Goodbye Dixie

Colter saying goodbye to Dixie.

Wednesday was a very sad night for us. We had to say goodbye to our sweet Dixie. I don't really know where to start with everything, so I'll just pick up where I left off on my last post when Dixie was sick. Last week on Mon, Tues, & Wed she was doing okay. She was still not eating and in pain, but she seemed like for the first time she was making a little bit of progress. I started to think, maybe she really could get better from these meds and everything will be great. Wednesday, right before Jeff got home from work, she had urinated blood on the floor. We called the vet and they said to bring her in b/c that was not a side effect from her medicine. After she urinated, she was doing horribly. She was going down hill really fast. We pretty much knew this was it for her and that we would be taking her to the vet to put her down. We told the kids that we are taking Dixie to the doctor, but if we can't get her better, she is going up to heaven tonight. The kids were really sweet and gave her hugs and kisses. They didn't cry...they seemed okay. Right before Jeff left to take Dixie, Colter asked, "Dad, can we say a prayer together before you leave." Of course we did that. After they left, Colter said he was sad that Dixie might die. I told him I am sad too and I started to cry. He told me, "Mom, it's going to be okay if she dies. I am going to be here and I am going to be with you for a long, long time." That really did make me feel better. He was right, it was going be okay. Even though we would be losing our dog, at least I have my husband and kids. I left after Jeff to take the kids to Grandma & Grandpa Talley's so I could meet Jeff at the vet. When I got to the Talley's they told me they'd talked to Jeff and we were going to be putting her down. I got to the vet's and Jeff & Dixie were in a room. Dixie was on a blanket laying down, and for the first time in 2 weeks she looked so peaceful. We sat with her and cuddled with her for a while. We just kept telling each other we can't believe we're actually doing this. Jeff had told me that the vet did a quick check and just said, this is not looking good and that she should be getting better by now. He said it could be something else other than the disk like something neurological or a number of different things. The vet completely agreed that it was time to put her down. It made me feel better to know that we were definitely making the right decision. A dog shouldn't have to go through that much pain for that long. I was in some ways relieved that she wouldn't be in pain anymore, but so so sad that she wasn't going to be with us anymore. Before we put her down, we talked about what an amazing dog she was and how happy and energetic she used to be. We couldn't believe that only a couple weeks ago she was healthy, happy, and full of energy. We knew this day would come sometime, but were not ready nor prepared to put her down at only age 6. I also hated that she had to spend her last week of life living how she did. I wish she had one more day to run around and play with the kids b/c she loved doing that. The time came when we had to say goodbye. We watched the whole procedure b/c we didn't want her to have to be alone. It was really sad, but we were okay. We knew we were doing what we had to do.

We went back to the Talley's to pick up the kids. We talked about how much we were going to miss Dixie. We told the kids and they seemed to be okay. As I put Colter to bed that night he broke down crying. He said he wants his Boxer dog back. I told him I understood and I wanted the same thing. I told him maybe someday we could get another dog. He said he only wanted Dixie and he wants her back. We let him stay up for a little bit and he just bawled on my shoulder. It broke my heart. I knew it had finally hit him and he was completely heartbroken. Dixie has been there since Colter was born...he has never know our family without Dixie. Dixie had been a best friend to Colter. Jeff and I talked about how bummed we were that we lost such an amazing dog. She was the friendliest dog I know. Our kids or any other kids could do anything to her and it never would seem to bother her. I NEVER have worried about her hurting the kids even as babies. She would be running full speed and if a kid would come in her way she always was able to miss them. Sydney and Dixie developed a close bond this past year. She always wanted to feed Dixie and let her out of her crate and hold her leash. Sydney was so sweet and so concerned when Dixie was sick. She would sit by her crate and pet her head and tell her that she loved her. Dixie was full of energy. She would run and flip and chase. The kids had so much fun with her. She was great with other dogs and people. She was very obedient and very affectionate.

Jeff was definitely the person Dixie was closest to and looked up to. Jeff is one of the best dog owners I know. He took Dixie on runs or walks every day, he greeted her every time he came home, he cuddled with her, he took her to the dog park. I really don't think I've seen a dog & their owner so close. It breaks my heart to know Jeff won't have her around. I was definitely the more emotional one, but I know he's probably hurting the most. Some of our best memories with Dixie were camping. She's been on almost every camping trip with us since we've been married. We loved talking her camping. She had so much fun during the day running around and being free and then at night she was worn out and would lay by the fire with us. I'm really going to miss that. I'm also going to miss her eating crumbs and food off the floor that the kids drop. I guess I might have to start sweeping now. haha.

Dixie has been through so much with us. She was there when we took home both of our kids from the hospital, she has moved to a new house with us, and been there when we've been sick. Jeff & I got Dixie 7 months after we got married. We weren't planning on it, but one day we went to look at puppies just for fun at a breeder's house. There were 2 female dogs there and we just fell in love with Dixie. She was so so cute and she was so sweet and angelic. She was a lot of work at the beginning, but we are so happy we got her b/c she has brought a lot of happiness and fun times to our family.

Since all of this has happened, we have actually been pretty good. We really miss you and it feels weird without her, but we know we are going to be okay. I was watching old video of the kids the other night and most of the videos had Dixie walking or playing in the background. I hope our kids remember how sweet and special she was. We have amazing family and friends who have been so caring and sympathetic towards us. It has made us feel really good to know so many people care. I know this post is really long and I maybe have been a little dramatic, but this post and last are probably the only posts I will do on Dixie and I wanted to record all the things we remember about her. I found a bunch of pictures I liked of her and here are some of them. We really miss Dixie and we are so grateful for the happiness she brought into our family. We loved everything about this sweet dog and we are so glad she doesn't have to suffer anymore.

I dug up some pictures I had before we got our digital camera. Here are some of her as a puppy. She was the cutest puppy ever.

This is with Shelly and Buddy camping before Buddy got giant.

Dixie's first play date with my parent's dog Roxy. Roxy was jealous of Dixie and was really annoyed.

Dixie's first play date with Jeff's parent's dog, Sparky. I love this picture...they look so cute together.

This is before we had kids on one of our day camping trips.

Camping.

I wish I could cuddle with her like this again. This is before we had kids.

This is when it snowed in Scottsdale several years ago. Dixie had a blast.

She liked watching the dog shows with Jeff.

Sydney loved Dixie right off. She loved to play with her tag.

Colter's 3rd birthday.

Grandpa & Grandma Talley's backyard. Playing with the hose

Colter when he was only a couple days old.

The day after Dixie died, we received a package with this cute little stuffed animal boxer dog in it. Jeff's sister Emryn had sent in from NM. I cried when I saw it and just wanted to hold it, but Sydney didn't let me do that b/c she wanted to hold it and has been pretty much holding it every since. She calls it Dixie and tells people she's sick. She gives it kisses and sleeps with it. It is so sweet. Thank you Emryn and Nate, we love it.

Here are a few videos I found showing how energetic she used to be.