My Mi-Ki - HoneyBunn the Toy Dog

What's a Mik-Ki? Well, until last year I had no idea, either. From what I've read, my Scottish grandmother would say the dogs are "all mixed up like a dog's breakfast." The Mi-Ki history is somewhat clouded. Some people date the appearance of the breed to the 1980s, others the early 1990s. Some say they are now a recognized breed, others continue to call them a "type." Whatever. What they are is down right cute and the perfect dog for a 96 year-old mom who spends her days in bed in the company of two cats.

After my dad died I moved in with my mom to care for her full-time and brought along my dogs. Gradually, my mom began asking me where "her" dog was and seemed to really want a dog of her own. It seemed like a good idea if I could find the right type of dog for her. After some research, I settled on the Mi-Ki. They're affectionate, sweet, agreeable, good with handicapped people, and often exhibit cat-like behavior.

Mi-Ki dog breeders are everywhere

After a flurry of emails with several Mi-Ki breeders, I settled on this little six-month old puppy. Then came the high-level talks with the Easter Bunny to arrange for the little puppy to be flown from Amarillo to Houston in time for my mom's birthday. With the Easter Bunny's help, the Mi-Ki arrived a few weeks early. Easter morning the door bell rang. The Mi-Ki had been dropped off at the front door. I carried the Mi-Ki puppy into my mom's room. The puppy nestled in the pink fluffy bed under a pretty pink blanket, surrounded by a few plastic eggs, a yellow plush banana, some green grass and a birthday card from the Easter Bunny.

She was everything I expected and more. What a delight. HoneyBunn weighed 3 1/2 pounds and had the lightest, softest hair. She was barely six months old. I was told her personality was such that she liked nothing more than to snuggle up with someone and sleep on a bed. She made friends with the one cat that is friendly--the other one ignored her--and she made my mom smile and smile and smile. She did her job.

We didn't name her right away, content to call her "Baby." But as the days progressed I noticed that whenever she went outside to potty she would hop all over the lawn, not run, not scamper, not skip, but hop. It was hilarious. I heard myself start calling her Honey-Bunny and eventually shortened it to HoneyBun. I told my mom about her hopping habit and we decided on the HoneyBunn name.

The Pug and the Mi-Ki - A budding romance

Now, I have to tell you that when young Charlie the Pug set his eyes on little HoneyBunn it was all over. That Pug was in love. It was like having a young teenager in the house. She'd go sit in this dog bed and he'd trundle over and plop down next to her. She'd lean up against him and stare. He'd look down. She'd relax. He'd put a paw on her. Sheesh. I felt like crying out "Get a room!"

Unusual dog breed pairing: A Mi-Ki and a Great Pyrenees

If you just saw Waco, the 125 pound Great Pyrenees or only saw HoneyBunn, the tiny 3 1/2 lb Mi-Ki, you'd never believe she'd have no problems running up to him and prancing through his feet but she does. HoneyBunn adores Waco. While she loves Charlie, he doesn't make her squeak. I swear whenever Waco comes into the house, HoneyBunn runs up to him, stands up on her hind legs, puts her tiny paws up in the air to touch his fluffy coat and she squeaks her little head off. She's so excited to see him whenever he comes into a room. I kid you not. It's so funny.

Who's got the better topknot? The Shih Tsu or the Mi-Ki?

Then there's Teddy, the stable elderly alpha dog of the pack who looks after HoneyBunn and makes sure none of the other boys get too rambunctious with such a little thing. Teddy makes sure she's not bothered too much and definitely takes it upon himself to look after her. .

Mi-Ki's are said to be part Shih Tsu, part Japanese Chin, part Maltese, part Papillion and a couple other toy breeds so it's only natural that HoneyBunn and Teddy would look alike. Sometimes when Freddie, Teddy and HoneyBunn are all together it makes it difficult to see who's who.