Our Millie

I was checking my Google Reader today, trying to catch up after the holiday season, and saw that Jenny of Geek in Heels wrote a post about her dog, Comang, for a contest sponsored by Trupanion Pet Insurance called “Pawliday Blog Contest“. Y’all know I love writing about Millie, so I thought it would be fun to enter! The topic is “How My Pet’s Love is My Holiday Gift”, which is a wonderful subject since this was our first holiday season with Millie.

Millie actually was a holiday gift. My grandmother gifted the hubs and I with a check last Christmas,  and that check went towards Millie’s adoption costs, as well as a donation to help our local shelter. 🙂

I remember when we saw Millie’s picture on Facebook. The shelter has a non-profit to help adopt out the dogs (called Yelp! Baton Rouge) and that’s where all of the adoptable pets’ pictures were posted. The hubs and I instantly fell in love with Millie’s cute playful picture, so we inquired about her before the adoption day.

I remember rushing to put away the Christmas decorations one afternoon before we brought her home, because we wanted the house as puppy proof as possible. Little did we know what we were in for.

That very first night, she woke us up every hour. She seemed so sad and scared of her life without her siblings. After cleaning up multiple accidents in our house and dealing with puppy pads for the first week, the hubs and I were exhausted. It was very trying for us, because it was just the hubs and I before this. We weren’t sure how we were going to do this at all! However, we were definitely falling head over heels in love with this little fur ball.

Slowly, but surely, things started to get better for us. I remember thinking the first month with Millie was the longest month ever, because our lives were so different with this new puppy in our lives. After that first month, though, Millie’s care became much less daunting (no more accidents!) and this new little puppy in our lives was easily a part of our daily routine now!

Now that we’ve almost had her in our lives for a year now, it’s wonderful to look back on how positively our lives have changed because of her. 🙂

Millie is very sweet. Whenever we get home, she’s so SO happy to see us….EVERYTIME! Sometimes I wonder how that little tail of hers stays attached! It’s so wonderful to see how much she loves us. She always has to be around one of us, too. Whether it’s jumping on our bed to cuddle with the hubs or snuggling under my legs begging me to pet her, we just know that she loves us. Whenever one of us has a bad day, she just seems to know. Her cute little face will just make us forget the day we’ve had, even if only for a minute. 🙂

While the holiday season surely is a hectic one, it was so great to see that she was pretty much the same ol’ loving dog. During the panic of last minute baking and gifting, she still would snuggle with my feet and lick my ankles. The holidays never affected her, and I loved it, because it made me realize that the holiday season should truly be happier than I was making it out to be!

Two days ago, when Christmas Day came, I dumped out her stocking. Her reaction to $15 worth of chew toys and treats was just so awesomely cute. It’s still like Christmas Day when I give her a surprise from her stocking! Even right now, she is laying against my feet, as usual, chewing on a rope toy and every few minutes, she looks up and licks me (a little loving reminder, no?).

I can’t help but think of Millie’s love as the ultimate gift to us. She’s has such a simple, beautiful little soul and reminds me everyday that there is more to life than the stresses of the everyday. 🙂