We lost our Belgian Sheepdog Molly back in September, from severe hip issues in her old age. She lived a long and happy life out here in the country. And this past winter we missed having a dog as a pet in our house. It was too quiet. The cats were entertaining but we just missed having a dog. So one day a few weeks ago I was cruising Craig's List for pet adoption, and chanced on a half border collie/half Australian sheepdog mix, which looked exactly like Perky, our kids' grandparents' dog. So I emailed her, we traveled for several hours way up to the northern border of MO/Iowa, and found a farm dog, 8 months old, who was used to running after the cattle on the farm. We brought her back, an eventful trip, considering she was not used to car riding (luckily we had a drop cloth and old rug in the back of the minivan), and she came home to our house and cats. Violet was happy to see another dog, but our older cat continues to give her great disgusted looks. ALL the time! Milan is our pup's name, named after the town near that cattle farm. You pronounce it MY-lan, not the usual Italian pronunciation, but typical for Missouri--ask any Missourian how we pronounce New Madrid???
Anyway, Milan went into heat right away when we got her home, so out to the vet for her first surgical experience. She did great, came home with a cone, which just mortified the poor girl beyond belief, so we took it off and reminded her about not chewing on her stitches. Pointing at the cone on the counter seemed to send the message, because she quit. She is getting her shots series all caught up, and having a great time herding our cats, herding the neighbor cats back home, herding the ducks, geese and chickens back to their house too. This is truly a country girl, with a sense of humor and a big smile on her doggy face.
