Walter By Shaelin Murphy

Almost nothing is as important to me as my dog, Walter. He is everything I could ever want in a dog. When I was younger, I always asked my parents if we could get a dog. Their response was always something along the lines of "You would have to take care of it... you don't understand how much work that will be.." But I always knew that I would love having a dog and taking care of it. When I was in third or fourth grade, we finally got a dog.

Walter is a Samoyed. He loves snow and cold weather and his favorite season is definitely winter. He has a lot of fluffy white fur that keeps him warm. Walter is named after a character in a show called Breaking Bad (it's on Netflix). When we first got Walter, he was pretty young and a lot smaller than he is today. He was small enough that I could hold him (kind of). Now, he's taller than my knee. It's crazy to look back on old pictures of him because I don't remember him seeming any bigger than he was the day before, but he's grown so much.

Walter is really important to me because he isn't just a pet, he's my friend. Whenever I'm having a bad day or I'm feeling sick, he always cheers me up because he always seems so happy. I've always wondered if he is as happy as he seems, and I think he is because he has the best life. He can do whatever he wants all day and he has nothing to worry about. Sometimes it feels like he knows when I'm upset because he comes over and sits with me. I remember when I first got Walter, we had to practice reading children's books out loud because we had reading buddies. My siblings never wanted to listen to me practice reading, so I read books to Walter everyday after school. Also, my neighbors and I used to include Walter in all of our games. We used to play different variations of tag and hide and seek outside, and Walter always made it more fun for us. We also used to make movies and music videos, and Walter always had a starring role. Walter has always been such a huge part of my life.

Just like in the past, I still like to do things with Walter today. I always sit with Walter when I watch TV because it is great to tell him my reactions to whatever happens in the show. He always listens to me (or at least I pretend he does). I also love going on walks with Walter. We always have such a great time walking at night when the sun is setting, or early in the morning when everything is quiet.
Overall, Walter is just the best pet I could ask for.

A year and a half ago, I had the idea to help Walter start his own Instagram account so he could share his life with the word... everyone should follow!!!

@walter_the_samoyed