Part 5/8:
Recognizing her rough life, the narrator plans to help Millie further. He notices a tick on her and intends to give her medication called NextGuard to protect her from parasites. He also mentions that he’s working on creating a safer shelter for her—a makeshift doghouse from a barrel, filled with hay for warmth, so she can stay protected during the night.
In addition, he observes her physical condition: her coat shows signs of injury (possibly from being shot with a BB gun), and she is quite thin, with the narrator estimating her age as 4 to 6 years old. Her collarless state and the condition of her coat suggest she was abandoned or mistreated but has somehow managed to survive remarkably well.