My "South Dakota Darling"

This is a puppy picture of hers - I don't have any recent photos on my computer

South Dakota Darling is my dog - Dakota's - real name. Of course, we don't use that mouthful on an everyday basis. It was just for her pedigree papers. But the name, although we didn't know it at the time, suits her perfectly. Dakota is my sweetheart. She is a darling.

When I was pregnant, she would just lay her head on my stomach and stay there...which is unusual for her, because even though she is incredibly sweet, she is exceptionally fearful. I think the people who bred her were not very good to her. Since the moment we got her she has been afraid of people. Two years later, she still won't let just anybody come up and touch her. You have to stick your hand out and if she wants to, she'll come up to you. You'll never catch her if you just try to outright pet her. I will say this for her, she has come a long way, and we can see she is becoming more comfortable and trusting around us, we also know that, she might not ever be comfortable with human affection. Although, she is your constant companion. She will just follow you around the house and she is always at your feet.

She does let Little Leo touch her. You can see that she is just scared to death every time he pets her, but she allows him to do it all the same. Which I think is so sweet. She loves him, and since he was a baby she has been his little protector. She follows him and watches out for him - she is super cute. And I love her.

Which brings me to my post. Shortly after we got her, her hind knee went out and she had to go through a pretty serious surgery. She wasn't allowed to walk for 6 weeks, and we had to really limit her activity for a few more weeks after that. The vet told us then that, eventually, she would need surgery on her other knee, since this was a congenitive problem. Well I've noticed she's been limping a lot more than usual - she always walk with a limp - and to err on the side of caution, I took her to see Dr. Hill today. She needs her other surgery. If we don't fix that bad knee soon, she will need a second surgery on her left leg to correct the damage being done from her bad leg right now. Since she is overcompensating with her good leg for the shortcomings of her bad one and it is beginning to wear down her good leg.

He also said, she has developed some scar tissue on her left leg from the first surgery and that too much exercise is painful for her from the rubbing of the knee cap against it. He said she is ABSOLUTELY not do any running. I do 3.5 miles with her everyday! I feel so horrible, I had no idea it was painful for her. My poor baby. I am not looking forward to this next surgery, she became depressed last time and she will be so miserable without her sister, Memphis.

It's funny...she is just a dog - a family pet...but she is such a part of our little family.