Walter, my son’s wonderful white Labrador retriever, always accompanies Bart when he comes for the holidays. We traveled to my daughter’s house in Lexington, Mass. for Thanksgiving, arriving one day after Bart and Walter. By then, Walter had molted his first layer of fur throughout the house – his annual autumn shed. Walking over the hardwood floors, just the movement of foot traffic caused his coarse white hairs to gather into furry whorls that ran along the baseboards. The first time I used the powder room, I noticed a clump of white dog hair attached to my shoe.

Labradors have a neat, short coat that is particularly dense because they have a “double coat” underneath. It is designed to keep them snug while swimming in icy water. Labs swim as enthusiastically in the winter as any other time because they simply don’t feel the cold.

So, Walter sheds his heavy coat each spring and then again in the fall as he regrows his new winter coat. The Thanksgiving fallout was just his natural seasonal heavy shedding. Our Walter is now over nine years old, pushing 70 in human years. Most males do some thinning out by 70.

I have loved Walter since he was a pup. I have never minded his shedding in my house because the main rooms have wall-to-wall off-white carpeting. The hallway and kitchen are easily cleaned and I never much notice Walter’s leavings until he – leaves. Our guests don’t seem to notice. Although, in good conscience, I cannot let them go home if they’ve been sitting in a light-colored chair wearing dark clothes. It seems wrong to allow them to go back into the world looking like a polar bear, but only from the back.

Both my daughter’s house and mine have resident cats. Grace and Hermione who live in Lexington are a petite pair of shorthair cuties that Walter has never met. They disappear at the first sign of his arrival, never to surface from the basement until Walter is across the state line heading home.

Finian, our long-haired Maine Coon, is indifferent when Walter visits here. He sniffs the 100-pound dog upon arrival, checks him out, then mostly ignores him. His message seems to be “Hey Dude, this is my house. I make the rules. Got it big boy?” Fun-loving Walter would so like to romp and play, but Finian will have none of it. Occasionally though, we do find them napping near each other and it’s time for “Awww … lookit that.”

To be fair, our Finian’s shedding does lend a certain lived-in look to our house. His coat is a brindle of black, gray and beige which yields mostly dark gray clumps, easy to pick up. Hairballs, of course, are another thing altogether. I imagine that during a few days of heavy “bathing,” Finian’s constant licking across his long coat, his tummy must reach its limit. That’s when I find damp dark grey sausages usually in the middle of the living room floor. I guess it’s a good thing he doesn’t travel.

Walter, however, sheds his thick hair one strand at a time. All the time. Probably even in his sleep. He’s a 24/7, 365 kinda guy. After observing the fallout at my daughter’s house this past week, I would agree he is well into replenishing his heavy winter coat.

Back at the hotel and packing for our return flight, I noticed the bottom foot of my black slacks bore heavy Walter hair. And as I packed them, the dark green slacks were coated too. I must have shed some while wearing those pairs because the hotel bedroom carpet also sported Walterfur.

When we were standing in line at Logan airport, I thought Richard was tapping me from behind, trying to get my attention. “Nope, I’m just removing a bunch of Walterfur from your coat.” My black coat. I caught myself at the boarding gate removing more short white hair from Richard’s royal blue jacket. And now we’ve brought it home with us.

I have never unpacked with a vacuum attachment before, but there’s a first time for everything. Finian must think I’m crazy as he watches all this from his perch on top of our bed.

You will see, little buddy, I thought. Walter will be here for Christmas in less than three weeks. Hopefully, he’ll have finished shedding his light Spring coat while acquiring his new Winter suit. He will be back to his daily routine – just slowly adding white to absolutely everything. Red and green and white – a very festive fur-trimmed Christmas. We can’t wait.

Marcy O’Brien can be reached at Moby.32@hotmail.com.