Gary and Hillary Macon got their dog Dixie from the Seattle Humane Society only recently. It was the day before Easter, "and we brought her home and she became sick on Easter and we had to bring her back to the Humane Society because she had Parvo (virus) and almost didn't make it. But they used a scope, did a surgery on her intestine and that saved her. She had lost quite a bit of weight but then she started eating and drinking and now she's back where she was."

"We re-adopted her after the hospital stay," said Gary.

Dixie is a minature Pinscher, "But there's some debate on exactly what she is. She's got a bit of terrier mix too."

She eats puppy food from Mud Bay but Hilliary said, "one of the things about her is that she doesn't drink water. But on one hot day she had a couple of licks." For treats she gets 'Lamb lung' treats.

The couple plan to take her to get trained but she had to wait until she could be around other dogs. While she is now immune to Parvo, she still had the potential to pass it on, but by now she is fine.

The only real issue for Dixie is a bit of separation anxiety. She came from a rescue mission in Yakima and the first day they drover her over she was at the Humane Society and we don't know much about her beginnings. We think someone bit her on the top of her head because she used to have a little bald spot.
But that could be why she's been skittish.

That anxiety has led to a more pronounced behavior though. "When we leave," said Gary, " during the day she barks and gets distressed but when we come home she does flying acrobatic leaps and wiggles."

"Sometimes she has 'accidents' and it goes spraying," said Hillary. "She will do a spin, we-weing the whole time kind of like a shower," said Gary. "That's one of the things we have to cure her of."

Quite athletic, "She runs to the door at full speed and can stop on a dime," said Hillary.

Dixie has a friend who is a Chihuahua Welsh Corgi mix, "but she needs practice with that too," Hillary explained. Other than that, Dixie likes human company and really likes going to visit Gary's dad who lives at Merrill Gardens on 35th SW.

They like to walk around the Hamilton Viewpoint and in their neighborhood and is drawn to birds. She's otherwise a very attentive guard dog, with a "louder bark than you would think," and pays close attention to everything going on. Dixie sleeps in a crate and and is pretty well house trained.

Dixie is slowly improving on all fronts and "every week she gets better going from being afraid of everything to being more adventurous."

They sum her up as, "She's full of life and a very intelligent dog. She's brought a lot of love into our household, "said Hillary. Gary concluded with, "She's a lot of angel, a little bit of devil and she's really added a lot to our lives in a short period of time. There's a little bit of stress involved but we're looking for the reward in the end."