| PoppyLu (Pug), Top dog in the Miller Mob | PoppyLu was born October 7th, 1989, in California. She was purchased on Christmas Eve that year as a present for her human Mommy. Her human Daddy paid a lot of money for Miss PoppyLu Miller and has always felt she was worth that much ten times over. PoppyLu is totally brilliant and has a very large vocabulary. She is also rotten spoiled and knows just how to get her own way. For that reason, she tends to be a bit too chubby, but she is still beautiful! |
| Barney Miller (Doberman), Number 2 dog, official intruder alert device | Barney was also born in Californa and is about six months younger than PoppyLu. Barney is reasonably intelligent, but quite unruly and wants to chase anything that moves. He also is not too friendly to strangers, and for those reasons, he lives in a pen outdoors. Barney goes on all trips in the motor home because with him in there, no one would dare break in if Mom and Dad are off fishing or sightseeing. He is a very good traveler.UPDATE: We are saddened to report that Barney died January 15, 1998. He is sorely missed. |
| Conan (Great Dane), Guardian of the property. | Conan is just the sweetest, most loveable dog in the world. He weighs about 180 pounds and is very intimidating. Salesmen do not get out of their cars when Conan comes out into the driveway. Conan has hip dysplasia and doesn't get around too gracefully, but he takes his medication and has a wonderful time. He really enjoys his morning walks down to unlock the gate with his Dad. Another sad parting this year..Conan died December 23, 1998. |
| Orville and Pogie, More outside dogs | Orville was an abandoned pup that was rescued along with his brother, Wilbur. Wilbur got out of the fence and took off for adventures. Pogie looks like a miniature Benjie and is as happy a creature as ever created. |
| HoneyCat, GreyCat, Tiddles and Rusty The Pussy Posse | HoneyCat came with us from California. GreyCat is a wanderer and sometimes visitor, especially when there's food on the porch. Tiddles is another nomad and doesn't like to be too close to people. Rusty is the resident house cat and is into interior remodeling. (sigh) |
| Bird, The Cockatiel from Hell! | One vicious bird! Has a great repertoire of whistles, but refuses to say an intelligible word. He hisses a lot and makes himself big when anyone comes near. |
| Rocky, the Baby Squirrel | Rescued after falling from his tree. He was about four weeks old. Did a search on the Web for information on squirrels and found some folks willing to advise me about care, and Rocky survived and thrived and has successfully returned to the wild. He still visits the feeder on the porch and often brings a few friends along. |
"YO!" says PoppyLu the Pug! "See what Conan is up to? He's eating the cat's food again!! HYELP! HYELP!"
Conan looks lugrubriously at Poppy. "Duh....can't you give a guy a break? I've got 160 pounds of Great Dane watchdog type here to maintain, I need all the chow I can get!"
HoneyCat laughs derisively at Conan. "Watchdog? You? Mirrouw...the most watching you do is the inside of your eyelids!"
Tiddles stretches and yawns. "Yeah," he purrs, "you know Barney is the real watchdog here!"
Conan turns his big black body around on the small porch, almost knocking Tiddles off his perch on the railing. He looks over his shoulder as he starts down the stairs. "Hmmmp!" he snorts at the two cats. "Barney may be the 'real' watchdog, but he's penned up and all he does is bark! I am the one who chases away the intruders!"
GreyCat, coming up the stairs as Conan goes down, agrees. "True, it is. What might have happened to me that day the two strange dogs came wandering through if Conan hadn't chased them away?? Conan RULES!!" GreyCat continues to the porch and looks at the empty food bowl. "Awwww, MAN!! Conan!"
PoppyLu, sitting inside looking out the screen door, chuckles. "Conan rules, huh? HA! You all know who is really the Queen Bee around here, and it ain't none of you outsiders!!" Turning her back on the porch pussies, she strolls to the sofa, hops up on it and makes a nest on the soft cushion left there especially for her. Time to snooze.
