Mr. and Little Snort belong to Walter, a retired mail carrier.

If you ask Walter, though, they belong to his wife. He doesn't even like them. He only walks them twice (and sometimes three times) a day because somebody has to walk them.

For the first year or so of Little Snort's life, Walter got up at 5:30 every morning to take the pugs for their first walk of the day. He only did this, he said, because 'otherwise, Little Snort will shit on the floor.'

The pugs go with Walter almost everywhere he goes, and he takes pictures of them in all the best vacation spots in British Columbia. He only does this, he says, because they would put up a fuss if he left them behind.

As soon as they were old enough and well-behaved enough, Walter registered Mr. and Little Snort as PALS therapy dogs. He spent many hours teaching them tricks to entertain the seniors they visit. 'Pugs have a small brain,' he says,'and they all share the same one.'

If you were to ask Walter why he is a PALS volunteer, he would probably say, 'Well, since I have to look after those pugs anyway, they may as well make themselves useful.'