Dixie was her mother's only child, the product of our Cricket/Trey singleton litter. Like most only children, Dixie figured she was the center of the universe and everyone else revolved around her. Well, didn't it? Dixie was only 4 months old when we had our second Pepper/Jammer litter, so she became the BIG puppy whose littermates were rather late in coming along. She was quite a character and we loved her quirky personality...Dixie exuded confidence and somehow managed to be both our most serious and our goofiest girl. Although she enjoyed working in general, her favorite part of her body was her nose. She adored tracking, loved birds, and would do anything for food. The first half of 2004 was devoted to Dixie's biggest adventure to date--motherhood. On April 10, 2004, she whelped her first litter - 2 daughters and 2 sons sired by Steeler (Comstocks Steelcity Superman ** MH WCX CCA OS), owned by Kathy Eddy, DVM. Once her family was raised and well-placed, it was back to obedience for her "big girl" titles. These were earned in typical Dixie fashion...quickly and with style. After competing successfully at her first-ever AKC National Obedience Invitational in Long Beach on December 1-2, 2007, Dixie took a hiatus to raise her second and final litter, from which we kept her daughter Jodi. This litter again consisted of 2 boys and 2 girls and was sired by CanCH Goldcker's How Canoe Say That CanAGN FDCH-G, aka "Joey." Joey is owned by Kari Kerr and co-owned with Lori & Brian Lancaster of Goldcker Kennels in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Dixie left us on July 27, 2011, after a very brief struggle with assumed hemangiosarcoma. She was eleven years old and had enjoyed a remarkably healthy and injury-free life...so much so that she was still competing with joy and precision in obedience and rally just prior to the first signs of her illness and subsequent death a week later. Dixie and Terry were blessed to have an exceptionally long and wonderful journey together that encompassed great adventures in a variety of venues. Their bond was sealed from the first moment Terry held Dixie in her hands as a newborn singleton and grew continuously stronger through the shared trust and joy of working together for over a decade. We have always joked that our dear little Cricket, who strove to be perfect in all she did, gave us a singleton because in her infinite wisdom she saw no reason to have more than one puppy if that one puppy was perfect...and so she gave us Dixie. Dixie's life truly was a "celebration"...

Dixie's accomplishments include:

• Certified for tracking at 9 months old
• Tracking Dog (TD) title earned on 3/4/01 at 9 months old on her first attempt
• Junior Hunter (JH) completed 11/9/02 - title earned in 4 straight tests, all run in a one-month period in the fall of 2002
• Tracking Dog Excellent (TDX) title earned on her first try on 3/2/03, same day as her cousin, Spirit!
• Working Certificate (WC) earned on first try on 3/15/03
• Companion Dog (CD) completed 8/2/03 - title earned with all first places (12 firsts out of 12 shows), a Dog World Award, 3 perfect 200's, and 5 High in Trials
• Companion Dog Excellent (CDX) completed 11/28/03 - title earned with a Dog World Award, 6 firsts and 1 tie for first out of 8 shows, plus 4 HIT's--2 of them with perfect 200's
• First litter whelped on 4/10/04 - 2 girls and 2 boys sired by Comstocks Steelcity Superman ** MH WCX CCA OS
• Utility Dog (UD) completed 3/13/05 - title earned in 4 shows with 2 firsts and 2 HIT's on her third leg and insurance leg
• GRCA Obedience Hall of Fame status attained with completion of her UD since she already had more than enough HIT's for qualification
• OTCH completed 8/20/05
• UDX completed 9/10/05
• CCA earned on 6/11/06 on her first attempt, which also qualified her for the GRCA's coveted VCX
• Perfect 200 number 6 earned Easter Sunday, 4/8/07, out of Open B from Judge Mid Rothrock at Sierra Tuolumne KC
• 2007 AKC National Obedience Invitational Finalist - earned 4th place in the Sporting Group while 3 weeks pregnant with her 2nd litter!
• Second litter whelped on 1/8/08 - 2 girls and 2 boys sired by CanCH Goldcker's How Canoe Say That CanAGN FDCH-G
• Perfect 200 number 7 earned on 5/8/08 out of Open B from Judge Mary Lou Just; this was Dixie's 3rd trial back from maternity leave
• First OM completed 4/24/09 at the GRCA Western Regional Specialty, where she also won OB, UB, High in Trial and High Combined, plus High Scoring Veteran
• Canadian CD earned in one 4-day weekend (7/31/09-8/3/09) with scores of 199.5, 200 (#8), 200 (#9), and 199.5 respectively, earning first place and High in Trial at every trial
• Canine Good Citizen certificate earned 8/22/09
• Perfect 200 number 10 earned on 1/17/10 out of Utility B from Judge Chris Cornell; this was our first perfect Utility score and the first 200 ever awarded by this judge in his 25 years of obedience judging!
• Perfect 200 number 11 earned on 4/10/10 out of Utility B from Judge Pat Alvarez - Dixie now has earned multiple 200's at all 3 levels (Novice, Open, and Utility)
• Canadian Rally Novice (RN) title earned in one 3-day weekend, June 24-26, 2011, with 3 perfect scores and 3 first places
• Throughout her obedience career Dixie earned 110 UDX legs, 69 AKC High in Trials and 4 CKC High in Trials, 53 High Combineds, and 11 perfect 200's

Photo by Southard

Photo by Southard

Canadian CD with Back-to-Back Perfect Scores

In the summer of 2009 Terry took Dixie and Jodi on a month-long road trip to visit friends in Canada and Oregon. While staying in Calgary, Dixie spent a fun weekend earning her Canadian CD. Out of the 4 trials she earned first in her class as well as High in Trial every day, including two perfect scores of 200 and two nearly perfect rounds of 199.5, for a combined 4-day score of 799 out of a possible 800. This is a picture of Dixie and Terry with their two judges for the weekend and their impressive haul of awards. The judge on the left is Mr. Michael Calhoun; the judge on the right is Mr. William Blair. For anyone wondering about the extra award rosettes, the show cluster offered special awards for High Scoring Sporting Dog, Highest Combined 4-Day Score, and Rocky Mountain High Award - all of which Dixie won. The Rocky Mountain High Award is usually determined by a runoff between the HIT winners from all four days of shows; since Dixie earned HIT at all 4 shows there was no runoff needed. Instead she and Terry performed a heeling demo for the crowd.

CDX and Two 200's from Open B

Dixie came out in Open and earned her CDX title in two consecutive weekends at the end of November, 2003. In spite of limited training time with the family's focus on Spirit's litter during this time, Dixie performed with her usual high-flying style. Of the 4 shows she appeared in over those 2 weekends, she earned 3 firsts, one second (tied for first), and one High in Trial with her first 200 out of Open B, from judge Ken Blanchard. Since then she has been shown in Open B four more times and has earned 3 more firsts, 3 more High in Trials, and another 200, this one from judge Dorothy McCauley.

Click Here to see the video of Dixie's
Open 200 under judge Ken Blanchard.
Grateful thanks to Becky Luft for filming it!

Photo by Becky Luft

CDX Leg #1 - 11/21/03
Judge: Jill Jones
Trial: Golden Valley KC

Photo by Becky Luft

CDX Leg #2 - 11/23/03
Judge: Cathy Dutra
Trial: San Joaquin KC

Photo by Becky Luft

CDX title - 11/28/03
Judge: Linda Hause
Trial: Salinas Valley KC

Click Here to see the video of Dixie's third 200 from Novice B.
Grateful thanks to Cindy Hult for filming it!

Follow This Link For More Pictures Of This Tracking Test

Photo by Southard

Photo by Southard