I have written three books where a dog, based on our own dog Doris, was a lead character. “What would Doris do?” That was the question I kept coming back to while writing this series. Our dog—who decided she’d packed enough fun into one lifetime—left us in May. She was one of a kind: smart, funny, and just the right kind of maniacal. So whenever my characters got into trouble, I pushed for the cleanest, most elegant solution I could find—because that’s exactly what she would have done.

Having a hyper-intelligent dog as a main character isn’t exactly new. The difference for me is that I had a real one to model it on. Not long after we adopted her, she hopped up onto the coffee table, sat down, and gave us both a look. It was a side-eye full of meaning. And the message was received: in this house, Doris came first, and everyone else followed.

That never really changed—and honestly, we were happy to go along with it. She was just that much fun.

Duncan, her partner in crime, is feeling the absence right now, but not for long. We’ll be adopting another dog soon. And if the new pup is even one-tenth as awesome as Doris was, we’ll have hit the dog lottery all over again.

Doris, on her next-to-last day, seen here guilting me (with her partner in crime, Duncan), to take them for a walk.