Dixie and I

Dixie wasn't a collie but I wasn't disappointed. Dixies was a fully trained German Shephard Police Dog. Everywhere I went so did Dixie. I had her from a pup, she was was only eight weeks old when I received her as a gift from my uncle. He trained her at Ft. Lee, VA as a police dog. She had one job and that was to protect me from the bullies in the neighborhood.

Dixie would walk me to school and meet me after school everyday. We would walk home. Our bond grew as I got older. She was getting bigger, but so was I. At age six, she kept someone from grabbing me on the way home. She was a good dog and not overly aggressive. One day we were playing in the sandbox and Dixie jumped in beside me. She decided she would help me dig in the sandbox, but all of the sand ended up on the patio. My uncle called her out of the sandbox while he refilled the sandbox with sand.

One year we had a big snow storm so Dixie and I went across the street to the park to play. I had her on her leash. We ran up to the top of the hill together, I put her on the sled and laid down beside her. Down the hill we went. I felt a wet liquid on my face and knew it was Dixies version of love, wet sloppy kisses. We played for hours until it was time to come back home. I put her back on the leash and we went home.

The next day I had to go back to school so Dixie walked with me to school and met me at our usual meeting place. I enjoyed playing with her on the way home, but we always stayed on the sidewalk until we arrived to my back yard.

One year I managed to get into trouble and received a really brutal beating at the hands of my father. My parents locked Dixie outside. But you could see her trying to get in when she heard my first scream from being beaten. I was laying on the bed crying but she was whimpering because she couldn't figure out how to alleviate my pain. She knew I was hurt, but she didn't know what to do. Dixie and I made a pair and no one in school would bother me with her around.

Several nights after my beating, my mother came into my room to grab me for a second round of discipline, but Dixie pounced. She bit my mother and snarled her teeth. Dixie never growled or made much noise. Because several months before when someone broke into our house, Dixie left one laying in the kitchen doorway dead. But with my mother it was a warning nip and my mother knew.

Two days after Dixie bit my mother, we walked to school together. I bent down and kissed her on her nose. She gave me a wet sloppy kiss and went home. That afternoon when school was out I went to our normal meeting spot and Dixie wasn't there. I looked for her all the way home but couldn't find her. I was beginning to worry. Worry turned to panic when I arrived home and there was no Dixie. I asked my mother where was my dog? I said where is Dixie? My mother's response was I took her to the SPCA and had her put down as a viscous dog. That's right my mother killed my pet, protector, friend. I cried for days over the loss of my dog. I never got another dog again because I was afraid of my mothers cruelty.

But I still remember the things Dixie and I did together and all the trouble we managed to get into. My uncle was pissed at his sister(my mother) for what she did.