By Chapter 5 of Kate DiCamillo's Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal and her father have realized Winn-Dixie hates being left alone. Anytime he is left alone inside their trailer in the Friendly Corners Trailer Park, he starts destroying couch cushions and toilet paper. When he is tied up outside, he causes a neighborhood disturbance with his howling. Opal observes that "getting left behind probably made his heart feel empty" (Ch. 5). Therefore, Opal and her father decide Winn-Dixie must be brought along everywhere they go.

The first place they visit with Winn-Dixie is the church her father is pastor of, the Open Arms Baptist Church. The first time at church, Winn-Dixie causes a disturbance by catching a mouse in the sanctuary. Next, Opal begins bringing Winn-Dixie with her to the Herman W. Block Memorial Library. Since he can't come inside with her, she teaches him to "stand up on his hind legs and look in the window" to watch her picking out her books (Ch. 6). It is while he is on his hind legs that Miss Franny, the librarian, mistakes him for a bear, and Opal and Winn-Dixie must calm her down, making friends with her in the process.

In Chapter 8, Opal takes Winn-Dixie to the pet store, called Gertrude's Pets, for the first time to pick out a new collar and leash. When Opal can't afford to buy them, she asks to be hired to sweep the store's floors on the condition that she can bring Winn-Dixie inside with her. Otis, the clerk behind the counter, agrees to hire her if Gertrude, the store parrot, likes Winn-Dixie. When Gertrude perches on Winn-Dixie's head, Otis agrees to hire Opal.
 
A final location Winn-Dixie visits with Opal is Gloria Dump's house. Gloria is a kindly, elderly woman believed to be a witch by neighborhood kids and becomes a central character in uniting all of the other lonely characters in the story's resolution.