beyond the yard

The friends who show up at Gimlet Ridge.

Not every good dog in this archive lives here full time. Some just never really left.

Fondly is mostly the story of Hiker and Sunny, but no yard stays that small for long. Two friends from the neighborhood kept turning up in the photos and the stories until they earned a place of their own here: Heidi, and Bonnie, better known around Gimlet Ridge as Ding Ding.

Sunny and Heidi wrestling and playing in the yard
Sunny and Heidi, mid-wrestle
the neighbor

Heidi

Heidi lives next door, a German Shepherd with the rare gift of matching Sunny's exact, reckless speed. Where Hiker preferred to watch from a distance, Heidi ran straight into the chaos with him. That made her Sunny's favorite kind of trouble, and a regular in the yard ever since.

Sunny, Hiker, Heidi, and Bonnie gathered together on the porch
Sunny, Hiker, Heidi, and Bonnie, gathered on the porch
the visitor

Bonnie

Bonnie showed up a little differently: quiet, dignified, and often waiting right by the door. The family started calling her Ding Ding before they ever learned her real name. Now she is simply part of the crew, folded right in with the rest of them.

who's who

The extended pack, at a glance

Heidi

The neighbor's German Shepherd. Sunny's running partner and match for speed, still a regular face in the yard.

Bonnie · "Ding Ding"

Turned up at the door one day and never really left. Officially a visitor, unofficially part of the family.

Good dogs are rarely just ours. They belong to the whole street.

Visit Hiker's field guide Visit Sunny's memorial Read their story in "A Very Good Boy"