Dakota

Dakota was a german sheppard lab mix that I got when I was 17. J went with me to pick her out. She was my first dog. Dakota was a DIVA. She was smart and spoiled. When J and I left to go to college, I was a classic teenager and left her at home. She was definitely a grandma's girl. Once we got a house there was just no way I could have her back. She just wasn't mine anymore, my mom would have been too sad to see her go.

In February Dakota would have been 8. Unfortunately she was put down this weekend. It was the hardest decision I've ever had to help make (my mom and I talked about it extensively). Dakota had blown out her knee. It would have been about $3k for each leg (the others would have needed to be done closely following the first). Not only did we not have the money, but there was no guarantee it would fix it. We talked about putting her down then and decided since she was still getting around and didn't appear to be in too much pain (with meds of course) that we would just see how she does. She did really good for awhile. Unfortunately she didn't respond well to the meds long term and she stopped eating. She became thin really quickly my mom took her back to the vet. The vet tried some new medication, but they just made her throw up (just water because they didn't increase her appetite). She was clearly suffering and we didn't think it was fair to make her suffer on our account.

I know now that she is in heaven. She is ruling the roost and bossing all the other pooches around as per usual. She is healthy and happy and waiting to see us again someday.

RIP Kota. I love you my sweet girl. I miss you already.