Dixie's son Razzle on the left and Dixie on the right

Dixie Dog

11.7.11

DIXIE

Today is Dixie’s last day on earth and it is a very sad day. I keep going through all of Dixie’s stories in my mind and my heart breaks more and more with every story. When Kyle and I were working on a project in Dunsmuir, CA, we were on the second story and there was only an extension ladder going from the first floor to the second floor. We were pulling wire for a few hours and all of a sudden we see Dixie’s head poke up through the floor hatch. She had climbed the extension ladder, by herself, but she just couldn’t make the transition from the ladder to the second floor. On that same trip we crossed a very strong river and we all had walking sticks to get us across and Dixie swam across all by herself. She is super dog!

A few years back we couldn’t find a dog friendly hotel in Vegas so we snuck our 60lb puppy in through the main lobby in a duffel bag, she never said a word. We had to sneak her back and forth to walk her and she stayed incognito. There were a few months that Kyle and I did some urban camping and we lived in the back of our Toyota pick-up truck, Dixie never thought twice about it, she made it fun. She always rode between us on the bench seat of our tiny truck with her head in Kyle’s lap. She never had to ride in the back of any of our trucks until we had a baby.

Dixie has been with Kyle longer than I have. He got her sometime between our first round of dating and when we started dating seriously. She’s been around longer than Precision Air Systems, our company. She’s where everything good started. I remember Kyle would pick me up for a date and Dixie was always sitting shot gun. Kyle never left her home. I don’t know how it started but when Kyle worked long days he would pick up a fast food lunch and stop at 7-11 and get Dixie pink milk (Nestle’s strawberry milk) and beef jerky to hold her over til dinner. I never judged whether this mix was good for her, who was I to butt in? She loved it. She hasn’t had it in years, since I got in the picture all she gets is boring old dog food and occasional treats. Tonight she will get all the pink milk and beef jerky she wants.

We will take a very slow walk around the block and hug and snuggle til it’s time to go. I fell in love with Dixie years ago and I will always miss her. She’s taught me so much about life and I always wish I was more like her. I wish I didn’t get embarrassed when I did something silly, I wish I didn’t get mad when I was left out or left home, I wish I didn’t hold a grudge, I wish I was just like Dixie.

I laugh about it sometimes but she taught me about being pregnant and having babies. There have been so many times that I have said, “oh ya, that’s just like Dixie.” When Dixie got pregnant she ran 1-3 miles every day until the day she gave birth. When I got pregnant I did the same thing because I saw how easy her delivery was because she was in amazingly good shape. I wish I would have thought to feel her belly and all the puppies kicking, I totally feel like I missed out on that. When she had the puppies she was such a good mama, everything she did was just like the book said she should do it. We tied the umbilical cords of all the puppies and when Ariah was born Kyle got to cut her cord, just like with Dixie. A few months after Dixie had her puppies she lost a ton of hair and after having Ariah I did too. Thank you Dixie for going through everything first and teaching me about it before your little sister was born.

Thank you Dixie for teaching me to be a better person. For teaching me to love. For teaching me how to be a friend, a best friend. Thank you for having 7 of the best puppies in the world. Thank you for always taking care of Kyle and always taking care of me. Thank you, Dixie, for guarding the house when you became a stay at home mom.

You are the best dog in the world and I will never forget you. When you get to doggie heaven Dandelion will be waiting for you. I love you.