Dakota

Dakota, probably a cocker mixed with something exotic, was found with his owner’s body – they had been in the house for perhaps two weeks. This little dog, adopted several years before from a shelter, had been his owner’s main companion with little exposure to other humans. His owner’s friends and family discovered that Dakota had been taken to the local shelter where he would let no one near him. The staff listed him as a female and were very relieved when the family asked that he be released to ODH. In his Final Refuge home, it took a couple of weeks for him to come out from under the table and begin to trust. Once he started to relax, however, his extremely patient foster parents won him over. A much needed grooming improved his attitude and appearance, treatment for badly infected ears helped more, and he had a needed dental. His ears will always be a battle but his foster mom keeps at it. We are sure that little Dakota will continue to come out of his shell and enjoy the last part of his life. Dogs are amazingly resilient and we know they can move beyond traumatic experiences. Far better than humans!

Update: After more than 4 years with his incredibly patient ODH family, Dakota had a second major seizure which continued for far too long. To spare him more of this fear and pain he was sent on his way to a peaceful rest and a reunion with his original person. His ODH family gave him a tremendous amount of love, his ODH dad accepted that he would always be a terrifying monster in Dakota’s eyes, and they miss him a great deal.