THREE LEGS ARE ENOUGH

DIXIE'S LEFT HIND LEG IS MISSING

I wish I had a photo of Dixie when I'm walking her. Sometimes she'll get her leash sort of tangled with her one hind leg.

Instead of crying and waiting for me to help her, she'll hop that one leg as many times as necessary to get over the leash. Often, it takes one hop.

And she'll keep going.

It's true that Dixie limps noticeably, and sometimes her hind leg will slip on a wood floor and she'll fall for a second.

Still, she usually gets around just fine.

I sometimes tell people that Dixie is not handicapped. The only thing that slows her down is me.

Today, I took Dixie to Covington Park so I could recycle some cans and bottles. It began to rain shortly after we got there, but I eventually got rid of the recyclables. Then we took a short walk, and Dixie got petted by two adults and two little boys. As usual, she was thrilled.

• Woof! (translation: Go away, kid; you bother me)

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EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  BLUESKY: PROFILE

MORE ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 13-plus years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• YIP! YIP! The stereo-sound huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

EDITOR@WORK BLOG ENTRIES

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

BLOG ENTRIES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

ANECDOTES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer OUTTA there!

BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing

Disembodied harness

DIXIE AND ME

Something strange happened between Dixie and me this morning. We were taking our usual walk in the neighborhood, and, as usual, she laid down to roll in the pavement.

Her leash got wrapped around her paw, so I went over to get her untangled when her harness came off in my hand. I unhooked the leash from the disembodied harness and hooked it to her collar. I carried the harness in one hand as we continued her walk.

We're at home now, and she seems happy without the harness.

The problem is that I need to figure out what to do when we take our next walk.

Related posts

• Dixie gave me a scare

• Dixie gave me a few moments of panic

• Dixie got loose again

• Oh, no; she got out of the yard again

• Help from a neighbor

><

EMAIL: tgilli52@gmail.com  BLUESKY: PROFILE

MORE ENTRIES FROM THE DOG BLOG

• Katie cried

• Growl and pull

• 13-plus years with my dog Lady

• ... said the spider to ...

• The Dog Diary (2014)

• YIP! YIP! The stereo-sound huskies

• What Lady and Michael Jackson had in common

EDITOR@WORK BLOG ENTRIES

• You really DO need an editor

• Reminders for would-be novelists

• What I do when I'm editing

• What I charge (it's a deal) and what I edit

• Slogging through the Internet

• J-school: More eyes on your stories

• J-school: Go out and learn

• Rookie mistakes for magazine writers

BLOG ENTRIES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Resume for a writer and editor

• An editor's views on powerful writing

• Advice for be and would-be novelists

• Links to TG's stories online

• Favorite quotes

• What I do when I'm editing

ANECDOTES BY TOM GILLISPIE

• Wipeout at Death Valley

• Days with rainbows

• A desperate writer working in the dark

• Yer OUTTA there!

BLOG ENTRIES FROM THE AUTO RACING JOURNAL

• Angel in Black: Remembering Dale Earnhardt Sr.

(a book of great stories about the Intimidator)

• Then Junior Said to Jeff...

(the book of great NASCAR stories)

• My best day as a sports writer

• Jeff Gordon's milk toast to Dale Earnhardt

• Wayne Auton: A life in racing