Missouri Kid Kentucky

As promised (albeit a little late...) here are the pictures of Missouri-kid-Kentucky. That is the name that was settled on for this tiny animal. Yes the name is just about as long as the dog. But it's not Boots, Dora or Diego (first choices that were deflected narrowly) so I am okay with that.

Here is Emmuska with her brand new puppy. She has actually taken a lot of responsibility for the little dog - even waking up in the middle of the night to help her (occasionally, I mean it's still Emmuska who can sleep through anything - so waking up for Missouri-kid-Kentucky is pretty amazing.)

While driving home we asked Emmuska what her puppy would be named of course she said Dora which we said no to because we already had a rat named Dora "But she's dead so she won't mind..." Dang! Since when do three year old have that level of reasoning skills. "Yeah but we aren't naming the dog Dora...or Diego...or Boots..." That's when Mycal said we should name it Missouri so we remember where we got her (like I'm going to forget?) I wasn't too keen but Emmuska said "Well (drawing it out like she does) how about Missouri-and-kid-Kentucky" which she still often calls her. The thing with the 'kid' is that she has a hard time just saying Kentucky, stumbling over the beginning. Mycal and I thought 'Okay Missouri Kentucky is better than Dora - it kind of has a AKC feel to it' but it just didn't sound as good as when you throw that little stumble in so the kid stuck. And Emmuska insists on using the whole name. I'm interested to see how the training goes as it takes forever to say her name. Most of the time I just call her little dog or runt or rat or something else along those lines.
For the first few days of her life with us Missouri-kid-Kentucky was barely out of Emmuska's arms. It was okay with the dog and good for Emmuska. Lately they both have been moving on to a more dog mobile lifestyle which has been relieving to see. Still I'm hoping that so much adoration has fostered some good bonding between the two. I really don't want this one to end up being my dog too. I don't want to end up like my mom, constantly acquiring dogs that aren't hers but think they are so I'm trying really hard to keep my distance and encourage Emmuska to feed and take care of her dog (which for a three year old she is doing quite well).

Generally Liberty in pretty enthralled by the little addition to our family but overall she is still happy to let Autumn receive the majority of her attention. She is much more comfortable with Autumn, sometimes not knowing what to make of this little creature and a little nervous when it gets to sniffing her too closely. Still she enjoys when it sits quietly on her lap and she can just pet it. Overall I think the entire family is adjusting well and that in no time our house wouldn't be the same without her.