Me at the shelter, meeting Milli. Who promptly fell asleep in my arms. SOLD.

(133) Milli

Milli was the puppy Ani was supposed to be. We got super lucky; our favorite shelter (where we got Ani) took in a mama beagle with nine puppies, and then someone immediately adopted the mama, so OH NOE NOW THE PUPPIES NEED HOMES oh noooooooes.

We named her Milliways (bc Hitchhiker’s Guide, obvs) but roughly seven seconds later I started calling her Milli-itis, like you know, when you come down with a chest cough only it’s a puppy shit-spritzing across your entire life and you can’t even be mad because puppy and cute and so whatever you call her still has to be at least somewhat affectionate. (I also call her Botnik, because she makes robot sounds and is tiny. Like your face.)

She grew up and got smart and sweet and goofy. She does a thing with her ears:

Never has any idea why we are laughing. We’re laughing with you, booger butt. Promise.

And she has a thing with blankets:

Hubs and I are very cold at night these days.

Clearly a passive aggressive statement re us not naming her for Star Wars. We see you, ‘Itis. We see you.

Gave up/became mummy

This totally isn’t my skirt that she decided was a blanket. Nope.

She’s a very serious dog.

Pretty sure they gave us the Ikea version and forgot to tell us.

But mostly, Milli is the gentle nugget that we adopted on a freakshow whim, the little furry who rambled into our somewhat balanced lives and somehow made everything fit a little more seamlessly.

There’s always one of them that gets the shit end of the pillow. Snooze you lose, sucka.

She taught Ani how to play with other dogs, something, after years of trying with all kinds of doggy friends, we weren’t sure she’d ever learn.
She has kept Beorn younger because apparently no one can refuse playing with her when she’s ready to go. As a puppy, she would lose her toys everywhere and then cry when she couldn’t find them. Beorn, each and every time, would find the toy in question and bring it to her. He used to struggle with cuddling and with reaching out; he is a warmer dog because of her.
She prefers to be in the same room as me, and has kept me company even when I am screaming from writer’s block or wailing over my inability to play two consecutive notes in tune. Milli shifted everything when she arrived at our home, and because she made love so easy, we shifted right along with her.