Stahlke Adoption

Best Friends

A year ago, when I came to live at the Stahlke house, there were a lot of kids to meet and get to know. They were very excited to welcome me into their family. And it was especially nice to have a dog buddy to show me how to do things. Dakota knows really well how to get excited when someone grabs our leashes or says "suppertime!" He showed me how to (try to) stand still to get our feet dried after spending time in the yard. We both sleep on Mary and Jonathan's bed, although I usually burrow under the covers since my fur coat is thinner than his.

Dakota limps along pretty slowly and doesn't hear very well. I guess that's normal for a dog who's almost seventeen. When we've been in the yard and I hear the back door open, I run and let Dakota know that's it's time to go in and get a treat. I get so excited about eating that I hurry him along, jumping on him and licking his face. Sometimes I even pretend to bite his legs. He has trouble walking when I get so excited around him, but I think it keeps him stronger to play with me. Once we get to the steps, one of the people in the family usually helps him up or carries him to the kitchen.

About a month ago, Mary left the gate open, so Dakota and I went for a walk on our own. Dakota strode very forthrightly to the end of the alley and turned onto the sidewalk when we got to the busy street. He knows the neighborhood really well, because Mary and Jonathan used to take him for lots of walks before the kids came. At the sidewalk, he just kept marching along, and I started to get worried because we were a long way from home.

So I ran back to the house and started whining at the back door. Mary came out and saw that the gate was open, and that Dakota wasn't in the yard. She yelled at her kids to look for Dakota and several of them started calling his name up and down the street and alley. I kept whining to tell her that I knew where he had gone. She FINALLY got my leash out and let me guide her in the right direction.

I went down the alley and turned onto the sidewalk, like Dakota and I had done together. But I didn't see him anywhere! The scent of his footprints, however, let me know where he had walked, and occasionally I sniffed his aroma on a tree. It was easy to know exactly where he had gone. I led Mary onto the sidewalk of the busy street, and pulled her as fast as I could past one corner and then to the next one. We turned right and saw Dakota! Yea!! Both Mary and I were overjoyed to find him, safe and sound. He had wandered a long way from home. Jonathan pulled up in the red car and gave all of us a ride home. They petted both of us a lot that day.

The family is now more careful about the gate. And Dakota is moving slower and probably couldn't walk so far now. But I love to curl up with him on the couch, to keep him company. He's my best friend.

Kentucky

posted by Stahlkes @ 12:35 PM