Buster’s Best Friend

I woke up this morning and Milo was still here. 

I guess that’s not too surprising because he was here when I went to bed last night but I’ve never woken up in my own house to find Milo here as well. 

Milo’s a three year old Shih Tzu/Maltese cross and I suppose you could say he is my best friend.

Milo’s younger than me and doesn’t have my pedigree but I still like him.  I’m a year older and a purebred short haired Chihuahua.  Milo isn’t lucky enough to have my sleek and shiny coat.  His fur is wavy and longer than mine, but not as fine as a long haired Chihuahua, and he has a tendency to get dirty because his fur is white.  I try not to act superior because I’m a purebred and he’s not.  In fact, sometimes I even forget about it altogether.

I’ve known Milo for a couple of years now and last year our families went camping together in the New Forest.  We had great fun running around together and barking at the horses which wandered through our campsite.  John, Belinda and I slept in one little canvas house and Milo and his family slept in another.

I guess Milo was there when I woke up then too but this morning it happened in my house.  I heard my owners talking to Milo’s owners about a holiday but I didn’t realize that meant Milo was staying at our house. As long as he doesn’t try to sleep on John and Belinda’s bed or play with my favourite toy then I guess I’m okay with him staying.  I know that he won’t be wearing any of my Chihuahua clothes because he’s too big for them.  Besides he has a little blue knitted sweater that he wears when he gets cold.  I’ve never seen him in anything else and I feel a little bit sorry for him only having the one outfit.

Yesterday I taught Milo to bark at the mailman.  Apparently Milo’s family gets their mail from a store but ours is delivered through a hole in the front door.  Every day I keep watch through the living room window for the mailman and when I see him coming up our driveway I start barking.  I may be small but I have a ferocious bark so I run to the front door and try to stop him from putting letters through the hole.  I don’t know what would happen if I wasn’t there.

When we came back from camping with Milo’s family last year there was so much mail by the front door it was unbelievable.  Without me there to scare him away, that mailman just kept piling things through the front door hole.  I take my mailman duties very seriously so yesterday I got Milo to join in the barking and it worked.  The mailman only dropped two things through the hole.  Maybe today we’ll scare him away before he pushes anything through.  If I ever get outside when the mailman is coming I’m going to bite his leg – that should teach him not to keep pushing letters into my house.

I guess it’s time to go for my morning walk.  I see Belinda putting on Milo’s sweater and John walking toward me with one of my hoodies.  It’s one of my favourites because it has a little hat and the saying “Bad to the Bone” on the back.  What until the mailman reads that!