Pop star Miley Cyrus recently found a new “Mate” thanks to Lexington couple Lewie and Beryl Phillips. Mate, named after Cyrus’ Australian boyfriend, is her new, white German Shepherd she bought from the Phillipses, who bred the dog. The couple has been breeding German Shepherds for the past four years.

The Phillipses first made contact with the Cyrus family about a year and a half ago. Beryl noted Miley’s dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, had a German shepherd of his own and suggested that Lewie should e-mail the family and ask them if they were in the market for another dog. “I saw a picture of Billy Ray with his best friend, companion German shepherd,” Beryl said. “So I came home and told Lewie he should e-mail Billy Ray Cyrus and say if you are ever in the market you should take a look at our Web site.”

As much as a shot in the dark scenario as this was, Lewie followed through, e-mailed Cyrus through a fan Web site and then received a call from his wife, Tish. “She called and said, ‘I love your dogs,’” Lewie said. “She went on and said how she would love to have one at some point. And so we occasionally e-mailed, and when we had a litter the first of November I e-mailed her and told her we had some pictures online and if she was interested to let me know.”

In that particular litter was one white puppy, in whom Tish Cyrus became interested. “She asked tons of questions about it,” Lewie said. “She decided she wanted to give that one to Miley.” So after a couple of failed attempts between the Phillipses and the Cyruses to meet, Lewie and his 13-year-old daughter, Ashley, met Miley backstage at a show she performed in Charlotte in November. “Ashley held up a picture of the puppy, and Miley went, ‘Ahh, you are the dog people!’” Lewie said. At that point, he said the dog was still too young to be separated from the mother.

“Miley told us she wasn’t going to be on the East Coast anytime soon, but that Billy Ray’s bringing his tour bus from Nashville, could he (the dog) ride on the bus. Well that didn’t work out. So we’re e-mailing back and forth, and she e-mailed and said, ‘Would you be interested in coming out to a taping of the show (‘Hannah Montana’) and bring the dog with you?’ And I said, ‘Sure, why not?’”

Finally, in January the family went to Los Angeles and delivered Mate to the Cyruses’ house.

The delivery of the dog was actually a surprise for Miley. “She knew she was getting one, she just didn’t know when,” Lewie said. Miley, who was sleeping when the Phillipses arrived, was genuinely surprised when Mate awoke her after he was placed on the couch she was sleeping on. She wasted no time expressing her excitement and posted her thoughts on her official blog about Mate’s arrival.

“Had an awesome day! Slept in until my new puppy Mate woke me up with kisses @ 10:30,” she wrote. The delivery of the dog was just the beginning of the next couple of days for the Phillipses, who received a chance to view a private taping of “Hannah Montana.” “We watched the taping, got to hang out in the dressing room with Miley and her mom,” Lewie said.

Ashley Phillips missed school because of the trip, but Miley helped out by providing a hand-written note about the reason. “She (Miley) takes her script, plops it down and said, ‘Sure I can (write a note),’” Lewie said. “She wrote a note saying sorry she had to take Ashley away from school to deliver a puppy to California and signs it Miley Cyrus.”

“I was just tickled,” said Lewie about the whole experience. “It’s not what I expected. I was surprised by how nice they were, just like talking to your next-door neighbor.”