Bye Dakota

Sad news. My beloved dog of 14 years, Dakota, is now in doggie heaven.
I came home from work Thursday night to find him lying on the ground in his dog pen, unable to move and wimpering terribly. Talk about immediate tears. I bawled like a baby while I sat beside him, knowing this was the end and petted him and brushed his beautiful hair and talked softly to him.
I had to wait for Jerry to get home so we could take him to the vet. There was, of course, nothing that could be done for him, so we made the very painful decision to have him put to sleep.

I've been expecting this for a while now, but was not at all prepared when it did happen. Dakota led a long, wonderful, happy life. Dogs of his size don't normally live as long as 14 years, so I'm thankful that we had him as long as we did.

We initially told Corey that Dakota had to stay at the vet because he was sick, but he asked on Friday why Dakota had to stay and I finally told him that the puppy was very old and very sick and that he ended up going to doggie heaven.

My son curled his lip up and made a terrible sad face and said that he didn't want Dakota to go to doggie heaven. Broke my heart again! I told him that in doggie heaven that Dakota would be running and jumping and digging holes and chewing on bones and would be very happy. He immediately lit up and smiled and seemed pretty happy with the fact that Dakota would be running and digging holes.

Over the weekend, Corey told a few people that Dakota went to doggie heaven, which of course just makes me bawl. I miss that furball. He's been a huge part of my life for a very long time and I'm going to miss him very much.

Bye 'kota! Mommy loves you.