Salute to Takota

Wow. I am getting teary-eyed just starting this post. How does one adequately say thanks and send loves out to a dog somewhere up in heaven? Sweet ol' Kota. He was the perfect dog...well, after the age of three:).
Todd and I bought Kota from a breeder as a six week old puppy. He was cheaper cause he wasn't papered so we could afford him. $125. One of the best $125 we ever spent!
He was so dang cute. Lance was eighteen months old when we bought Takota. Lance loved him. We all loved him...well, most of the time. He was the typical labrador retriever puppy. High energy. Loved to chew. Could jump five feet high from a standing position when he saw you coming to the door. Patient. Tolerable of the 18 month old boy that played with him. Loyal. Loving. Practically perfect.


As he grew up, Kota just became better and better with age. Sierra joined our family and he once again, tolerated a young child climbing all over him. As Kota aged, he settled down. He didn't have a mean bone in his body. He went with us everywhere. To the cabin (above). Camping. To the Dunes. To Apache Lake (where he loved to retrieve the frisbee from out of the lake). Kota was wonderful!
And, then came another boy....to poke and prod. Zane's face would just light up when he could get over to Kota. And Kota would just lie there and take it all in. Perfectly.

Kota didn't mind when Sierra covered him in sand at the Dunes. Kota just wanted to be with the family. He was part of our family.

At 12 and a half years, Kota was slowing down quite a bit. His hips were shot. He was deaf...or at least had very selective hearing. If I wanted him to come, I would have to pat my leg and get him to see me in order to come. Cataracts even filled his eyes. Yet, he stayed patient, tolerable, and loyal. Weston had to be reminded that Kota was old so he needed to be gentle when he hung on him. The kids wanted a younger dog to play with since Kota just laid around all day. And, so because of Kota, we knew our next dog could only be another labrador retriever. We adopted Cash last summer from a Rescue Org. for Labs. (Todd didn't want to go through that chewing puppy stage again...although Kota was worth every chewed up item).

Kota took in his new partner with a welcoming wag of the tail.
But, now at the age of thirteen and a half, Kota has gone to the other side...wherever those special spirits are. We miss him greatly. Cash has big PAWS to fill to become even half the dog that Kota was. Here's a ten gun salute to one of the best, most loving, loyal, and tolerable dogs ever. We love you Kota!