Mickie and Mia came to us when their former owner's chronic illness made caring for them impossible. Though they are not siblings, they are very attached, and we will honor their owner's wish to place them together.

Mia is three, a bouncy, brindle bundle of good times. She is in robust health. At six months her junior, Mickie the handsome pied came from a pet shop and suffers from seizures which are well controlled with phenobarbital.

Mickie also has a grade 1-2 luxating patella which doesn't seem to bother him one iota.

The curmudgeonly English bulldog in their foster home took a dislike to Mickie for absolutely no good reason (jealous, perhaps, of his good looks?) and Mickie responded by not caring much for the bulldog. Other than that, Mickie and Mia get along well with other dogs. Since they are such a fine pair, it seems natural that they would be the only dogs in their new world, but we won't count out the possibility of a larger canine family.

The resident cat in their foster home hasn't give them much of an opportunity to get to know her, but during their few encounters the dogs were more curious than ferocious. They invited the kitty to play, suggesting a nice game of chase around. The kitty demurred.

M&M are lovely to have around. They are crate trained and housetrained to a fare-thee-well. Each of them will happily "sit" and "lie down" for a tasty treat. In foster care all the dogs are fed seperately so there has been no opportunity for food aggression to surface.

Though both Mickie and Mia are happy, playful dogs, Mia is the ringleader. A self-described "busybody", Mia leads Mickie through the house on chase me zoom fests and "let's see what we can find to get into" treks. They play happily with each other and with one of the resident pugs. If another dog picks on Mia for any reason, Mickie rushes from his usual quiet background position to defend her honor. Mickie is the perfect prom date. M&M are equally fond of playing, couch time, snuggling and cuddling. They enjoy stuffies, lambskin toys and "bones", and don't fight over their spoils.

Yes, these two agree on almost everything! They both love kids, and Mia is especially fond of roughhousing and chasing the five year old in the foster family. Be warned, these two are arough and tumble, and put their teeth on

each other and anybody else with whom they are wrasslin'. Not to bite, just to play. Any children in their world should be old enough to treat them respectfully and enjoy their exhuberant goofing off.

Outdoors, Mia loves to wander and explore. Mickie would, of course, follow her to the ends of the earth. We will require a good fence if they are placed in a home with a yard. If they live somewhere without a yard they must have regular trips to a safe and secure outdoor play area.

What kind of home is the perfect home for M&M? This is a tough one to narrow down, because they would thrive in a variety of situations. A single person who wants a couple of loyal friends would be perfect. A family with

kids the appropriate age would be great, too. They really don't need any other pets around but would be okay as part of a larger pack as long as they got sufficient attention. (They LOVE attention.)

In the event of a seizure it is important that Mickie not be left alone loose in the presence of other dogs as they sometimes respond aggressively when they sense something is "wrong". Mickie's people must be diligent about his medication, and be prepared to react calmly if he has a seizure, which requires several minutes of holding him and petting him. These dogs prefer people furniture for lounging so anyone very particular about their white satin setee might want to look elsewhere.

An all day home person would be ideal, of course, but these two can manage just fine with mid-day breaks. They would also love to join the work force and accompany their people to the office.

We asked M&M's foster mom to tell us a little bit about each of her charges, and this is what she told us:

"Mia has the most intelligent face you can imagine. Her dark eyes speak volumes and she gives back more than she receives. Her dark brindle coat shines and is so silky to the touch. At night she crawls into the crook of my arm and snoozes away while I pet her to sleep. Then her warm little body puts me to sleep! When Mia gets excited, (like when she first saw our horses) she will scream like a banshee!

Mickie wants to be as close to his human companion as possible. This includes while I’m in the shower, using the bathroom, folding clothes, watching tv, reading, etc., etc.,etc.! He’s submissive to Mia and generally doesn’t make waves unless threatened. He also has soulful eyes that seem to say “All I want is to make you happy”. Mickie's feelings are easily hurt so you must be gentle when making corrections. He only barks at strange noises or if he gets separated from everyone, and then he does a low, pitiful howl.

These are wonderful dogs. They are cuddling and capering in Central Ohio, so if you want them for your very own, you better plan on making the trip.

Mia and Mickie will not be shipped.