For the love of a dog

I have a beautiful dog named Laika. I adopted her from the municiple pound in Leavenworth, Kansas on December 30, 2004. She's a border collie mix. About the size of a border collie, perhaps a little larger with a border collie face. She's long haired, mostly black, with white on her feet, and a splash on her chest, so she's marked like a border collie. She has one white foot that is speckled with black - very cute. But she's larger, and stockier, and calmer. She loves to retrieve, and to chase her tennis balls and frizbee. She's quite the acrobat. I suspect that she has some golden retriever in her. She is extremely sweet, and she is so happy when one comes home. Makes you feel good.

I named her for the first animal in outer space, in the old Soviet Union's "muttnik" program.

Here are some pictures of her, both in her full coat, and shaved down for the Kansas winter. I love her so much.