Ode to Dixon!

As I have mentioned before, there is a member of this family that gets very little 'blog time!' Last night I watched Marley and Me. Haven't read the book, but LOVED the movie. I sat and cried like a baby, actually. That movie is a play-by-play of our life and our life with Dixon. It was almost like someone had videotaped us and then made a movie about it (up to this point in time, that is:) While watching I realized that we don't give Dixon nearly enough credit for what a great dog he really is. Sure, he is mostly a huge pain in the ass. He eats EVERYTHING and then pukes it up on my kitchen floor. He sheds...REALLY bad. He drives us crazy, following us everywhere, longing to be right next to us every minute of every day. He cries and whines when the wind blows too hard at 4am. But, mostly he's a great addition to the family! :)

Now, I am by NO means an animal person. I can actually think of maybe 2 other dogs that I even like, other than Dixon, but when we got married, I moved all the way here, I was lonely, I wanted a dog! Rewind to Feb. 2005. I beg and plead with Scott. 'Let's just go look at them, come on, we don't have to buy one, blah blah blah!' Well, as you can guess we came home with a puppy that night. Not just any puppy...DIXON! The one puppy that wasn't jumping and yapping for our attention. He was just a fat little blob that sat there calmly while we met all the puppies. Scott even bargained with the breeder and we got him for $50 cheaper than what she was asking for them. He was bargain dog! haha! We decided on Dixon (thanks to my brother in law) because that is the name of Scott's home town, so Dixon it was!

His first night home with us!

When he ate his first leash we should have known we were in for it, but wasn't it SO cute at the time!? ha!

When we got Dixon I had just quit my job and had a few weeks before I started my new job, so I got to stay home with him, Scott still teases me about my maternity leave for Dixon. But, it sort of was. I sat my alarm and got up every 3 hrs. with him to let him out to pee, to make sure he wasn't scared to make sure he had food and water. To his credit, the night we brought him home, he went to the patio door when he needed to go pee and in the almost 5 yrs. we have had him, I can only think of a few times that he had an accident in the house. Of course, one of those times left permanent stains in our old carpet, but hey...we don't live there anymore, right!? haha!

Around 12 weeks we started training classes with him. Ugh, he was SUCH a jerk. ha! He went to the bathroom EVERY class, tried to wrestle the other dogs, only listened when it involved seeing which dog was the fastest, etc. But, somehow he managed to graduate and to this day he is the fastest sit and down in town! haha!

I mean, really....look how sweet he is!? It's hard NOT to love this dog!........

Unless you wake up to THIS in the morning! DIXON!
But, he is always quick to apologize and beg forgiveness!

And, he has the will power of a saint! Look at that!! What a good boy! (never mind the fact that we had to remove whole sandwiches from his throat probably 10min. before this picture was taken! haha!)

When I was about 5mo. pregnant (oh, by the way...we found out I was pregnant about 4 weeks after we got him....little did we know how UN-lonely our lives were about to become! haha!). Anyways, when I was about 5mo. pregnant I went ahead and stopped working, since I knew I wouldn't be back once Abby was born, and I tagged along with Scott while he went to work in Tampa for 3mo. I could only stay 6 weeks, but that means we had to leave Dixon with Mom and Dad! I cried like a fool when we dropped him off. Oh, now there are days that I would happily give him to any stranger walking down the street! ha! (okay, I don't REALLY mean that, but some days I am tempted!)

Preparing for Abby! He wasn't phased one bit!

That summer we planted trees in our yard...Dixon got bored one day and took care of that idea!

A few days before Abby was born, getting groomed to meet his new little sister! ha!

And, when Abby came along Dixon's life changed forever! Those first few months it's a wonder we even remembered to feed the poor dog. Here he is being ignored during Christmas dinner. I am sure he was LESS than thrilled that his bed was the spot where all the boxes were piled! ha!

Oh, but don't worry, he managed to get a Christmas pie!

His first snow!
And, no...there is NOT something wrong with the camera....he's GREEN! Don't ask! *sigh*

Fast best buddies!

Poor Dixon...he had to ride all the way home like this after we had a birthday party for Abby at home. He didn't care, though, he was just excited to be a part of it all! :)

Dixon and Timmie have always been buddies! :)

And, now he has another little girl to love him! And, does she ever! :)

Scott is making fun of me right now for this post, but I don't care. I think we can all learn a lesson from a dog like Dixon. His biggest fault is longing to be with us and driving us crazy begging for attention, but if we were all a little more like Dixon, think how great this world would be: he's loyal, loving and has unwavering patience and dedication to his loved ones. What more can you ask for. We joke that Dixon will be one of those dogs that live to be 25, but at only (almost) 5, he is already aging! :( I know that when he passes, it will be the girls first taste of heart break, but until then, I am going to make an effort to show him a little more love and respect each day!! Thank you, Dixon! We love you....even though you are a pain in the ass! :)