A gentle spirit...

In August of 2002, I met a very handsome golden retriever who was the sweetest, most gentle boy dog I had ever known – Dakota Casier. So just a little background on my experience with dogs - when I was growing up, my family only had girl dogs. Somewhere in the back of my head, I thought boy dogs were meaner or less gentle. Boy, was I wrong.

Dakota was THE faithful companion to the owner of Sleeping Bear Orchards, Bill Casier and he may have been a father of some pups at some point in his life.I have a vague recollection of seeing some “marriage” photo when he was younger, perhaps, just before ‘hooking up’ with some golden retriever girl! For most of his life, I think, Dakota was never far from his master’s side. In the orchard, in the truck, in the house – where Bill was, Dakota was never far behind.I recall Bill’s nephew, Michael, telling me about the day Bill went to close on his house in Empire. Dakota was not in the car, so when Bill left to go to the bank, Dakota started to follow him on foot! The amazing thing was he seemed to realize following the car was futile and returned to the orchard (and Michael) on his own.

His impact on me drove me to buy the most beautiful girl dog, Sunny. She is a lighter golden than Dakota, but she has a similar temperament. Ok, let's be honest - she IS a bit more high strung than laid-back Dakota.

What was so amazing was how he could be trusted. Bill, I’m sure will take credit for great training – but I think Dakota was just that kind of dog. He certainly never needed a leash for getting in and out of the car or in traversing the orchards. He came when he was called – EVERYTIME. He was the most patient dog with my high-strung, ear biting puppy Sunny (when she was little).He would just shake her off and keep walking – even when she was hanging on his ear! Poor Sunny just could not get him to fight back, but he would chase her now and then - and was always pleased to find a drink of water at the end of the run. I’ve watched Sunny with her ‘rescue dog’ brother and figured she learned to be a patient ‘sister’ dog because she remembered how Dakota treated her when she was a growing pup! I suspect, she learned most of her manners from him.

A few years ago, I bought Dakota some beefy bone to chew on. It was the funniest thing, Bill said, ‘bones don’t seem to be his thing, he picked it up and dropped it in the middle of the floor and hasn’t touched it since then’. I stopped by one day – weeks later - and Dakota went over the bone and started chewing it! Bill and I were both dumbfounded. I am sure he never touched it again.

This weekend, Bill lost that faithful friend of 14 years. Bill was quite stoic when he told me – and I drove away weeping. You are already missed ‘baby boy’, Dakota!