I lost my cockapoo, BeaJae, to old age and heart disease when she was just shy of her 16th birthday. I'd had her since she was 8 weeks old - got her from the Humane Society. It was over a year before I could bring myself to look for another friend, and that only after I lost my cat (18 years old). It was WAY too quiet at home. A trip to the shelter with a friend put me on the radar of a West Highland/Yorkie/Maltese mix named Alice. She came home with me. Renamed Baylee, she has now been with me for 10 years. And when people ask what kind of a dog I have, I just tell them "small, white, and yappy, and she thinks she's a Rottweiler." She's getting up there now, even for a small dog, but still has enough zip in her to race after a tennis ball with her BIG sister, a German Shepherd mix - and sometimes she gets the ball first! You Go, Girl!!

KATHLEEN RYAN
SALT LAKE CITY, UT