MY BLOG PARTNER

Introducing my Golden Angel - Dakota. He is a big boy and ten years old. Very much the gentleman, he has no bad habbits. I kid you not. Even I did not believe a ten year old rescue dog could be so virtuous. That is why I believe he is my angel - we all have one - and he came to be my companion for a number of reasons.

Dakota is one of those creatures that you can just look at and he knows what you want of him. I used to run into Bud Grant, the long ago coach of the Vikings, at the vet clinic. I marveled at how his dogs did whatever Bud wanted without a verbal command. At one time that was one of my goals in training my dogs...but I never quite achieved that status - until now. Dakota is that dog. This capability does have a down side - at least with Dakota. He reads my mind. He knows what I am thinking. It is a scary thing. This is the second dog in my life that has been able to read my mind. You have to change your whole life. It requires keeping an ongoing check on your thoughts - quite a challenge. But it is well worth it. By the way, the other such dog was a Golden too.

Dakota came to me through RAGOM, the local organization that rescues and rehomes Goldens. They are quite a group of very, very dedicated individuals that work long hours to save these wonderful creatures. Dakota was living in Iowa and needed a new home because his owner had to go to a hospital and then into a care facility. Other family members were not able to take him in.

I will coninue my adventure of why Dakota came into my life in future posts. For now, it is only important to say that Dakota saved my life and now each day is so happy and filled with love and respect for him. He is happy here and has accepted me as his "Forever Mom" and this as his "Forever Home". He makes me smile and laugh daily. He has learned new things and I have learned new things. After years of dog training and companionship I thought I had a pretty good handle on dogs but Dakota has taught me a whole new perspective on canine relationships. I will attempt to explain that later too.