Happy birthday, Dixie!

Fourteen years ago, on December 30th, 1998, in Savannah, my dog Dixie, a West Highland White Terrier, was born.  My parents brought her home on February 26th, 1999, and since that day our lives have been so much better.

As a puppy, Dixie was so full of energy, and since my sister and I were seven and nine at the time, respectively, it was great for us.  We'd run outside with her and kick the soccer ball around and she'd chase it all over the yard, sometimes stopping to chase after one of the squirrels who dared to come into our yard.  She would play with her tennis ball every night.  Sometimes if it was cold and she was extra frisky, we'd chase Dixie around the whole downstairs and she'd sprint all around the room trying to run away from us.

Since she's our only pet, other than a couple of fish here and there, Dixie gets a little bit defensive of the house sometimes.  If she sees other animals on TV, she'll bark at them and jump up on the TV and then immediately want to go outside because apparently she thinks that's where the TV is.  God forbid someone walk their dog in the street past our house when she's looking out the front window- she'll bark like it's the worst thing in the world!

Seven years ago, though, Dixie started slowing down.  She didn't want to play as much, she was throwing up a lot, she wasn't eating.  She was really sad and we didn't know what was wrong with her.  So we took her to the vet and they had to do surgery on her to figure out what was wrong.  That day at school I was a nervous wreck all day, just hoping that the outcome was good.  Luckily for us, it was.  Dixie's pancreas had somehow disappeared so she was having trouble digesting her food properly.  We've been putting pancreatic enzymes on her meals every single day since then and she's been just fine.

Of course, now that she's fourteen years old, she has just generally slowed down, but that's to be expected from a senior citizen!  She only really wants to play after her meals or her snack and then it's just with the soft toys that don't hurt her teeth as much.  She sleeps a lot and tires out after just a little while at the park.  She doesn't chase after the squirrels or rabbits anymore, and even if she did there's no way she could catch them.

The good news though is that Dixie is still very healthy, according to the vet.  We met a man at the park today who told us that he had a Westie who lived to be 23 years old, so hopefully Dixie has plenty of years left with us still!  And even if she doesn't, the ones we've already had with her have been filled with love and happiness and cuteness and I wouldn't trade them for anything.