Footrot Flats 

Syndicated New Zealand comic strip drawn by Murray Ball during the 1970s and 1980s. Set on a rural New Zealand farm run by Wallace Footrot, or "Wal" for short, his family, and his dog (who is really the main character of the strip).

The material of the strip often hinges on agricultural oddities of New Zealand, and is less philosophically or intellectually inclined than Bogor, another popular New Zealand strip.

Though much of the humour is semi-dependent on an acquaintance with New Zealand farming culture, it is otherwise highly readable.

One of the strip's gimmicks is that the actual name of the dog, which he evidently despises, is never revealed (it's more interesting than it sounds). Even when the real dog on which he was based was laid to rest in 2001, Ball refused to divulge his real name.

"You can tell the difference between summer rain and winter rain by the way the stock behaves. Especially Wal."

Footrot Flats by MadTom September 23, 2004