Inky is an old soul who bears an uncanny resemblance to a dear friend of her current human companions. Just before Gene passed away of AIDS in 1987, he expressed a final wish to come back as a dog owned by people he cared about. David and Birch are pretty sure that Inky is their old friend who has come home to be with them.

Although she’s primarily a people pooch, Inky belongs to an inseparable pack of three other canine pals, and she’s very loyal to them. When they’re not all taking long walks to Inky's Cathedral—the place in Dog Woods that’s named after her—she likes to relax in her lounge chair on the deck of her house and watch the world go by. She has a PhD in lounging with style.