This is Mimi. She is 1.7 years old.

She says, “Happiness is an attitude that you gain from structures in your life, like disciplines. I know if we don’t walk and sit around and if I don’t have my pretty collar on, I get a little disorganized in my thinking. But if Mom stimulates me by going out on walks and if she talks and trains me, I feel good. So I figure people need that, too.”

When asked why she rolls over when dogs come at her fast, she says,

“Well, if I roll over, the dog is like, ‘whatever,’ and it won’t hurt my back humping me.”

I asked her if her back hurts now. She says,

“No, but what does hurt is my belief system that I am small when I am really big. I am a big dog in a small dog body. I have to own it. Let’s do it, Mom. We are big. We are not small.”