Dixie’s New Friends

By Dana CampbellBased on a true story

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Once upon a time there was a border collie named Dixie. Dixie was a very happy puppy and she loved to play. Dixie would play with anyone who would play with her. She was very friendly. Every time her mommy and daddy had visitors come to their house, Dixie was the first to greet them and would always sit in their lap to let them pet her. That’s just what kind of puppy Dixie was.

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One day Dixie was playing with her favorite toy: her fetch ball. Dixie loved to play fetch. She was really good at it. She always remembered to bring the ball back and she never forgot to chase it. Dixie had chased the ball many times that day. Her mommy had thrown the ball over and over for her. Dixie was very excited. But then her mommy said she was going to the store and would be right back. Dixie knew that she would get to stay and play with her ball by herself so she did not think anything else of her mommy leaving, until her mommy got back.

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When Dixie walked back inside she could tell something was different. There was a new smell in the house. Dixie was sure she had never smelt that smell before. It was a new smell. But Dixie was confused. What could her mommy have gotten at the store that smelled like that? It wasn’t food. She knew that for sure. Dixie started to get excited. Maybe her mommy had brought her a new friend to play with in her yard.

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Dixie walked into the living room to see what her mommy had brought. In the floor was a box with the door open. Dixie was so excited! Her mommy really had brought her a new friend.

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Dixie excitedly walked up to the box and tried to say hello. But it was not what Dixie had expected. There were two new friends in the box. But they were not puppies. They were not puppies at all.

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In the box were two sets of yellow eyes. Dixie didn’t know any puppies with yellow eyes. Suddenly, Dixie knew what her mommy had brought home.

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Cats. Two cats. What was her mommy thinking?! Didn’t she know that puppies and cats didn’t get along? Why would her mommy bring friends who wouldn’t like Dixie?

“Be nice Dixie. They live with us now,” her mommy told her.

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Dixie decided that she should be nice and try to introduce herself to these two new friends. She walked right up and she did what any nice puppy would do. She slapped her two front paws right down as hard and she could and said “I’m Dixie! Let’s play!”

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Except the cats didn’t do what a puppy would have done at all! They growled at Dixie. She was so sad. All she wanted to do was welcome them to her house, but they just wouldn’t have it.

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Dixie didn’t know what to do. She had never had to

be friends with a cat

before, and now there were two

sitting in her living room.

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Dixie spent the next few days doing everything she could think of to make her two new friends like her. That’s what Dixie called them: her friends, because that’s what she wanted them to be. She was sure that she could make them like her. She tried everything. She tried to let them go outside with her, but they wouldn’t go.

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She tried to share their food with them but they thought she was stealing it. She tried sharing her bed with them but they took over! She tried knocking their water over to play in like she did with hers but they said she was making a mess. She knew it was a mess! That was the whole point! It was so much fun! Those cats just didn’t understand at all.

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Once she had tried everything she could think of, Dixie tried a new idea. She tried doing one last thing that she would have tried with a new puppy friend: she decided to chase them.

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This was her worst plan yet. She began chasing them, and at first, they ran. But it wasn’t the fun kind of running. It was the scared kind. Then the worst possible thing happened. They turned around and hissed at Dixie and they tried to slap her.

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Dixie was so sad. She didn’t know what to do. She had done everything she could think of to make the cats like her. She had done everything she would have done to make a puppy like her. She was sure it should have worked. But then Dixie realized something. “These aren’t puppies at all! I know what I’ll do!”

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So Dixie tried a new idea. She started thinking like a cat! Dixie started rubbing up on the kitties when they walked by. At first, the kitties were shocked! They said “maybe she isn’t so bad!” So Dixie started letting the kitties eat without sharing and the kittens started being nicer to Dixie. But Dixie wasn’t sure they liked her just yet. So Dixie had one more idea to try.

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The one thing that Dixie knew the kitties like best was simple. They loved taking naps. So Dixie jumped up on the couch one day and let the kitties sleep right next to her without bothering them.

It worked! The kitties stayed with Dixie and didn’t leave for the whole nap! She was so excited! She had finally gotten the two kitties to like her.

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Then, Dixie and the two kittens began spending all of their time together. They took all of their naps together and Dixie never tried to share their food. Sometimes she would even share her food with them. This made them very happy. The cats were really starting to like Dixie, too. Sometimes they would even let her chase them around the house.

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One day, they all played with the same toy together and they all had so much fun. They became best friends. Dixie could not have been happier. She had finally gotten the kitties to like her and she had two new best friends.

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One day Dixie was outside and her neighbor dog told her that his family had gotten a cat and he didn’t know what to do. Dixie told him, “It’s simple! All you have to do is think like a cat and do what they like!” Dixie was so proud of herself. She had invented a new way to make friends.

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Dixie was so excited that she went back inside and tipped the water bowl over so that the cats could help her play in the water. The cats looked at her and said “Dixie, we like you but you’re still messy.” But Dixie didn’t care. She knew the cats would eventually come around to that, too.

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The End