From the first day at 8 weeks old to the last day of his life at the age of 13 Dakota filled our home with so much joy, love and happiness. His personality was one of curiosity in the early years. We discovered very quickly that for some reason he loved to chew on the corner of things. Cardboard boxes, our stands and our area rug.
While we got this behavior corrected it didn’t matter to us as those things could be replaced. Funny thing is we still have the stand he chewed on the corner of. It’s a reminder to us of him and his younger years.
Dakota would tuck his tail take off running around the house. His behind tucked so close to the ground that as he ran he looked like a racing rabbit running all over. As the years passed Dakota never missed an opportunity to be on top of you and smother you with kisses.
The walks we would take, the camping trips we would go on, the many adventures through the years are all memories we will hold in out hearts forever.
When we received the devastating news that Dakota’s kidneys were failing we we heartbroken. We did not know what do.
We received information about Kona’s loving paws. We did our research as any parent would do and the reviews etc were outstanding. We knew instantly this was the right choice for us.
From the moment Dr. Rikh entered our home, she treated us with the utmost kindness, compassion and respect. What really surprised me was she sat down on the floor let us talk of Dakota while she fed him a Twix candy bar. She instantly made a friend.
We opted to say our final goodbye bin the place Dakota loved most and that was bed.
She took such great care in how she handled our boy, explained everything to us and let us have all the time we needed.
While losing Dakota has been devastating his passing was one of calm and peacefulness. The most touching part was when she lit a small candle in memory of Dakota.
Dr. Rikh is truly an amazing person who shows so much compassion to those in their time of grief. She came into our lives as a stranger whom we had never met at a most difficult time but left our home as a friend.
Thank you Dr. Rikh for doing what you do. You are truly amazing.
I hope my story helps someone else in their time of grief.
