Wally “Bear” Erickson

Wally Bear (or Wally Lion as our son, Jon refers to him sometimes) is living the life at our home in Pinckney, Michigan. We refer to him (and yes, his middle name is Bear) and he lives up to the name because he is such a teddy bear.

When he first came into our house, there was a rawhide under the table from Lady, he just laid down and started chewing. From that point on, we knew he WAS HOME TO STAY. He was also heart-worm positive and we didn’t know the extent of his blindness. We have since got him care, where he loves the techs and the vet. We have him treated and he is almost positively cured from the heart-worm. We also found out that Wally has cateracts quite badly (which we aren’t sure what is beyond that and don’t want to do surgery which could cause more harm than good). However, we have found that he can see light and shapes, which benefit him well when Grandma is around with treats!

He is a good boy and loves to run and play in our front yard while being on his lead. His new big sister, Lady Grace or E, goes outside with him and is his seeing-eye -dog and protects him from anything that comes up to scare him. He loves to chew on bones, pig snots and Bully sticks for hours to entertain himself. He loves to be scratched in front of his ears, loves to get hugs and kisses from us (especially our son) and puts his cute head up on the bed to wake you up in the morning. Being with Lady, he has learned that he has a voice and needs to be heard. Once she starts barking, he chimes in, and always get the last word (bark). Which is definitely a trait in this family!

This summer, we visited our family cottage. Wally at first wasn’t to sure of the water and we really had to coax him in (with the help of a lead). But after a couple of times, he loved to walk and wade around in the cool water, especially on the hot days. We could take him in the shallow water and walk along the shore a bit down from the cottage.

We want to thank all those (way to may to name) for bringing Wally Bear into our life. He has definitely become part of OUR family. If we have a chance to adopt another one in the future, we will! You are all special and part of our family too. We will make sure to send pictures and update you all on his life with us!