The Devil in Disguise

Since Roxie is a Lab/Pit Bull Terrier Mix people assume that she has ferocious tendencies. Nothing could be further from the truth. She is one of the sweetest and most mild mannered dog I have ever met. Except for the fact that she likes to chew my possessions I think she is pretty perfect. Old Navy has on sale this week their dog Halloween costumes. I had seen this devil costume a couple of weeks back and didn't think I wanted to spend/waste $20. Well yesterday it was on sale for 50% off and I just had to have it. I thought it would be so cute to dress up Roxie and Dixie. I put the cape and horns on Roxie first. She looked so adorable and we all started laughing (I have my friends Swen and Verina staying with me for Ironman Florida). I think we gave her some sort of complex. She hid under the dining room table and in the picture Swen is trying to coax her out. She wouldn't come out until we took the costume off.


Dixie on the other hand thought she was the bomb. She pranced around the living room and "posed" for pictures. Well let me tell you that costume fits her perfect. She most definitely can be the devil sometimes. When Swen and Verina said they were coming to Florida I warned them of all the crazy quirks my dogs have. Number one with Dixie is that if you give her a couple of seconds with an open door she takes off like a bat out of hell. Catching her is next to impossible. She literally has to wear herself out and then she will allow you to bring her home. This takes a minimum of 2 hours. This morning Swen made the mistake of opening the front door and just stood there. I was about 2 seconds too late. I called his name to warn him and then Dixie took off. Swen felt so bad. Since I have been through this at least 25 times I was calm and I tried to let him know that we would get her in about 3 hours. I realize that she could get hurt in the interim but since no one is able to catch her there is so sense in driving around getting frustrated.

When I got to work I got a call from my friend Suzanne. Suzanne lives about 4 blocks from me and has helped me catch Dixie in the past. "Do you know that Dixie is out running like a crazy dog down Maine Avenue?" Yep. "Okay, just checking. Let me know if she's still out after the kids get out of school and we will come help you find her." I love friends like this. Next call one hour later. My friend Cullen, who has a very thick southern accent, "Your damn dog is running all over Maine Avenue." Yep. This time I decided I would go and try to catch her since Cullen had Suzanne's husband with him. Sometimes she can be caught with three people plus it has been about 2 hours. She should be getting tired. No such luck. We saw her numerous times and Cullen was even 3 feet from her at one point. I went back to work knowing that if I didn't catch her before Swen got back from swimming he would feel even worse. He had already spent an hour looking for her even after I told him to wait. About 11AM I get a call from my neighbor 2 blocks from my house. They have Dixie. She just walked up to their back door. Poor thing was tired. Not really feeling sorry for her. Not even now. My neighbor wanted to know if I wanted them to let her go (are you CRAZY???) or if I wanted to come pick her up. Needless to say, I went there directly.

Too bad she likes the devil costume or I would make her wear it as a punishment. I think instead I will give her a nice leisurely bath. Since giving her a bath is the bane of her existence I think it will be fitting given her antics this morning. Plus she stinks to high heaven.