meet dix-d...

the newest member of our family.



Ever since Ruby's frightening encounter with Rocky - the dog who attacked her face - she has been pretty leery of any and all dogs. But really, who can blame her? John and I have been concerned, though, that this incident (which happened nearly 9 months ago) may have caused permanent damage to her little psyche. It breaks our hearts to think that our sweet little girl could go through the rest of her life being terrified of dogs...especially because we both love them so much; and have always hoped that our children would feel the same towards - for the most part - such a lovable species.
About three months ago, my sister-in-law, Julie, got a purebred Yorkie puppy for her kids. I took Ruby over that very day, and her first words upon seeing him were, "oh, look, cute kitty cat!"...i guess because he was so tiny, she thought he was a little kitten. That was the first time since her accident that I had seen her get close to a dog, let alone pet him. She loved little Sparky, and when we were told that he had a brother for sale, we seriously considered buying him (for the sole purpose of helping Ruby overcome her fears). After much thoughtful consideration, we decided against making the purchase for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, was price...we definitely couldn't afford a purebred Yorkshire puppy. Secondly, we felt like it wouldn't be wise getting a puppy just days before we were headed to Utah to pick up our new baby boy. Simply put, the timing just wasn't right.
The very night we had decided against getting the pup, we were hanging out with our friends, Tim and Kate, a couple who had just recently moved here from England. Coincidentally, they were talking about how they wanted a Yorkie puppy really bad, and had spent the past few days pricing them out. We told them about Julie's friend, the dog breeder, and told them that there was actually one puppy left who was calling their name. They were so excited, and ended up buying the dog the very next day. Being that Tim is a professional soccer coach, and has a passion for all things soccer, they named the dog Dixie - after Dixie Dean, a legendary football (soccer) player in England.
Well, to make a long story short, after only being here a few short months our friends encountered a few bumps in the road, and ended up needing to return to Manchester. We asked them what they were going to do with Dixie, and they told us they would have to have to find a new home for him. So, I'm sure one can guess how this story ends...they give him to us, John and I are ecstatic, Ruby is thrilled, we change his name to Dix-d (because that's how Ruby says Dixie), and now we're a happy family of five...who all sleep in the same bed - (but that's another story for another day...)!