Dixie the Rescue Dog
Standing Up For Rescues
Each morning a group of friends join to walk their dogs around the neighborhood.
Today, Lori and Jim picked up their new pup from Lovable Paws Rescue and Sanctuary in Ridgeland. Bell is an adorable older female who incidentally looks just like her new brother, Scooter. As she was being introduced, Bell excitedly sniffed Dixie, Lucy, Storm, and Evie as everyone greeted the new member of the pack.
This is an evolving group of people and their rescue dogs that inspired the book, Dixie the Rescue Dog Makes New Friends — Album One. It is referred to as an album because it is laid out to look like a photo album and is part of a series of six Dixie books to be released over the next few years.
Part of what makes the book unique is that even though it is considered a children’s picture book, it is not illustrated, as most all children’s picture books are. “Actual photographs taken over a year and a half were the perfect way to show readers that the story of Dixie and her new friends is real. It’s not an imaginary story. Everything in this book happened,” commented the author Sheree Richnow.
More importantly, Sheree thought writing about Dixie’s experiences would be a good way to educate and inform pet parents about some of the challenges abused, abandoned, lost, and sick dogs face. “Unfortunately, not all shelters subscribe to a no-kill policy. So, I want the series to not only entertain but educate,” said Sheree. “I plan to address issues such as the devastating effect thunder and fireworks have on some dogs and what pet parents can do to help them cope. Dixie is deathly afraid of thunder. Dogs can hear sounds four times further away and hear twice as many frequencies as humans. So, by the time I hear the thunder, she’s high-tailed it to her safe place in the bathtub, where she has a comfortable bed and a noise diffuser. I turn on the overhead fan, turn out all the lights, and close the shower curtain and door. Her fear is so overwhelming that I often sit in the dark bathroom with her to keep her calm until the storm passes.”
As part of Sheree’s commitment to getting the word out, she donates to one of her select no-kill shelters from every book she sells. Sheree emphasized, “They need all the help they can get. People should realize how important donations of bedding, food, medicines, and even a day of volunteering are. Some shelters, such as Lovable Paws, usually don’t receive large grants, so they have to depend on the generosity of residents and local businesses to provide funding and much-needed supplies.”
In addition to writing the Dixie book series, Sheree draws each of the dogs featured in her books and then gifts them to their pet parents. She is asking for submissions for her next book that’s due to be published this fall: Dixie the Rescue Dog & Mr. Thunder — Album Two. Each book in the series will show twelve rescue dogs and their adoption profiles, along with the custom drawings to be featured in Dixie’s annual calendar.
Dixie the Rescue Dog Makes New Friends — Album One is available at over a dozen local stores from Beaufort to Bluffton and Hilton Head Island, and is also online. For more information about submitting the photo and profile of your rescue dog for consideration, please email DixieTheRescueDog@gmail.com.
