs while reading about our experiences.

Our dogs are more than our pets and treasured family members. They're bigger than that. They're bridges to our past and our future. No technology and no institution can offer as much. That is what we discovered in the writing, but it was really there all along. We simply, as the title suggests, followed the dog home.

Walsh Family Returns to Atwood Street

 

Gotcha! Father Catches Young Daughter Practicing Her Autograph

Ever practice your autograph? Of course you have. Who hasn't? My wife Jean says she practiced signing as Jean Walsh before we we're engaged. Now that's a big aaaaawwwwhhh!!!


Jean Walsh

Somebody else in the family has been practicing her signature too. It's 10-year-old Samantha. I'm pretty sure she sees that as one of the coolest parts of writing a book. I can dig that. The funny thing is, while she's working on it, the big star of Follow the Dog Home--Beverly--is zonked out on the carpet behind her!

Samantha Practicing Her

Autograph

To Leash, or Not to Leash: Wait, What's the Question?

Our good friend and star of Follow the Dog Home, Beverly, is on a leash and on her way to Unleashed. But as you can see she's unattached.



Is this a leash law violation? No need for the dogcatcher, someone just caught up to her!



And off they go, Jean and Beverly, to Unleashed the store, where Bev will be off the leash once more.

A Dog Who Could Read! Excerpt from Follow the Dog Home

Excerpt from Follow the Dog Home Book as told by Bob Walsh:

Our family had gone through a dog-less stretch of more

than a year because of our unsettled family life with the
war and Dick’s treatment for polio. After getting Dick
settled in down in Georgia, my parents came back north.
Dad went back to work with the phone company, but
he was transferred to New York City. Another move! In
1946, we landed in Montclair, New Jersey.

Dick Walsh (left) with
unidentified girl and Bob
Walsh

We lived on the one hundred block of Essex Avenue. It

was a four-bedroom gray colonial with dark gray shutters
and window boxes for flowers. It was the perfect location.
We were just a block away from Edgemont Elementary
School and a short walk to the Watchung Avenue train
station for Dad’s commute into Manhattan.

We were finally in a home that was ours, and we started

to talk about getting another dog. Based on a collection of
family memories, it was thought a dog would do us—and
especially me—some good.

We were the new people in the
neighborhood. It would be several more months before
Dicky got out of the hospital and making new friends in a
new place wasn’t easy.The thought of a new dog sounded great,
but the realitywas that money was very tight.

Dick’s treatment at WarmSprings was very expensive, about
$50 a day. That’s theequivalent of about $600 a day in today’s
economy. Dadwas a proud man and would not accept any money
from the Sister Kenny Fund that provided funding for the treatment
of polio. There was no medical insurance back then either,

so the cost was entirely out of my parents’ pocket. There

was just no leftover money for nonessential purchases.

Someone suggested picking up a dog at the pound.

We gave it a shot and brought home Frisky. Frisky was a
mid-sized mongrel who really did live up to his name. He
was frisky and he loved to run. If he got out of the house
or off his leash, forget it! It took forever to corral him.

One day, he disappeared for hours. Eventually, we found

him waiting to be discovered under a street sign that read
Essex Avenue in Maplewood. It may be a few towns over
and eight miles away, but my dog could read!

As much as we loved the idea of having a dog back in

the house, the truth is Frisky was a tough dog to love.
His wanderlust became a lot of work, and his behavior
was a liability.  I felt especially bad for the trash man.
As if picking up the trash at six o’clock in the
morning wasn’t hard enough already, that poor guy had
to use the can’s lid for a shield whenever Frisky sought to
hem his pants.

In 1947, Dick came home from Warm Springs, Georgia.

He brought back a cheerful spirit and warm Southern
drawl that he picked up while completing first grade in
the hospital. I was just so happy to have my best friend
and twin back. I had somebody to join me for The Green
Hornet radio show. We chatted a lot and I brought Dick
up to speed on just about everything he missed while he
was gone.

I also had a pal to walk to second grade with—
which is really saying something considering how badly
polio had damaged Dick’s legs.
Doctors thought Dick would never be able to walk
again. The fact that he could was really a testament to his
indomitable spirit and sense of humor.He also learned to dance
at Mrs. Stautinger’s Dance Class, to ride a bike, to fight, and
eventually marry and have three children.

Our dog, Frisky, was as happy as he’d ever been. With

Dick back in the fold, Frisky probably saw my brother
as another littermate—someone to play with. There’s
just something about dogs and children. Sometimes
that playfulness was a bit much.

Frisky saw no foul in bouncing up to Dick’s
face. With Dick’s disability, that led to some tumbles. We
kids suspected that Frisky might not last.

*Next excerpt, find out what happened to Frisky and how a game of cards

brought a new addition to the family.