Introduction: Dakota
My dogs name is Dakota and of course, she is a Boxer. She is pure Boxer through and through. While she has no flaws with regards to her breed or how she should present herself, she does have one trait that sets her apart from the rest of her kind. She is smaller than she should be.Dakota was born the runt. Perhaps this is the reason she was not adopted like her brothers and sisters. Either way, being a runt these days is not the death sentence that it used to be. In the past the runt would not have the size or strength to feed like the rest and sometimes this would cause them to really stand out amongst their peers. Lacking food, attention, and just simple nutrition, runts would sometimes be killed as a way of showing mercy. I'm not sure why that was considered mercy back then, but there are a lot of things that people did then that do not make sense.
Today however things are much different. Dakota's early days were still not completely secure as she was born to what some people call a backyard breeder. The person that owned her at the time must have thought the ways they did things in the past made sense. Or maybe he was just looking for ways to save money and have less mouths to feed, because Dakota was slated for termination. That's right, she was to be put down.
Now I'm not exactly sure how it happened but somehow a person who knew the breeder decided that they would take Dakota and save her from her untimely demise. At this point however it became a race to find someone who could take and care for Dakota permanently. From messages through mutual friends, Dakota ended up in Michigan with a friend of someone we knew. Word went out that a puppy needed a home and a fuzzy picture was posted. Well, it was lucky for us, not Dakota, that we saw the picture and decided it was time we had a dog. We had been searching off and on for one but the right dog and situation never arose. This time however, it felt right.
So we made the trip and picked her up. From the first time she looked at me and I at her it was sealed. This was my dog. It has been 3 years since that day and Dakota is still the same size she was last year. People say that she still has more growing to do but I am convinced that she is done. She is still a good sized dog. She is about 64 pounds, but it is not her weight but rather her height that is a bit below average for a female Boxer. That is fine with me though because to me she is the perfect size. Not too small and not too large, but perfect.
So her smaller than average size aside, she is absolutely perfect. Everything about her says Boxer and believe me, if you have never had a Boxer you should really consider the breed for your next dog. They are the best! They are tough, yet completely tame and great with kids. They absolutely love to cuddle and I don't think I have ever seen another dog who loves to snuggle next to their family members so much. They are not the biggest fans of the water yet they can swim as if they have done it their entire lives. All dogs love their adopted family, sure. But a Boxer is a bit unique. I think they have a love for their adopted family that has no rival. They will protect their master with their lives and will do the same for everyone else they love. They are great dogs. Dakota is a great dog.
Observations
Our daily walk differs occasionally by way of our path and length. Lately it seems however that I am noticing something new about Dakota every day. Sometimes I wonder why she does what she does and other times I just shake my head. Occasionally she does not behave all that well but most of the time she does. I am still working on her "training" or her "obedience". I know, I know.. three years old and I am still working on it? Well.. I never claimed to be the worlds best dog trainer. It is not that she is a complete disaster of a dog. It is just that she has a mind of her own. When she wants to smell something or walk a certain way, she does not heed my call. We are working on this though and she does show improvement. I think her biggest flaw is her instinct to chase a bird or squirrel.My daddy took me for our walk today. I was excited to go because everybody else in the house was gone already. Sometimes we go early and sometimes we go a little bit before lunch, but he always takes me for a walk. I like walking because I get to see all the things outside. I really love smelling the flowers. On our block there are a lot of different flowers and they all smell nice. I can smell the flowers on the second block before we even get close so I get even more excited.
I usually try to pay attention to Dakota's marking routine. Where she marks, how much and when. It is interesting actually when you start to see a pattern. I would have never thought that a pattern in her marking would emerge. I always thought it was relatively random. I noticed that whenever I see a big plant like a hosta she will pee on it. So as I watched it more and more I could sometimes see that she peed on the plant because another dog had done so as well. The plant was wet so I assumed it was from another dog but I suppose it could have just been water too.
I keep hearing dogs bark when we walk by certain houses. I know I should not worry but since I cannot see them it kinda freaks me out. We just have to keep walking. Pretty soon we will be far enough away from their house and I will not have to worry about it anymore. It wouldn't be so bad if they were in their yard and I could see them and bark back at them.
It seems strange to me sometimes how Dakota will talk (bark) to some dogs and not to others. Do they have a secret language? I remember watching a show called Dogs 101 in which they discussed the various barks that dogs had. They asked dog owners if they could recognize certain barks and they could. It seemed amazing to me but after having Dakota for a couple of years I realized that I could do the same.
