The white and brown dog is Sweet Pea, the heroine of "Git."  Sweet Pea arrived half starved at our house six years ago.  Now she's on a diet.

Willie of "The Talking Horse" fame is next to her.  T

hen comes Nikki who is "The Ghost Beside Me."  What you can't see in the photos is that Tribute is curled up between her legs. 

 Loni and his friend, Tribute, are next to each other.  Their story is told in "The Horse That Cried" and "The Long Shot Dog". 

 

Spunky, the Pit Bull/Shar Pei star of "A God of All Creatures," is shown as a puppy.  He has grown into a slim, black dog. Recent dog pictures of Spunky will show him painted as a tiger by Russ and Virginia's granddaughters.  Luckily they used chalk.

The bay mare is Frenzy, the "Crooked Horse,"  who taught the meaning of love.   I

n the next photo you can see "The Cardinal" sitting on the back door.  The cardinal really did come to the Vassallo home and perched on the windows and back door. 

It took a long time but we finally located the only known photo of Lucky, the star of The Return of Lucky.  Here he is with one of the farm dogs on his back.

The final photo is of Krazy Duck, Russell's pet as a young man.  Krazy Duck's real name was Salamander (as the author's sisters have reminded him).  He was taking a walk in front of the author's childhood home in Newark, New Jersey. 

Russ and Virginia love showing off their animal friends.