Lewis Dickinson and his wife Anna own Spencer that Lewis describes as, "A mutt but he is a Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever, which is a spaniel/retriever mix. I was told that when I adopted him."

Lewis got Spencer (whose original name was Peanut) from the Humane Society in Factoria, and has owned him for five years. He was considering something Canadian so the last two were Spencer and Molson (the famous Canadian beer).

"I was thinking about getting an animal and on the way home from snowboarding one day I found him and got him. I saw him and he was sitting there looking pathetic so I figured I'd get him."

This was all before he and Anna met however. "When they met," Lewis explained," He fell in love with her almost more than did, I think."

"When I first met Spencer, "Anna said,"he took the hem of my dress and pulled me around."

The couple have one child, Maddie 15 months, and another one on the way soon so, "he's making the adjustment to family life," said Lewis, which so far is a little challenging. Though Spencer is a sweet dog, he will growl a little at Maddie sometimes. "We keep thinking it will wear off," said Anna, "He's great with her if she has food." Lewis said that Spencer is, "like the big brother who doesn't like the little sibling but doesn't want anyone else to give her attention too. She's all his not to like"

"He's not a big fan of losing all the attention," said Lewis.

They feed him Canaday, Chicken and Rice and Mud Bay bulk treats.

As a guy who loves both dogs and snowboarding Lewis took Spencer with him once and the power was out at Snoqualmie Pass. "We hiked to the top of the chair lift and I took him up. This was a week that it had snowed feet and feet and the pass was closed so the snow was so deep that when I went down, and he was following me, that I couldn't see him. I finally saw his head bobbing out. He was staying in my tracks and bobbing out, and back down, then jumping back out of it. I thought that was pretty funny. He's been down the Black Diamond slope before."

Anna described a different behavior for Spencer. "Whenever there's a group of kids, like at an elementary school, they will come and surround him and he's like a rock star. He just goes crazy. He rolls on his back and he has to lick all of them on the face."

The couple said that Spencer is very talkative too. "He always goes up to people and makes some kind of sound," said Anna.

Lewis's brother's dog Hazel is Spencer's good friend, a Beagle hound mix. "If I go to visit him, Spencer always sniffs me up and down when I get home," said Lewis.

They describe Spencer as friendly, loyal and "kind of a goober," who is "very aware of his dog rights. He knows when it's time to go to the park, for a half an hour he bugs us. When we put our pants on he gets excited," said Lewis. "He knows all the little cues," said Anna.