Rusty is a 4.5-year-old old miniature schnauzer owned by nine-year-old Ethan Rector.

Rusty and Ethan are growing up together. Rusty arrived in Ethan's life Christmas 2007 and is fun and funny. He never tires of chasing tennis balls and bringing them back for one more throw.

He's a pretty good wrestler, too. He loves to ride in the car where the smells coming in through the vent keep his nose in the air. Rusty's mood never changes — happy infused with high-octane energy.

Rusty has a love-hate relationship with all the squirrels in his yard. He loves to hate them and even has a shirt that says: “I hate squirrels.” He has a raincoat, too, but he doesn't care for it so much.

According to Ethan, Rusty is scared silly of the family cat, Fuzzy. If Fuzzy is in Rusty's path, Rusty refuses to budge until Ethan steps in between the two. Seems there was an incident early on where Fuzzy set some ground rules, and Rusty is the kind of dog who doesn't need to be told twice.

Ethan has a pair of Spiderman house shoes that drive Rusty crazy. He chases Ethan through the house with a single thought in his head — get those shoes and get them off my boy. Ethan says it makes walking a challenge.

But each night when the house shoes come off, you'll find Rusty under the covers with his favorite boy, dreaming about squirrels and Spiderman.

Ann Malone is a pet photographer and can't remember a time she did not have pets in her life. Today she has three dogs, three cats and one parrot. She can be reached at annmh@live.com.