Dixie Retriever Mix Arlington, VA

Meet Dixie. This sweet girl spent the last year of her life chained outside. She was seen running as a stray puppy, and her finder took her in and decided to "help" her by chaining her in his backyard. Dixie spent most of her formative months chained outside to a mobile home hitch with only a tiny plastic igloo for shelter. Thankfully, some local animal advocates got involved and secured her release to Worthy Dog; now, her life is forever changed.

Dixie has been in her foster home for a few weeks, living with a foster mom and dad and three dogs (a large Pittie and two small Chihuahuas), and is doing well. It took her about a week to get settled in and comfortable with her new routine and the pack, which is to be expected coming from living outside and alone most of her young life. She is super sweet and connected once she lets her guard down and starts to trust. She's also been a wonderful house guest. She has excellent house manners: housetrained, crate trained, and sleeps quietly through the night.

Dixie is still a young pup with an ideal energy level - she can be laid back in the home but does like to play. She doesn't always need to be moving but loves to run and chase balls in the yard. She also enjoys playing with her foster pup brother, Kane. He's older and much larger than her, but they play well together. When he's done playing, she respects that and will do her own thing. Her foster mom does not feel the need to use the crate but says she will go right in on command and lie down. She mostly stays in the sunroom when they are out of the home to sleep on the couch and has never been destructive.

We believe Dixie would do well as an only dog or with another laidback, social dog. She is sweet and not alpha or submissive. She will stand her ground if another dog tries to challenge or bully her, but does not seek out conflict. She respects the two small chi in her foster home and understands they don't want to play. She has a friendly nature and would do well as a family dog with kids out of the toddler stage, too. She is curious and nervous about meeting strangers, but once given a minute to get familiar with them, she really loves people and getting their attention.

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Now that she's settled in, Dixie's foster mom, Donna, has started taking her for walks in busier areas to see how she does. We checked in with Donna for an update:

"I love Dixie so much. She eats up any love and attention and loves to cuddle on the couch. She has learned to sit for treats. She is so much better than I expected in the house!! Perfect manners and I absolutely trust her with my pack!!! She loves my Kane and is good around my littles. They are chihuahuas, so they can be troublemakers sometimes. lol.

We just started working on her leash skills. She does need work but is a quick learner and wants to please. The issue is going to be distractions. We live in a pretty quiet neighborhood, so this first trip out was good just for her to understand leash walking in general. I'm using the phrase 'leave it' any time she seems to want to pick up on a scent or distraction. So far so good, and I have no doubt that she will be great with more experience. I was able to get her to ignore the barking dogs in fences, so that was good. The harness works really well because I'm able to slightly lift her from any forward progress. This was her first outing, and I'd call it a great success."

UPDATE: I took Dixie to McDowell Park, it's a nice little park by the water and has trails to walk. Unfortunately, it was on the colder side and there weren't a lot of people out. However, she did fabulous on the trails and seemed to love it. She had scent overload as she was smelling just about everything. But after a few sniffs, and "leave it" we moved on nicely. She was a little nervous about the water and it lapping the shore but again, responded nicely. She is a great car rider!!! There was one family that showed up just as we were leaving with 3 small dogs and 2 smaller children. Dixie was high alert but moved on decently well. I really thought the park would be busier. After Thanksgiving, I'll try another park and see how that goes."

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Dixie is a young petite Lab mix (only 33lbs) who will make a great pup companion for a single person, an active couple, or even a family with kids out of the toddler stage. She has done well transitioning to home life, and it's wonderful to see her flourish.

Apply today!

BREED ESTIMATE: Lab Mix
GENDER: Female
APPROXIMATE WEIGHT: 33 lbs
APPROXIMATE AGE: ~ 1 year old
COAT TYPE: Short coat
ADOPTION FEE: $425
OTHER INFO: utd on shots/spayed/microchipped
LOCATION: Centreville, VA

FOR MORE INFO OR TO ADOPT: Please go to https://adopt.worthydog.org and complete the application.

You can also help save dogs like this one by becoming a foster, providing a rescue dog with a temporary home and giving them the love and care they need until they are permanently adopted. Every person who fosters is directly responsible for saving the life of a dog, because we can only save as many dogs as we have foster families available to welcome them into their homes. If you think you might be interested in becoming a foster and want to learn more, please go to https://foster.worthydog.org and fill out an application.

Worthy Dog Rescue is an all-volunteer, foster-based rescue that primarily adopts to families in the DC Metro area.