Dakota | 2008-2023

Yesterday was hard. We said goodbye to Dakota. My buddy for 14+ years… it’s hard to even remember a time without him..

Dakota joined the family in April of 2009, as an already anxious pup from Wayside Waifs in Kansas City. I was volunteering with the UMKC softball team and he was barking like crazy while we were there. I needed to have him… Was it the best idea? Probably not…. I was a semi-responsible young adult/college student that probably didn’t need the added responsibility of a dog, but I was just as stubborn in 2009 as a I am now…

The day he came home:

He moved into the ‘softball house’ for a week until summer vacation and we headed back to South Dakota for the summer. He was terrified of the stairs and he was scared of baseball hats at first. Tucker helped him get over those fears and even taught him a couple of tricks.

Dakota moved with me to 7 or so houses… with multiple stays at my parents house when I would travel and also during my summer internship. Majority of those houses were covered in blankets to protect the couches from the tumbleweeds of his hair.

Dakota was didn’t have many ‘people’, but if you were his people… you were his people. You never had to wonder if he would be your protector. He was such a loyal companion..

Some of favorite memories:

• Dakota was always ready to go for a run. He got so excited the second he heard the leash getting moved.
  • Dakota always made me feel safe running alone at any hour of the day. He came with me and my friend at least once a week in the mornings for runs. One time, she turned back to run more miles when we were done and Dakota almost panicked, he needed his people to be done together, it was not okay for you to go on without his protection
  • He loved the slip sliding runs in the morning with us!
  • I have so many pictures of him on our post run selfies with him.. where he was not loving having his picture taken – he did not like the camera
• There is a video we have of when Dakota saw Tucker again after he had been gone for a while in Europe. He barked at him at first but then the squealing that came out of him was the sweetest thing. He was so excited to see him
  • Dakota LOVED Tucker; even when I first got him, Dakota would scream with excitement upon seeing Tucker — usually accompanied with some pee, requiring an outfit change for Tucker..
• When we would come home to South Dakota, my mom was required to go hide for the dogs. They would barrel into the house and start their search for her, going from room to room. Once they found her they would be so excited to see her, screaming and wagging tails like crazy
• The next door neighbors at my first house – Dakota LOVED them. They would sneak him treats over the fence every time he was outside
• In college, Dakota was my study buddy. I would read him him textbooks and his head would cock back and forth as if he were really listening and taking in all the lessons. He was my bestie through college, always there for cuddles and walks when I was feeling down
• His obsession with the bomb dog behind Tucker’s house – they would fence fight and then lay next to the fence for hours with across from each other
• The first snow of the year…. or any snow really… you had to drag him back in!

Yesterday was hard. As hard of a decision as it was, Dakota is no longer a ball of anxiety, he’s no longer constrained to his aging body that couldn’t go for the runs anymore, hopefully he is reunited with Bailey Boop and bounding around doggie Heaven with him.

I’m so thankful Dakota had his favorite people surrounding him and making sure he knew he was a good boy and loved until the very end.