15 Feb 2026 Pet of the Month: Angel and Cathy Stout
By Phyllis Ormsby
The beautiful relationship between Cathy Stout of Ward and her little Maltipoo named Angel almost didn’t come about. After sharing life with a Shih Tzu for nearly 15 years and then losing her, Stout was hesitant to open her heart to another dog.
“I went several months and had decided I wasn’t going to get another dog, but I was so lonely,” Stout said. “So, I told my neighbor I was looking for a puppy, and she told me about a lady near Beebe who had a litter. I think I went to see them that day or the next. I told myself the first one that comes up to me and starts licking on me is the one I’ll get. And that’s what I did. She’s white, and I wanted a white one. She was just a little bitty furball. I was so happy to have a little puppy and I named her Angel. She was born June 10, 2020, and I’ve had her since she was eight weeks old.”
Angel is a Maltipoo, a cross between a Maltese and a Poodle, often referred to as a designer dog. For Stout, it was love at first sight. Angel shares every aspect of her owner’s life, including her love of television.
Now 76, Stout has had some health challenges, so she is often at home, watching television. “I’ve always liked game shows, and one day I was going to watch Wheel of Fortune and I started getting excited, and Angel did, too. She spins around when they spin the wheel.”
It’s not just game shows. Stout swears Angel just loves to watch TV. “She loves those funny home movies, too,” Stout said, laughing. “Sometimes she’ll just look at me like she’s asking to watch something. She knows when I pick up the remote that she’s about to get to see something and she gets excited.”
Even when Stout goes out to run errands, she leaves the TV on for Angel. “I turn on either Wheel, because I’ve got them recorded, or funny home videos.”
Why would a dog enjoy watching TV? “I think it’s because they’re sharing with us. She’s interested in what I’m interested in,” Stout said. “I love it when she gets excited. She’s very entertaining. Even an old Perry Mason movie, which got her attention. One night she sat at the foot of the bed and watched it for 20 or 30 minutes.”
If Stout has both the TV in her living room and the one in her bedroom on at the same time, Angel will run back and forth between them. “It makes me laugh, and it entertains me. I can tell she’s enjoying it. She’ll be somewhere in the house and if she hears a commercial about dog food, she will run in here and watch it. She’s just amazing.”
For Christmas and other holidays, Stout has special outfits for Angel. “She likes for me to wash her face. She’ll be up on the sink, and she’ll just close her eyes and let me wipe her face, and she’ll let me wash her feet. They’re not paws, they’re footies, and when I ask to wash her footies, she knows what that means.
“She absolutely knows what I say,” Stout said. “If you have words you say consistently, they learn that word. And they learn your voice, the way you say it. If I’m holding her and tell her I love her, she’ll turn around and want to give me sugar. If I’m on the phone with my niece, Angel recognizes her voice and she gets excited.”
Another funny habit is that she likes to get an “appetizer” before she is fed. “When I eat ice cream, she has to have some, too, and she eats it out of a little spoon. When I get to the last bite, I’ll say, ‘That’s it, no more,’ and she knows what that means. Then she will go and eat her own food.”
Stout is selling some vintage jewelry on eBay and when she takes photos of the jewelry on her couch to post, Angel is right there with her. “When I have a dog, that’s my baby. They’re family. I get very attached,” Stout said.
