This is how Dixie came to us.
We have had at least one dog in our household pretty much all of my life. We raised a Sibe – coyote?? mix, an all white blue- eyed girl named River, for close to 17 years now, and the thought of not having a dog around when she was ready to go was something I didn’t want to deal with. So I started looking on petfinder.com for our next companion. Since River was a mixed Sibe we decided that a Sibe was what we wanted, and thought we understood the breed. I researched and frequently checked petfinder for several months until one showed up that was close enough to home that we could go check her out. We went to the shelter and saw Dixie for the first time. She was much larger than we thought ~ 50lbs and I worried that my wife may not be able to handle her. She had lots of energy but seemed somewhat trained and understood sit and did ok on the leash. She was so beautiful and connected with Kimberly right away and we just couldn’t see her go back into the kennel, so we brought her home.
She met River and River accepted her into her house.. Dixie is very vocal compared to River and stole our hearts as she entered our lives. The first weekend was the big test as we were going camping at the coast. With all the gear in the Jeep we expected Dixie to stay in the back and enjoy the ride like River always did. That was a mistake! Kimberly was going to pick me up at work on our way to the coast, when she arrived she was in tears. I had no idea what had happened, but she did not think Dixie was going to work out. I have now learned with Dixie it isn’t about training her, it is about training us on how to coexist with her. She would not stay in the back and wanted to be in Kim’s lap while she was driving. Not only that but she was yipeing and howling the whole 30 minute drive to where I work. Once I leashed her in the back she finally settled down for the 2 hour drive to the coast. Once we arrived to the campsite I took Dixie out and was not paying attention and the leash slipped out of my hand. She looked once at me like “ Really, you think I’m going to just sit here, See ya later dude” and she was off. I thought, great, two days and I already lost her. Fortunately the leash was a long one and after running through every campsite I glimpsed her heading for the coast, someone saw my dilemma and stepped on the leash and was able to stop her.
At this point Kim told me she was my dog and really wasn’t sure she wanted a dog that had to be on a leash at all times. Back at home all was fine, Dixie was content in the house and I had dog doors so she could go out to back yard when she needed to. I installed an invisible fence to reinforce the brick and wood fence that we have in the back yard. This has actually been very effective. She has escaped several times through the garage door as we pull the car in. We have met more neighbors this way.
Since Dixie loves to run I decided to invest in a skijoring kit with harness and lines.. I decided to walk her to the park as she pulled a sled with a 20ft rope leading her, once at the park, she was coming to my calls, so I thought, I don’t need the rope. She still had the sled and harness on so I thought if she took off I could easily catch her. Ya right, again that look and “See ya Later Dude” She was off, dragging the sled down the street I could just see my neighbors laughing at me as I was chasing her. Again a nice neighbor was able to stop her. Next it was the carpet cleaner who let her out the front door, fortunately he felt guilty and was able to find her down the street. I was able to take her up in the mountains with the family a couple of times and she took to skijoring like well she was bred for it. The snow wasn’t so good for awhile so I have been bikejoring with her now. She just loves it. Once we understood that she just needs to run and make sure she gets at least 2 walks a day and a visit to the dog park at least once a week she has been such a delight in our lives. We have gone close to a month without an escape and I have now been able to let her off the leash at the end of our walks and she walks beside me and always looks up at me for approval before she runs to the front door and waits to get into her new loving home.
Aww Dixie is gorgeous. I am not a new dog parent, but a year and a half ago became a husky parent. What a new adventure. I have to laugh at all the escapes. I’m debating on either having the fence come out to shore up the fence line with stakes down into the ground or go electric as the backup to the chainlink. And boy they need to go play and run. I have Adelaide in daycare twice a week and by Monday night, which is day 4 of no daycare, I can tell. But got to love them. Welcome to the group to you and Dixie.
Karma, Adelaide and the crew, and our forever angel Brendol
(if you want to check Addy out, her blog is http://adelaide.tripawds.com)
Addy, looks to be doing just fine:-) I am a little worried about Dixie’s weight, hopefully we can get her a little slimmer. She has been on a diet since she was up to 90lbs at one point, she is down to 76 lbs now but still could loose some more. She has also mellowed quite a bit in the last few years, we can even walk her off lead now and she won’t bolt. The last time she bolted was when we had a little snow and she got so excited she was running around like crazy at the park and just decided to romp the neighborhood too. Fortunately we have good neighbors that will contain her until I can come pick her up. She will walk into any house or garage that has their door open and make herself at home. Our two year old still bolts any chance he gets, am hoping he will mellow also in a few years.
Whew!! I think I need a nap after reading about all of Dixie’s running adventures!! You obviously have an active girl on your hands 🙂 Sorry to hear about Dixie’s diagnosis, but it sounds like you guys have a plan and a doctor you are comfortable with and trust. That is huge! Will be thinking about your girl’s upcoming surgery and sending positive thoughts her way! You have come to the right place for advice, venting, or whatever you want to talk about; it’s all here! Please update on Dixie when you have time, and don’t forget to go to the forums with questions. Everyone has been where you, your wife and Dixie are about to go. Please keep us updated on your gorgeous girl!
Thanks and we will keep all updated, I think this is good for me to be able to release some of the fear and doubts that we are going through. I have told myself that I will not show images of her incisions after the operation mainly because non tripwad viewers may only see it as negative. I would rather show the positives as we go forward.
Dixie has the most amazing eyes! And she is extremely photogenic. High energy and high intelligence often equals high independence too!
Yes she is a stubborn dog and rules the house, hopefully her younger brother won’t give her too much hassle during the ordeal. He usually doesn’t mess with her too much and avoids her unless she instigates playing.
She is sooooooo beautiful!!! And what a handful!!!
I had the privilege of being “owned” by a Husky for twelve years! Smart and playful and lovely companion!!
Your pup is living a full and adventurous life….and that’s QUALITY!! River…seventeen years?? Wow!! That’s QUALITY!!!
Stay connected…we all understand the intensity of this journey…scary and emotionally draining!
Remember, Daisy isn’t worried about a thing! Blissfully unaware!! Daisy clearly has a lot of spunk and will do just fine!!! Once recovery takes place you’ll have a hard time making her take things slowly at first!!
Keep these great pictures coming! Love this dog!!!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle too!