The dogs of A Cop's Nightmare play an intricate role and will continue to do so. Two of the dogs are pets that I know and love and I'd like you to meet them. The other dogs are either pets that we've had, or that we've talked about having in the future. The Wolf? I had a dog named Wolf when I was in high school... HUNTER: Meet Hunter. Hunter is a pure bred Chesapeake Bay Retriever. Weighing about 100 pounds (he's not fat as you can see from the pictures. His family line just runs big) he's a very playful and (usually) friendly dog. We HAVE seen him be aggressive with one or two people, but there was something peculiar about both of them that set Hunter off. Once he gets to know you he's a tail-waggins smiling machine. His "smile" looks a lot like a snarl and when he's really happy, he growls while he smiles. If you don't know Hunter before such a greeting, it's very unnerving. Hunter loves to play in the water and will chase any ball you throw until he collapses (or your arm gets too tired to throw anymore). He swims well and doesn't mind cold water. He's never been trained as a hunting dog - although I have plenty of friends who have offered to train him as such (and they want to borrow him once he's trained). Hunter is just big enough that when he puts his front paws up on a person or a door, he's about face level with an adult... about 5 feet 6 inches at the eyes. This makes him quite a deterrent when someone knocks at the door as he jumps up and down at the door and generally looks like he wants to eat whoever is on the other side. Since he's big enough to jump up and look out the windows at the top of the door, we usually find whoever has knocked standing several feet away from the door on our deck. Hunter is about nine years old (Fall 2006) and we've had him for about six years. We adopted him from a family that simply didn't have enough time to spend with him, and who also had an aging female dog that Hunter was constantly trying to, ah, play with. He had already been properly trained for basic obedience and is wonderful on a leash. He is our ever alert watchdog and I've often woken in the wee hours of the morning to find him pacing the house, just checking things out. He is, in my opinion, better than any alarm system could ever be. STORM: We have been blessed with two dogs named Storm. The first was a Labrador Retriever, also chocolate in color (looked a lot like Hunter does), and also from a large family line. Storm 1 was about 95 pounds when he was full grown. We have missed him since he left our family almost ten years ago. More recently, we adopted a vanilla Labrador Retriever and named him Storm. We welcomed him into our family when he was only a year old - and after having found him trying to drag one of our trash cans down the driveway by the handle. No stupid dog he. We decided to take him in because the family who claimed him was neglecting him badly. We offered him a home and then had to rethink our decision when he started teaching our other dogs bad habits (like chewing on the furniture and dragging laundry out of the laundry room). Eventually we came to realize that, although we loved him dearly, we weren't giving him enough play and exercise time to fill his puppy-energy days. A nearby family - Navy dad, mom, son and daughter - were looking for a family pet and after meeting with them we allowed them to adopt Storm. Follow up communications have confirmed that he is a loved member of their family who spends plenty of time each day walking with mom, playing with the son, or harassing the daughter for attention. Both of our Storms were good watch dogs. Storm 1 never slept more than four hours at a stretch and would walk every inch of our residence anytime he woke up. Storm 2 learned well from Hunter and often followed Hunter around during house checks. Storm 2 was about 80 pounds (and not quite a year old yet) when we let the other family adopt him and I've no doubt that he'd also be a serious deterrent to anyone not welcome in our home. Equa Wahya: Equa Wahya, or more simply Wahya, is a Shiloh Shepherd. Shilohs are essentially very big German Shepherds. Full grown females can weight between 120 and 140 pounds. The few female Shilohs we've enjoyed the company of all weighed in the 130 pound range. We have discussed adding a Shiloh Shepherd to our family and may do so in another few years. Shilohs seem to have a very calm demeanor but are certainly big enough and strong enough to be a deterrent to any bad guys who may want to come visit. In the book series, Wahya was selected to be a Shiloh because I knew Wolf was going to be sniffing around looking for a mate. His mate had to be large enough and strong enough to carry, bear and rear his litter of pups. A Shiloh Shepherd was the ideal breed to select for this part. Lobo: Son of Wahya and Wolf, half Shiloh and half Wolf. Such a puppy would obviously grow up to be a large dog; strong and stubborn to be sure. It will be interesting to watch as Lobo grows and to see what type of trouble he gives Wahya as she tries to teach him some manners. Wolf, always the proud but wild (and wise) father will be sure to find humor in Wahya's frustrations. Wolf: What is there to say about Wolves? I've been a wolf fan all my life. These large dogs are the base breed for everything man has ever needed in a companion animal. If you look at the working breeds today, from Malamutes to Huskys to Akitas, Shepherds, etc., you'll see some common trait to the original Wolf breed of canine. The markings in all colors are beautiful and the dogs have a sense of security about them that is hard to comprehend without being a dog yourself. Wolves mate for life and live in family packs. They hunt for food and will defend their territory but aren't known for "recreational" attacks on any animal including humans. In the A Cop's Nightmare series, Wolf has a few secrets that he doesn't share with just anyone, although he's been known to share them with a few witches of his aquaintance. His son, Lobo, is destined to become important in Lara's life and will no doubt play an important role in the future books of the series.