I had some people express interest in meeting my pup (in a video), so that is the reason I made this short little video, and decided I may as well put together a brief post introducing her as well.
Dakota is a purebred border collie, 15 months old now, just out of puppyhood, a little smaller than average, and she’s had quite an adventurous short life so far. I got her at nine weeks old, at the beginning of last February in Montana where I was living at the time, in the middle of a cold winter blizzard - conditions that ended up lasting the entire month, so she was born and raised to be a snow dog I suppose.
She was the last remaining puppy of a litter of six when I called about the ad I had seen, the also only female of them all, and yet somehow the only one left when I called. Usually females are the first to go, so I felt that was a sign she was meant for me, as the house situation prevented me from getting a male. And now that I’ve had her for a whole year, I’m so glad I went for it.
Unlike my last border collie, Dakota has always been extremely friendly to all people and dogs, even little kids, maybe because she initially grew up with a family with five young girls of all ages. And, also unlike my last one, it took me a whole week to pick out the right name, but once I finally settled on it, it seemed to fit. Dakota is Lakota Sioux for ‘friend’, and she’s been a good friend, and the most friendly dog I think I’ve ever had. She’s so far never met another dog or human she hasn’t liked, and loves to play with other dogs of all sizes, big and small. I am especially so appreciative of how good she is with kids, never barking or nipping and very gentle with them.
Like all border collies, she has an overwhelming amount of energy, loves to run, and would love to have some sheep around to herd, as that is what she was bred to do. However, she has been lucky enough to have the chance to ‘herd’ some cattle on several occasions, as we’ve been camping throughout the southwest over the winter, and there are sometimes free range cattle on the public lands.
She’s also not a huge fan of being cooped up in the car on the days we travel, but sure is adorable when she decides to climb up on top of all the luggage in the back...
And often reminds me of that bumper sticker - ‘dog is my copilot’.
She also loves to swim, and started swimming naturally of her own accord at a young age without any prompting by me or anyone else. Of course she loves to fetch, whether frisbee or tennis balls, but that’s pretty much a given for the breed. However unlike any dog I’ve had, she loves to dig, and bury her bones sometimes.
She also loves to chase rabbits and deer, and she made friends with a kitten one of the roommates brought home, during the last few weeks at that house before embarking on this road trip adventure we’ve been on ever since - for five months now.
Before leaving Montana, we were able to go on quite a few ski trips, and she loves skiing, and doesn’t chase the ski tips like some dogs want to do, so that was great! She also loves mountain biking, and doesn’t chase the bike tires like my last dog did, and we were able to do lots of biking before leaving Montana as well. We also managed several hikes, and a few backpacking trips as well. Here is a picture from Montana in October, just before heading south to Utah, when she was still a puppy:
On one of the last mountain biking trips in Montana before the snow returned, we ran into a black bear that was right off the trail, and she ran right up to it, barking, apparently not at all afraid, and thankfully the bear wasn’t bothered by her antics. As soon as I biked past the bear and continued down the trail, she followed, and the bear never moved from its place, neither phased by the humans around or by Dakota.
Running on the Continental Divide trail in southern New Mexico in December, on her birthday:
She has even shown herself to be a decent rock-climber at times :)
More recently, just yesterday right before making the video, we met a pack of coyotes for the first time, so that was exciting and pretty cool, though I didn’t have a camera on me, so unfortunately didn’t get any video or even a photo from the encounter. We were on a late morning walk near my camp in southern New Mexico, and I heard Dakota bark an unusual bark, similar to the way she barked when she saw that bear, so I immediately looked up and quickly went in that direction to see what it was.
Next thing I know, what turned out to be a coyote ran out from the trees followed by Dakota, but then three more coyotes ran out, and so Dakota quickly went from the one chasing to the one being chased. I’m not sure if they were playing, or simply trying to chase her out of their territory, or may have attacked her given the chance, but at any rate, as soon as they noticed me, they all froze, and just stared at me. Dakota didn’t seem scared, and headed back towards the first one I had seen, but I called her away as I ran back to the tent, hoping I could return with my phone to get a picture, but upon returning they were already long gone. I have heard that sometimes when meeting a dog, a coyote will play with the dog, and other times will attempt to attack it and get into a fight if it is a bigger dog that fights back. I’m not sure how it would have gone with Dakota so outnumbered, if I hadn’t been around, but she seemed capable of outrunning them from the short demonstration I saw.
I was surprised and grateful to have the opportunity to see some coyotes at such close range - within ten yards of me - as they are typically nocturnal creatures and this was after ten in the morning. Maybe it was partly because it was a cloudy, rainy day, I’m not sure. On multiple occasions at various campsites in both New Mexico and Arizona I heard the coyotes barking and howling at night, often very close to my tent, but never saw any of them until now. Hopefully I will get the opportunity to safely do so once again, but at a time I have a camera on me, which I will try to remember to not leave in my tent anytime I go on a walk or bike ride.
In the meantime, Dakota remains a great companion and playmate, and I’m so grateful to have found her.
Below, Dakota seen ‘posing’ at the top of south-facing hilltop on a warm fall day in the Rocky Mountains of Utah, during a lengthy mountain bike ride, all worn out (but not too tired for the run back down to camp):
