Dakota

I spoke with Dakota's previous owner and found out a few more things about him. One good thing I did learn today is that he is up in the general population of the boarding facility. Here is what she told me: Dakota was rescued back in the Summer of 2004 from a neglectful and we thing abusive situation. Her understanding was that he had been tied outside till the flies ate the tips of his ears off. He had been beaten & was terribly afraid of humans. When he was originally rescued, he would not walk to you when called, but crawled on all fours. He was afraid to be touched, especially on his face. Never thought he would be an affectionate dog, but he is now very affectionate. He has been great with their family & their grandkids (12 of them). He wants to be near his humans ALL the time. He would follow the owner from room to room just so he could be in fingertip range. He LOVES to be stroked on his face now, but he is still a HIGH energy, nervous type dog. He has developed a strong prey drive & actually caught a squirrel, which he picked up in his mouth & started shaking. When he was told "no' and "leave it," he dropped it. When they were outside with him, it seemed like he would "clear" the area of anything he thought was a danger to them. To him, that meant even chasing the birds from the bushes. The owners live on a golf course & Dakota always "patrolled" the back fence. No rodent-type animals would come into our yard once they saw him, which even included a fox. He runs along the back fence with the golf carts, not sure if he is chasing them away as well. He doesn't like cats much, but the owner doesn't know if he would attack them. They had to get the invisible fencing just to keep him contained within the split rail & mesh fence (only type of fencing allowed). He will need a place with SECURE fencing & if he escapes, he will be gone. He won't wander around & return when called. He has been great with the family, but there are a few instances of caution she told me about. He was always allowed to greet the mail carrier until one day she had gloves on, he sniffed her glove then took a run at trying to grab the glove on his way past her. Another incident involved a guy who delivered their rider mower after service. There is a half wall in the garage so the dogs had a path through the doggie doors through the garage & into the fenced back yard. The man had forgotten to give her the invoice so he turned suddenly & reached over the half wall to give her the invoice. Dakota jumped up and tried to nab his hand. The man reacted well to the incident & just laughed. After this incident, she was more cautious with people making sudden moves toward him or toward her. Note that in both cases Dakota nabbed "at" the people but didn't actually bite them. He hates it if the grandkids swing on the swing set. He would try to nab their feet to stop them. He was not permitted outside when the grandkids were on the swings. He also didn't like the kids to wrestle. He would try to intervene & stop the action, but he let the kids lie down with their heads on him, pull & tug him around & run with him. He apparently took a recent dislike to a friend of the husband, who Dakota has known since he was rescued by them. On one particluar day, this one man went to the kitchen for water & twice on the same day Dakota tried to nip the man as he got up to go to the kitchen. The wife was not home when this happened & can only go on what the husband said. It sounds to me like she has more control over the dog than he does. Dakota has learned some commands. He knows "sit", "down", as in to lie down or get down, "leave it", "no bark", "stay". Her index finger is often pointed at him when told to stay, wait or no bark. He is a barker and he has learned if he sees her at the window and she raises her finger, he gets quiet. He also responds to her knocking on the window and saying "Kota, no bark!" He knows "come" though he doesn't always respond to it because sometimes he thinks he's in trouble. COOKIE is one of his favorite words because it means he gets a biscuit. When he didn't want to come in, she'd say come get a COOKIE and he'd be inside in a flash! He seemed to recognize "dinner" too. He has some bad habits that have not been broken -- He's a "shopper", he shops your counters and sinks for food if he's left alone in the room with it. He has been known to take whole pans of food and get them through the pet door. One of his faves is BUTTER. He'll swipe that off the counter in a flash and be gone with it. H also likes to dig holes in the yard, sometimes to bury things, sometimes just to dig. He likes balls to catch, but he won't retrieve and bring them back to you. He thinks you should chase him to get them back & that's great fun for him. They have another GSD, an alpha female who is very lazy and also has bad hips. She used to send Dakota outside to do her bidding. She'd watch out the patio doors & notify him when there was something to chase & she'd just stay there & watch him go do it. He has socialized on several occasions with other dogs with no problem; however, did have an issue with the neighbor's Pomeranian. He shouldn't be placed with anyone with other smaller pets. He's VERY lovable. All she wants for him is a family for him who will give him lots of love and a secure area to live in for the rest of his life. To see his pictures, please go to http://www.dogshope.com/dakota.html

Awww he is beautiful.

I wish I could help - but reading the description, I would be too nervous to have him around my little ones (3 & 5). They love to swing and they love to play with our dogs.

He is probably better off with a family with no small children.

Good luck and thank you for posting.

He is beautiful. He has the same coloring as our Apache, that we lost last May. I pray that he gets a good home. Our Dakota has some of the same fears as he does. We bought her from an abusive breeder. We got her at 12 wks old. She is AKC. But she is scared of just about everything. Dee

Wonderful news. Dakota has been adopted by a wonderful couple today. He will be joining their family, which includes 2 other shepherds who Dakota has met and loved. I want to thank everyone for all their kinds words and help with him.

That's great!!!

Thanks for the update!