By: Maralee McKee
I’m happy to announce there’s a new McKee in the world! No, not a two-legged one, although I’d love that most of all.
This one has four legs, a tail that drags the floor, and two perfectly pointy ears! Her name is Miss Lilly, and she’s a fifteen-week-old concoction of Sheltie puppy preciousness, precociousness and personality!
We call her “Lil” for short, and we couldn’t be happier that she’s joined our family. After we grieved the loss of Molly (our dog of fifteen years) in June, our home had been missing the energy and presence that a pet adds.
We were so excited and yet anxious the day we brought Miss Lilly home. Would she miss her other home too much? Would she like us? Would she feel comfortable in her new surroundings?
Within an hour of carrying her in the door, we introduced her to her chew toys, her play toys, and her peanut butter treats. Kent, the boys, and I soon breathed a collective sigh of relief. She seemed to give us a passing grade when, after a frolicking backyard playtime, she fell asleep on my lap on the family room sofa.
“I thought you didn’t want her on the sofa,” Kent reminded me. “Well, that was this morning, before we had her. Now I can hear her puppy breath. It’s too precious.”
That night with Miss Lilly tucked next to me in bed, Kent felt the need to remind me of something else. “I thought you said you didn’t want her in bed with us.” “Well, about that,” I said, “Don’t you think we should let her, just this first night? She might get really lonely away from her brothers and sisters.”
“Well, sure, just for tonight,” he agreed.
Every night since then she simply looks up with her deep brown puppy eyes and ends up snuggled between us for an hour or two. “At least she sleeps with her head-end against you,” I now remind Kent. She’s learning to be content in her own plush dog-bed we set in the corner of our room. It’s a work in progress