DAKOTA'S PERSONALITY

I firmly believe that Dakota was a gift to me. I explain that at the end of my book and will not detail it here.

Dakota has been with me two years now and made huge advances, – at least for him. He is firmly set now in "HIS" home that he rules and watches over. He has learned so much for a senior dog and seems to love discovering new experiences to add to his repertoire. Most of these discoveries are to enhance his life style. It also brings out his wonderful hidden personality.

We have been doing a lot of upgrading in the house. This summer it involved the living and dining rooms. It led to eating meals off of TV trays while watching a new TV set. It took me quite some time to realize what was going on, but I suddenly became aware that Dakota felt he had access to my tray and should be able to graze about where I placed his morsels on a napkin and gave them out sparingly throughout the meal. In the beginning he would just settle down in the room while we ate. Somewhere along the way I gave him a little treat. It probably was a taste of turkey at Thanksgiving. I don't recall. Now that he's decided this is his forever home and he won't be shipped off to another home, he has moved up to my tray and sit opposite me. Dakota is not your average Golden. His head fits perfectly with the height of the tray thus making it fertile ground for politely grabbing food quickly and quietly while eyes are glued to the TV program. He's a perfect gentleman. It's hard to scold him and quite honestly I don't. Dakota needs to expand his life experiences.

In the 45+ years I've been working and living with dogs, I can honestly say that Dakota is a perfect example of a pet that has not had a chance in life to interact with humans. He was, for the most part, fairly well cared for when it came to food, shelter, and vet care. But he was not "involved" with people or his owner[s]. Watching him day after day I saw an animal that was in his own world. He really didn't know how to relate to people. He looked after and responded to his own survival. He has developed excellent resources of survival. The longer I watched him I was convinced it had nothing to do with obedience training or people training. For a short period of his early years he was on his own and had to rely on his own instincts. Other than that he was around people but they didn't involve him in daily living. I will have more discussion of this in my book too.

I am able to let Dakota do pretty much whatever he wants to do. I believe this is because he established his own rules of living and they're pretty darn good. As time went on, I started to draw him into my world. I was careful not to overwhelm him with too much "togetherness." The most important element I added to his daily life was talking to him. As I've said in earlier posts, I am a very strong believer in talking with your pets. It's amazing what happens when you do. At first Dakota didn't pay much attention to me. Soon, however, he started following me around. Then I decided it was time to give him something to do that would bring him into my world in a more permanent way. I introduced him to toys. He grew up without toys. I got him his first teddy bear. With that bear I encouraged him to take it outside whenever he went out. Then I taught him that he had to bring it back with him. It was like an explosion when he finally caught on. You could see the light bulb come on. Along with it came a huge smile on his face. And he was so excited. When he got in, I gave him a treat. That was the day I broke into his cloistered world and opened up the avenues for him to become part of the human world.

The second effort was to let Dakota know how important people can be to his psyche. He was constantly begging for attention and acceptance. He needed to be touched. He desperately wanted to be petted and touched. His head was forever on my leg seeking attention. I have spent a lot of time stopping to reach down and give him a long hug. That seems to mean more to him than just petting his head. Quite often I put my arm around him and just leave it there. He doesn't move. He absorbs all of this like a giant sponge. It's never enough. In the mornings when I get up I give him a whole body massage. At first he didn't want me to stop. Now he relishes every minute but is finally able to get down and go with me to the kitchen for his breakfast. He has even gotten to the point where some days that massage isn't necessary and I find him waiting for me in the hall and off he goes by himself to the kitchen and patiently waits for me to catch up.

His new life of talking, hugging, and things to do has brought him into my world and he is starting to blossom into the most charming guy. We are pursuing more avenues. See my next post.