Fun Days With Wally: Lakefront Adventures in Massachusetts

I didn’t need a calendar to know it was Saturday. Wally did that job better than any app or polite reminder. The second he heard the zipper on the daypack or saw me check the leash clip, his ears pricked, his tail buzzed the wall, and he started the choreography that meant only one thing: we were headed to the lake. In a state with more water than many realize, our orbit included a fortunate constellation of Massachusetts lakes, coves, and dog parks where Wally could be, without apology, The Best Dog Ever. I say that as fact, not hyperbole, because he never met a shoreline he didn’t treat like a stage, or a stranger he didn’t greet like an old friend waiting on the next bench.

We named the ritual after him, Fun Days With Wally, and it earned a capital F early on. If I tried to run a quick errand instead, he’d stand in the hallway with a look that translated clearly: you’re not wasting this day, are you?

First Splashes and a Pattern That Stuck

The first memory that feels like ours more than mine is from a cold April morning on the edge of the Quabbin. The water was not by any sane measure swimmable. The wind lifted the surface into a slate of tiny saws and pushed them toward us. Wally tipped his head at a cluster of ducks, then looked back, seeking permission he didn’t need. He trotted to the edge, paused at the last dry pebble, and slid in chest first. The intake of breath I took wasn’t concern so much as admiration. Fifty degrees, maybe less, and this kid was grinning.

After that morning, the shape of our weekends fell into a reliable rhythm. Early breakfast, check the forecast, fill the stainless bottle, toss in two tennis balls because one will always vanish, and aim for a lake that suited the day’s plan. If we wanted a long walk with big views and few interruptions, we’d steer toward Walden’s back paths or the north shore of Long Pond in Littleton. If we wanted social time and a reliable pack of friendly dogs, we’d go to the dog park near the lake at Fresh Pond in Cambridge or the bigger loop at Borderland State Park. Times With Wally at the Dog Park near the Lake are now the shorthand we use when the family tells stories. The phrase brings the instant recollection of lake stink, leash tangles, and the satisfying fatigue that follows honest running.

His first upgrade happened that summer. Wally had a respectable collar and a serviceable leash. Neither stood a chance against his enthusiasm when a frisbee met water. Twice he nearly yanked me into the shallows when a rabbit broke from the brush. We added a front-clip harness, a neon orange floating toy that could stand out in chop, and a towel crown for the car that I insisted would protect the seats. It mostly protected my pride, because a wet Lab mix carries 10 pounds of lake water just between the shoulders.

The Lakefront Circuit

Massachusetts is stitched together by ponds and kettle holes. If you live here long enough, you settle on favorites that feel like part of the family. Over time, our circuit felt like a map of Wally’s growth chart, measured not in inches but in how confidently he read a shoreline and how quickly he made friends.

Fresh Pond struck the balance between chaos and charm. On Saturday mornings, you can join a current of dog walkers circling the water. The off-leash rules rely on people being considerate, and most are. If Wally had a backstage pass anywhere, it was here. He would range ahead on the sandy edges, touch back to check in, then veer off to inspect a stick collection somebody’s kids had started. More than once, he waded out with a stick so large it dragged a V-shaped wake behind him, and he trailed it like a parade float while a huddle of kids cheered for The Best Dog Ever.

Walden was our quiet place, especially on shoulder-season weekdays. We took the back trails to avoid the crowded beach sections, and I learned which coves stayed shallow longest. Wally read the water the way some people read a room. He seemed to know when the mood asked for gentle wading and when it welcomed tumbling play. He loved to swim parallel to shore, head high, paws sculling, glancing back like a lifeguard on a friendly patrol. We never stayed long on the main beach, not because he didn’t behave, but because I never wanted him to be the story for the wrong reason. Off-season and off-hours let him be fully himself without testing anyone’s patience.

At Cochituate State Park, we found picnic tables with good angles for lazy people-watching. Kayakers slid by. Paddleboarders wobbled in the shallows. Wally watched them all with the diplomacy of a doorman who has seen every kind of guest. If a board drifted close, he stood square to it and wagged, never put a paw on the deck unless invited, even when invited by squealing teenagers who wanted a photo with a wet-headed dog leaning in for a kiss. He was, after all, The Best Dog and Friend I Could of Ever Asked For, and he made a habit of proving it by behaving better than I did in most situations that tested patience.

Further west, the smaller lakes around Sturbridge and the Wachusett watershed gave us wide views and long stretches of quiet. One evening at Wachusett Reservoir’s side trails, a thin fog filtered the last light and turned the water into a sheet of gray tinted with pink. Wally waded in calf deep, stood still, and listened. Not to me, but to the low conversation of the shore. Frogs. Wind in the reeds. A distant car rounding a bend on 140. He lifted his nose and took in the whole story. I stood behind him and did the same.

People You Meet at the Waterline

You learn quickly that lakes are communities. People return to them like they return to a favorite coffee shop. We saw familiar faces more often than a calendar would predict. There was the couple who trained their collie to retrieve a floating rope that towed a line of small plastic ducks. Their dog worked, and Wally watched, then grabbed the second duck in the line and tried to add to the procession. We untangled the circus and laughed because no harm had been done, and the collie seemed pleased by the complication.

There was the kid who didn’t talk much to anyone but Wally. He wore headphones, always a size too big sweatshirt, and sneakers that never quite made it through a season. He’d stand on the bank, say “hey dude” barely above a whisper, and toss a ball that Wally raced to claim. The kid’s mother thanked me once in a tone that carried a decade of weight. I said what anyone who has been loved by a good dog says: he’s doing me the favor.

We met the retired firefighter with the German shepherd who would not swim unless Wally swam first. He said his dog had courage for heat and smoke but considered water a negotiable hazard. Wally did not overthink. He went in, the shepherd took a breath and followed, and the firefighter’s grin took 20 years off his face. Later we traded tips on keeping dogs cool in August. He had better ones than I did, and I kept those notes for the next heat wave.

The Dog Park Near the Lake, A Stage and a Classroom

Not every day is a postcard. The dog park near the lake can test your patience when the mix of personalities is wrong or when a well-meaning owner thinks every scuffle is a fight. Wally taught me to scan the field the way a good teacher scans her classroom before the first bell. You look for Ellen Waltzman energy, not breed. You note who is pacing, who is guarding the gate, who is sitting with their back to the action because the smells under the bench matter more.

Times With Wally at the Dog Park near the Lake taught both of us rules we didn’t learn in classes. He learned the difference between a chest bump that says chase me and a stiff stance that says give me space. I learned that the person on the other end of the leash is the real conversation. A quick back-and-forth can fix most misunderstandings. A hand on a shoulder, a you good?, a let’s give them a breather, and the temperature drops. On the rare days that a dog arrived wound too tight, we moved on, not as defeat, but as good judgment. Lakes are big. There is always another stretch of shoreline a quarter mile away.

If the park is a stage where dogs rehearse their cues, the lake itself is a classroom in physics. Wally discovered that tennis balls behave differently if you drop them with a low throw that kisses the surface versus a high one that smacks it like a drum. He learned to adjust his bite angle to avoid swamping the ball. I learned the limits of my shoulder when flinging a ball with a plastic launcher for 20 minutes. Last summer I traded that for shorter, smarter throws and a game we called find it, where I’d tuck the ball under a pile of leaves or behind a driftwood log. It sharpened his nose and preserved my rotator cuff.

Weather Rules and Workarounds

Some of our best days arrived under poor forecasts. A cold drizzle keeps the crowd small and the lake calm. Wally wore a thin coat in winter more for the walk to and from the car than for the time in the water. He would break ice at the edge with one paw, test the flex, then punch a channel with a satisfied snort. I kept a strict rule in true winter: water play only if the air was well above freezing and the wind moderate. Hypothermia doesn’t care about joy. The towel stayed in the car, and the second towel waited for him at home. We’d stop twice en route to crank the heat and rub his belly dry.

Summer demanded a different discipline. Early starts before 9 a.m. saved us. He had a thick coat that didn’t care for high humidity. The car kit grew to include a clip-on fan for the crate and a reflective shade for the windshield. Lakes tempt you to ignore heat because the water looks like a fix. It helps, but it isn’t a cure. We measured swims in minutes and shaded rests in longer blocks. He did fine, better than fine, but I never forgot a day two summers ago when he refused a third throw, looked at me squarely, and walked to the shade on his Ellen Waltzman own. He was telling me he was cooked. The humble wisdom of a tired dog beats any plan a human could write.

Small Gear That Solved Big Problems

The kit of a lake dog parent grows like any hobbyist’s collection. It starts innocent, becomes a drawer, then a tote, then a system you can pack in two minutes before sunrise.

A well-fitted front-clip harness kept Wally from torpedoing me toward rabbits, and it gave us steady guidance without pulling on his neck. A floating, high-visibility toy replaced tennis balls in rough water, and it saved at least a dozen frantic searches when chop hid the green felt. A compact microfiber towel worked better than the plush ones at shedding sand and water, and it dried in the back of the car before the next stop. A tick key lived on my keychain after I pulled a dozen little stowaways off Wally one spring. Quick, clean removal beat fumbling with tweezers. A collapsible water bowl meant we could offer clean sips between swims, especially at lakes with algae advisories where swallowing water isn’t wise.

Beyond the things you can buy, the best gear was practiced habits. Teaching a sharp recall paid off the day a flock of geese took off low over our heads and his prey drive hit the redline. He spun at his name, skidded in the dirt, and looked at me with the same expression he’d used when he was a puppy asking whether to sit for a treat. We both laughed without sound, which is a kind of victory you don’t get in other pursuits.

Wally’s Rules for Water and Friends

People asked, half-kidding, whether Wally had rules. He did, in the way that dogs adopt patterns and communicate preferences if we’re paying attention. He disliked slippery boat ramps. He preferred sandy entries where the drop-off was gradual. He tolerated life jackets when kayaking, but he looked at me with clear skepticism the first time I tightened the strap. He loved a crowd of children tossing pebbles. He avoided teenagers practicing backflips from a dock. He never begged food from a picnic table, possibly because he learned that people who wanted to share would come to him. He had a silent pact with fishermen, a mutual respect born of solitude and patience.

He also liked work. I taught him a game that looked silly to passersby but made his brain buzz. At the water’s edge, I’d line up three retrieve toys. I’d tap one, then another, then send him for the first in order. He had to remember the sequence after a ten-second wait. He got it right nine times out of ten. The tenth time, he grabbed the wrong one, dropped it mid-splash, and pivoted to correct without cue. The fisherman next to us didn’t look up, but his mouth tilted into a smile.

Mistakes I Made, Lessons He Taught

I misjudged a drop-off once at a pond north of Worcester. The sand sloped slowly, then disappeared. Wally, who usually kept his feet, stepped, vanished for a beat, then surfaced in a tidy dog paddle that reminded me of how resilient instinct can be. From then on, I tested entries with a stick. I also learned to scan the waterline for bottle caps and broken shell edges that can slice a paw. Twice I carried a limping but unfazed Wally back to the car and played field medic with a saline rinse while he licked my ear to reassure me that we were fine.

I trusted my phone too much on one long walk. The battery died, the sky turned, and the paths spidered without signage. Wally, whose nose is better than any trail map, tugged toward a faint smell of cedar smoke and grilled fish from a lakeside backyard. We popped out exactly where we needed to, and I vowed to pack a paper map or at least a small power bank. He never lorded it over me. He just wagged like the modest hero he was.

The Quiet Stuff Between the Splashes

The best hours live between the obvious highlights. If we got to a lake early enough, we’d see a blue heron standing with the patience of stone. Wally would freeze at my hip, cocking his head, front paw curled mid-step. I’d kneel and put my hand on his shoulder. We’d watch until the bird lifted on a single, slow beat. Lake mornings smell different before the day warms. Pine pitch, damp earth, a faint metallic note from the water, a curl of smoke from a house where someone forgot a window and the heat leaks in soft loops.

Sometimes we’d sit on a bench with our backs to the water and face the path. People reveal themselves when they think they are passing by. Wally let small kids grip his cheeks gently and place a foreheads-on-forehead kiss. He tolerated sweatered dogs who wanted to smell the inside of his ear. He scooched closer to people who looked like they’d had a hard week. I didn’t teach that. He knew it in bones and breath.

The Day He Found the Lost Toy Boat

There was one small drama that became a legend in our lake circle. A little boy launched a bright green toy boat with a wind-up prop. He misjudged the wind and watched it drift beyond his reach, then beyond the shallows, then toward the shadow of a nearby inlet. His dad waded up to his knees and then stopped, face a mix of caution and calculation. The boy started to cry that hiccuping cry that breaks you even when you’re not a parent.

Wally had picked up the tone before I did. He stood at the edge, eyes on the boat. I gave him a single look that said yes. He surged out in a tidy line, angled to compensate for the drift, and closed in on the stern. He did not chomp. He nudged it with his nose toward shore, then corrected each time the wind changed. When the water got shallow enough for the boy’s dad to step in, Wally laid his chin on the boat and held it steady until two human hands took over. The boy knelt in the wet sand and wrapped his arms around Wally’s neck. He whispered something into that thick fur that only they will ever know. I was useless for a minute, wiping my eyes and nodding at the dad in that stiff, awkward way that men do when gratitude runs past words.

For a week after, people who had heard the story from someone who knew someone stopped us to ask if this was the dog who saved the boat. Wally wagged like always, then lay down and chewed a stick, as if heroism should never interfere with a good chew.

Why We Keep Going Back

Even after years of circuits and seasons, the lakes still shift enough to surprise us. A beaver dam re-routes a brook. A familiar path floods after a big storm and carves a new curve through the sand. The dog park adds a new bench with a plaque for a beloved companion who used to chase the same orange ball Wally now carries. The changes are small and human-scale. They’re manageable, readable, the way a dog reads a face.

People sometimes ask if the magic wears thin. The answer sits in the passenger seat when Wally rides home damp and satisfied, eyes drooping, head bumping the window with each turn. A good day does not need novelty. It needs a clear frame: water, air, a ball, a friend to throw it, a patch of shade to rest in, and a place to repeat it next week. Fun Days With Wally are not about the perfect photo. They’re about the string of moments that add up to a life that feels right when you settle onto the couch, knees sore from crouching at the water’s edge, shoulders warm from the sun, the smell of lake grass dried into the fur of someone who already dreams of next Saturday.

A Simple Plan for Your Own Lake Day

If you want your own version of this, start simple. Pick a lake within a short drive. Aim for the edges of the day. Bring water for both of you. Begin with modest expectations and let your dog tell you what kind of session you’re having. Not every dog is built for long swims. Some are shoreline philosophers who prefer ankle-deep contemplation. Others, like Wally, will volunteer for lifeguard duty and fetch duty and ambassador duty, all before lunch. The job is to balance their zeal with your judgment.

There’s also a decision about where you settle into the community. The dog park near the lake can be a gem if the culture fits yours. If it doesn’t on a given day, move along. You’re not breaking a vow by choosing a quieter cove over the crowd. Your dog will thank you, and you’ll develop the instinct that makes water days fun rather than fraught.

What I Carry Beyond the Gear

When I look at the photographic trail of these days, I see more than water and fur. I see the recalibration that only a lake can deliver. The rhythm of throw, splash, wait, praise, repeat is the metronome my brain sometimes needs. Wally taught me to punctuate workweeks with this cadence. He taught me to be more decisive about small joys. If the afternoon opened suddenly, we didn’t barter it away on errands. We drove to water. It felt extravagant when we started, then responsible once we saw the result.

People who hear me talk about Wally sometimes accuse me, gently, of inflating his legend. I don’t bother arguing. Legends are built from repetition and selective memory. I keep the whole ledger in view. He rolled in things I would not wish on anyone. He shook off ten gallons of lake stink in the foyer more than once. He ate half a loaf of sourdough that I left too close to the edge. He has forced me to apologize to a stranger after his nose got too curious in someone’s open tote. And still, always, I end up back at the same sentence when I try to name him honestly: Wally, The Best Dog and Friend I Could of Ever Asked For. The grammar is not perfect, and the truth doesn’t care.

The Last Throw, Not the Final Word

Every lake day ends the same way. I kneel. I take his face in both hands. I show him my open palms, empty of toys, and say we’re done as gently as I can. He looks over his shoulder at the water, then back at me. For a year or two he bargained with a small stomp of his front paw, a last attempt at closing arguments. Lately, he just nods, if a dog can nod, and he turns with me toward the car. He hops in, shakes twice, curls into a comma of contentment, and lets me drive us home past the same stretch of cattails, the same modest houses, the same corner store where I sometimes stop to grab a cold drink and a pack of jerky for his dinner garnish.

Back home, he moves from towel to rug to couch in a migratory line that tracks the sun. I wash sand off my ankles and think about where we’ll go next time. The list is long and flexible. Massachusetts has a way of sending you back to places that reward return visits. If we’re lucky, if the weather holds, if knees and hips and hearts cooperate, the next round of Fun Days With Wally will bring us to a new cove with dragonflies skimming the surface, or back to the dog park near the lake where someone will ask if this is the boat-saving dog, and I’ll say, with a pride that still surprises me, yes, that’s him, Wally, The Best Dog Ever.