Merry Christmas & Happy New Year to All!

Trip up North to NY!

Last week, we traveled to Pleasant Valley, NY to visit Jim Sr for the weekend. We drove by way of Hagerstown, MD and continued the next day to NY. Dixie is a fantastic traveler. All he needs is the necessary walks and when we stay in a hotel, he is on his best behavior. He likes to check out the bath tub and if there is more than one bed, he does jump from one to the other. He doesn't bark and sleeps thru the night, the same as he does at home! While we were there, he visited his cousin in Hyde Park. What a fun pair. Katy had never had a canine visitor before and I think it was instant bliss! Dixie managed to escape at Jim's house and run rampant thru the neighborhood, back and forth across the road, much to my dismay! I finally captured him by trespassing at the neighbor's house and letting him inside her fenced area, where I was able to grab him! If ever a dog can run fast, Dixie is the Dog! Dixie loves to ride in the car. Here he is serving as Robert's co-pilot on the way down 29 in VA. We had a nice visit, played in the snow, saw Suzanne and Paul and Jane and Heather and Scott and the kids, as well as other friends along the way.

Summer Fun

Well, the summer heat finally motivated my mom to get out the clippers and give me a trim, so that I look very handsome and I am not so steamy hot when I am outdoors! Even though we do our long walk before the sun rises, trips outdoors for necessary stuff, bring on the desire for shorter hair and dips in my backyard pool! I miss my buddy, Paddy, but he will return to town in about 6 weeks, I think! Maybe we will have some playtime as the weather cools.

Run, Run, Run......

Well, today was an exciting time! Dixie ran out the front door of the house! We had moved an exercise bike out to the garage and had forgotten the door was wide open. Dixie, who was on a length of wire, was maurauding in my flower garden when we were disassembling the bike to put it away, so I opened the door to the kitchen and put him inside. When I went in the house after the bike was dismantled and put up, I realized the front door was open and Dixie was gone! As I realized that, I heard him barking. I ran out the back of the garage calling him and heard a reply from my neighbor, two doors up, "he's up here". Of course he responded to his name and made a wide run around me, on the golf course, then went back to menace the neighbor. I opened the gate to their pool and he followed me inside, where I was finally able to capture him! I thanked my neighbor and took him home, put him in his wading pool to cool down and took him in the house! Whenever he gets loose, which is not often, it is a devil of a time getting him back. He is very smart and knows commands, but pays no attention to his name when he's running about the golf course out back! I am grateful to have him safe and I don't want to lose him, but I fear he sees me as his jailer when I call him to return! He gets plenty of walking time and play time, but this little adventure is the icing on his cake!

Dixie and his agility pal, Paddy...

Dixie had a great time doing a little agility with his canine friend, Paddy. Paddy has an agility course set up in his fully fenced in garden and to Dixie's delight, they were able to run free in the yard and pass thru the tunnels, go thru the weave poles, jump the hurdles and jump thru the tire! Dixie has no formal training at agility, so I was really surprised when he was able to be motivated by a mere kibble in front of his nose! Paddy has traveled to his home in the north for the summer and will return in September, so we will be looking forward to his return! Dixie celebrated his 3rd birthday on May 12! He is our own personal "lassie", keeping us company and watching over us every day.

I wanted to share the sunrise which greeted us in Ft. Lauderdale, when we returned from a recent Caribbean Cruise! Feb 2009

Apre' Soccer in the Snow!

So, what do you do after playing in the snow? Clean up and head for the family room to curl up in your favorite chair and watch Cesar Millan on the tv!

JRT Dixie plays Soccer in the SNOW!

We had our annual snowstorm here in SP, NC in late January and Dixie was so happy to play soccer in the snow. Dixie is an avid soccer player both inside the house and out! It is difficult to get the ball past this JRT goalie! And, you never play soccer without a tennis ball in your mouth! Dixie loved the snow but I worried about his little feet freezing in the teen temps! Over on the golf course all the kids were using the snow for an exciting couple of days of sledding. They are so happy to have an opportunity to play in SNOW!