Dixie Has Fun With Glowria. In The Pool.

Things are getting back to normal. Took a while to get the pool back in order what with all the canal washover, but I did. Might as well tell you about this incident which happened a while back. I'd vacuumed the pool and had the chemistry somewhat in order and Dixie wanted to jump in. I secured her pool noodle/poodle noodle on her hindquarters and she excitedly launched in. Immediately, I could tell something was wrong. She sort of slowly listed over on her left side and was obviously in some sort of distress. I yelled for help upstairs and thankfully Daughter Hawthorne was the only cognizant 2-legged creature upstairs who came down to help me. We got Dixie out of the pool and she was unable to stand. Her back legs were quivering sticks and she was standing in a "low pee" position, although not urinating. Always a plus. I was holding her body and talking to her and crying and Daughter Hawthorne was there. I thought my Dixie was stroking and dying. I don't remember how long I held Dixie and I don't remember how Daughter Hawthorne and I got her up the steps from the pool to upstairs. Somehow, we got her inside and I got her blankie. Then, for some reason, she wanted to go from our first floor kitchen/living room upstairs to the bedrooms. She's never done that. Giada and Daughter Hawthorne and her friend, Ash, were upstairs. DH and I helped her up the steps, basically holding her rear end, and I fixed a nice bathroom mat and warm towel for her. She lied down there and seemed comfortable, so I ran downstairs to leave a tearful and urgent message on my vet's answering machine. On Thursday evening. Rosie was frantic. About an hour later, a garden friend came in, Dixie, still upstairs, heard who it was, and immediately ran downstairs to greet her friend. Jumping like a young colt. The next morning, I got the callback from my vet and explained that everything seemed OK. Was told it sounded like a "pinched nerve." So after all that Weather Channel HYPE, let me show you pictures of my baby Dixie, once again enjoying the pool and having a wonderful and happy time.

This is TODAY!

Dixie is ecstatic to be in the pool again. She's missed it so. She has a smile on her face and she has her Flying Nun Ears. And she loves her noodle! It allows her to take leisurely laps around the pool and enjoy her swimming once again, instead of fighting to get to the shallow end where she could touch bottom and be safe.

Glow came over to swim with Dixie today and fun was had by all.

Dixie's noodle has given her such confidence and comfort.

She's a happy swimmer now. Not a struggling, vertical one. She's horizontal once again.

After about a four hour nap, Dixie woke up and played with one of the rolled-up bones she hates. She's a puppy again!

Dixie's Noodle. Glowria And Dixie Frolic Once Again.

In Dixie's golden years, I have found she needs a little boost when it comes to doing what she loves most. She most loves jumping into and swimming in the pool. Alas, her loss of muscle tone in her back legs has hindered her enjoyment of the pool. This summer, she swam vertically. As in not horizontally. Close your eyes and visualize it. If you have an elder dog that loves nothing more in life than swimming, then this is an upsetting and unsettling problem. I found a solution. My friend, Glowria, a runner with Team In Training, suffered a knee injury some time back. Her doctor suggested running in a pool. So Glowria showed up at my pool with pool noodles. And I figgered out how to help Dixie. SEE HERE. I copped one of Glowria's noodles. Pink. For Dixie.

Mr. Hawthorne fashioned a pink noodle for Dixie's hindquarters. He measured the noodle ...

... cut the noodle, and inserted a cord into the hollow core.

Be sure you have a kitty to play with the excess cord.

This is Dogwood. Daughter Hawthorne's kitty.

Drawstring it up.

And you have a PoodleNoodle.

Dixie donned the noodle and is very comfortable with it.

Yeah. I know I need to vacuum.

Dixie really wants to try the noodle out. Fast forward a couple of days. To today.

Thanks, Glow, for coming to the pool today. Dixie really looks forward to your visits. Today, with the confidence from your noodle, Dixie was a young pup swimming around again in the pool. Good times. Thanks, Glowria.

Dixie Has Fun In The Pool.

This post is especially for Dogmama, who is concerned about my DixieDog. Dixie's doing well these days, Dogmama. I haven't yet received the joint support supplements I ordered from MyVitanet.com. I hope that makes a difference.

Compare Dixie in this picture ...

... with Dixie in this picture.

Now compare Dixie in this picture ...

... with Dixie in this picture. She never varies from jump to jump. Not a waiver.

This is Dixie chillin'. She's in the shallow end and likes to hang.

Time to move again.

Impact!

Dixie likes bubbles.

Ready? 1-2-3-JUMP!

Dixie likes to wipe off in the grape vines.

I didn't even plant those grapes. A little bird or a flooding did.

I love the extra splash in this video. She does that a lot.

Dixie Has Wonderful Fun In the Pool.

Video of Dixie playing in the pool.

Flying Nun Ears.

Dixie Having Fun.

I decided to take time out Friday after cutting the grass to have some special time with Dixie.

She loves her pool.

I made sure Dixie had a lot of one-on-one time with me in the pool since I knew what was coming.

Maybe I should have sent the Hawthornelets to Hawaii for school.

Dixie Plays In The Pool.

Sweet Dixie. She's loving her pool.

I think she thinks the last 3 months were just one long very bad dream. You know what? She blamed all those dogs on me. Ever since they showed up in May, she has withheld affection from me and has slept downstairs for the past three months. The first day they were gone, she was right back in my bed and has been ever since.

Dixie In The Pool.

Now that I've posted about all the puppies having fun I wanted to assure you that Dixie is not being left out. I know some of you worry about her being ignored in the Hawthorne Household what with all the puppies invading her space. The other day, it wasn't too hot so I actually relaxed out by the pool and did my crosswords while Dixie played.

And played.

And played.

Dixie had a wonderful time doing the same thing over ...

... and over.

and over.

She enjoyed our special time together ...

... which was made even more special ...

... because there were NO PUPPIES anywhere.

Dixie has a good life.

Hope you enjoyed Dixie's fun. And don't worry. Good food is coming.

Happy Birthday, Dixie!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DIXIE!!!!!! Mama loves you.

In honor of Dixie's 11th birthday, I present to you pictures and videos of the Dixie I love.

Dixie is always very feminine - in her posture, her mien, her composure. Here she sits at water's edge, wrists delicately, gentilely, demurely crossed, with nails done by Daughter Hawthorne. And just to let you know, I've had hate comments before when I posted about Dixie's nails. I'll have to go back and find them. The hate comments, not the nails.

Dixie floved this float.

She loves to lie on the top step when resting.

What a regal, handsome animal.

Pure happiness. I think this is my favorite picture of Dixie.

Whenever she jumps into the pool, she twists around and hits the water on her back and throws her head back to make a big splash.

This is great fun.

After frolicking thusly, she heads to the shallow end to chill and hang out, and be, like, weightless. Cool.

Dixie loves to cruise about, picking up any debris she may find.

She's waiting for my 1-2-3 JUMP! She always waits for me to come and watch. I can be out in the garden weeding, or out cutting the grass, and Dixie barks to me. "Come watch. Come watch!" And I stop my weeding or mowing, and walk back to the pool, get within her sight, and tell Dixie, "OK. I'm here. Ready? 1, 2, 3 Jum ....." She wants me to be there to watch her.

Dixie likes to clean up the pool while she swims her laps. She always picks up any errant branches, stems, leaves ... whatever she finds in the pool. Watch closely at the end here. Dixie has brought me the leaf she picked out of the pool and she drops it before me.

Dixie likee splashee.

Happy Birthday, Dixie!

What Does Rosie Not Need? If You Answered Another Dog, You'd Be Correct.

What's the last thing Rosie needs? If you guessed another dog, you would be correct. Don't get me wrong. I love all my dogs, but sometimes it gets to be a little much. You remember Buster? He's Good Neighbor Bobby's dog next door and Buster and Dixie have always been good friends. Bobby came over last night since he'd run out of booze and he knows I keep a bottle of Canadian Mist just for him. And he brought Buster. Whoot! Junior had great fun. He'd finally found somebody his own size to play with!

As you know,Dixie floves her pool. During the summer time, she stands at the back slider and just waits for one of us to take her out. When I go to work in the garden, Dixie runs to the deep end of the pool, where she's been instructed to go, and barks for me to come and count 1-2-3-Jump and watch her jump in. Lately, I've left out the 1-2-3. She's like a child. She's wants her Mama to watch her jump in. And she has this thing she does when she jumps in. She hits the water, then twists around on her back, then splashes. She loves her splashes. This next video shows Dixie helping me clean the pool. Daggone willow trees. And the rest of the videos show Dixie doing what Dixie loves most.

Dixie Has Fun In The Pool While Rosie Works In The Garden.

While I was working in the garden,

Dixie was having a good time in the pool. Then she had some more fun in the pool. And she continued to have fun in the pool. Dixie loves swimming in the pool. The whole time this is going on, I'm tilling my garden, which is really simple now, since I bought my Honda tiller. And to think for the past 20+ years, I did this all by hand. Now, I'm tilling, listening for Dixie call for me. She wants me to come watch her and tell her it's OK to jump in the pool. And I'm happy to do this for her.

It's A Dog's Life.

This is what Dixie does. ALL.DAY.LONG.