About Dixie:
Dixie was found in March 2013 and tested heartworm positive. No one wanted to give her a chance so we took on the challenge to stay by her side. She underwent treatment and finished her final heartworm treatment in October 2013. We recently went back to the vet (January 3rd 2014) to have her tested again. She won the fight and is now heartworm free and as healthy as a dog can be! (R
ead her full story below)
Over the past months Dixie got to know so many things that appeared to be new to her. It seems like she was dumped by her previous owner because of her being heartworm positive. Besides that it seems like she didn't have a real family of her own before. Dixie didn't know what to do with dog toys or how to trust a human. Or how great it is to play fetch and jump just for fun. She now is so much happier and so different from the dog she was when found on a highway. Since her treatment she not only learned new things she also gained a healthy weight and energy. Dixie is about 3 years and is 100% house broke. She never had a single accident inside the house. Dixie loves to take a ride in the car but she also stays at home if she can’t come along. She will let you know that she sure want's to accompany you but will be OK if she can't and will greet you with even more tail wags once you are back. Once she had discovered squeaky toys she couldn't get enough of them. She love them! Especially the plush ones but tennis balls are her favorites while she’s outside with you. Inside you will most likely see her playing with a plush toy or sleeping with one under her chin. She currently has a basket full of them and she will not hesitate to get them all out and have a big plush squeaky party together with her humans! For some reason she never liked any dog pillow or blanket we offered her. But once she learned how to jump she discovered my memory foam pillow and fell in love with it. Sure enough I gave it to her when she came home from her first heartworm treatment. Now it's the only pillow she really wants! If you are out in the yard she will always be by your side. No matter if you chill together, enjoy the outdoors or even if you have to do some yard work, Dixie will always be by your side. My husband who is a disabled veteran himself always describes her as exactly the kind of dog most veterans would want by their side - a buddy dog. Dixie will be by your side no matter how you feel, how your day was or what you do! During thunderstorms she will then come and ask you to give her protection. No matter how big she is, thunderstorms sure frighten her. All in all Dixie is a really great playful and goofy companion that will never leave your side. She is now looking for her own forever home! We love Dixie but she needs a home of her own. We never had problems with her at the vet’s office or at a pet stores when meeting other dogs. But within our home she and our other two dogs don’t exactly get along. In the beginning we only had issues with her and our male dog. Now neither one of them is a working combination with her. So currently we have to keep them separated and switch shifts as far as enjoying cuddling and family time. It’s not fair to our two dogs who have been here already neither is it the life Dixie deserves after all she went trough. Dixie is a great dog to have around! A home where she can be the only dog and the queen of your heart would be what she needs! There is really nothing bad to say about her. She needs to learn some leash manners that’s for sure. But she learns new things everyday as she didn't know much of what it means to be a family dog! A great dog is looking for a great home! If you are interested in Dixie feel free to contact us and ask us more about her! Currently Dixie lives in northern Florida/Panhandle. But we would gladly help arranging transport once we found the right home for her! Dixie's story:
We found Dixie back in March (2013) on a busy highway in Tennessee. She was running lose back and forth onto the street and seemed injured and her rear kept slipping away. According to local businesses animal control had been out but haven't been able to catch her which more likely saved her live. After an hour or two of crawling in mud and trying to gain her trust we finally have been able to secure her. We load her into our car not knowing how much this decision will change our life. And it would change pretty soon. We headed to the closest veterinarian right away to see what was wrong with her legs and sure get her checked for a microchip. As it turned out her injury wasn't as bad as it seemed. She must have been wandering around for days and due to that her pads have been broken and open. But sadly she had no microchip. We took her home with us and contacted all shelters and rescues around us. Nobody looked for her and sadly all rescues were full to the top and Easter was approaching fast. She was reported by us but a week later and still nobody seemed to miss her. So what should we do? We already have been hiding her for a week in our apartment. Yeah hiding a big dog isn't easy but we have only been allowed 2 dogs each less than 35lbs but she was (only) 40lbs and dog number three. Nevertheless we decided we would keep sneaking her in and out and we were determined to find her a home. The next step for us was to bring her in to the vet and get her all vaccinations needed and a microchip so she would be easier to place in a new home. Almost done with everything at the vet’s office the nurse suddenly and slightly panicky left the exam room after looking at the heartworm test. We looked at each other and we suspected what’s going on. Sure enough she tested heartworm positive. After the sad news we sneaked her back home and started thinking about what to do now. It was clear to us pretty much right away that we would not just give up on her that easy. Together we decided we would take on this little challenge and give her the treatment she needed so much. So we called the vet we just came from and set up an appointment to start her on the way to recovery. Our first challenge of the recovery journey was to figure out how and where to keep her. We already had 2 dogs plus she was too big so according to our lease she could not stay with us. We already wanted to move to Florida later in fall so within a few days we made the decision to move not in about 6 to 8 month we had to move NOW! We had to find a place to rent that would allow us to have 3 dogs !?!? While trying to find a new home for all 5 of us we went back to the vet with her. By now we named her Dixie since she looked like a typical Dixieland dog when we first found her. So Dixie went through multiple tests and x-rays to determine if she is ready to start treatment and which treatment would be the right for her. Once again it didn't go as planned and we were not able to start treatment right away because her lab work came back so bad that everyone was convinced that she wouldn't survive any kind of heartworm treatment. We had to get her back to basic health before starting to deal with those nasty heartworms. In the days to come we started her on a nutritious diet she needed so much. She started to vomit pieces of solo cups and all kinds of weird stuff that we guess she ate out of trashcans and similar. So Dixie was getting what she needed for now but we still had to search and find a new home for our little family. After a few days and many many calls we finally found one home that would have been the perfect match and best of all the landlord didn't mind the 3 dogs as long as they wouldn't tear down his house. Within the next 48 hours we would pack our 3 doggies and hit the road to make it down the 500 miles to Florida to look at the object and hopefully convince the owner that we are a nice little family to rent their house to. Three days later we were all on the way back to Tennessee – with a new lease in our hand! Sooooo happy and excited but also knowing we have so much to do once we get home. Just 4 weeks after we found Dixie we were packing our stuff and getting ready to move. We flew in my mother from Germany to help with the short notice move. Here we were all together and ready to move so we could save Mrs. Moving as always was crazy! But we had one last thing to do before we leave. We went back to the vet with Dixie to get lab work done again to see if her health improved and she now would be ready to begin her treatment. It felt like hours but about 30 minutes after they took her blood the vet came back. She smiled! Sure she had good news that Dixie was now healthy enough and her liver was better so we could start treatment. Once we arrived in Florida our new home was perfect! Countryside home on 2.5 acres. We had it fenced and all three dogs were with us, happy and chasing squirrels. After settling into our new home for a few weeks we started Dixie’s heartworm treatment. Together with our previous as well as our new veterinarian we decided to go with the so called "fast kill method". It’s more expensive but since she was now strong and healthy otherwise as well as her heart didn't appear to be bigger yet it seemed to be the better option for her. So the next few months would bring multiple trips to the vet’s office, daily administration of medications and strict bed rest for Dixie. At times she felt so bad especially after the administration of the shots. She was loved and cuddled and made it through the treatment. In October 2013 Dixie finished her final heartworm treatment. We recently went back to the vet to have her tested again (January 3rd 2014) and Mrs. Dixie tested heartworm negative. She won the fight and is finally heartworm free and fully recovered. She now is as healthy as a dog should be! Now she really needs a home of her own to be the happy dog she deserves and wants to be!
