Performance Edit

Ch. Dakota’s All That N Then Some (aka Indy) with her owner/handler Jodi Fraser, completed her CD and Rally Excellent titles in the same weekend! Indy really came into her own since moving out east to live with Jodi and Kelly and their other Dalmatian, Jack, (a former foster child at Dakota). They finished their title with high scores and grand style. The last we heard, Indy's new initials were Ch. Dakota All That N Then Some, CD, RE, NA, NAJ!

Dakota Drama Q Siren's Song RN RA CGC

In 2007, Saoirse, owned by, handled and loved by Susan Taylor, earned her Rally Novice at DCA, Rally Advanced at the Chicagoland Specialty, and Novice Agility Jumpers with Weaves taking second place in a line up of over 20 dogs at Lafayette Kennel Club!

Rookie

Congratulations to Rookie and Peter! Rookie was #8 Top Spot for Novice Title in 2007. He also earned his RE title so his name officially became Dakota's Desperado CD, RE. Rookie is a Sawyer & Katie son. His 'housemate," Connor is the first Dakota dog to earn his CDX so with his titles, Connor's name is now Dakota's Prince Connor CDX RAE.

Dakota is delighted to congratulate Linda McSherry and her Champion Sawyer daughter, Maeve, on their Tracking title. This is truly an all-round conformation and performance team. What a great example of what Dalmatians can do!

TDIA Ch. Dakota's Catch R Nokona Belle

Champion, Belle, now crossed over the "bridge,"became an outstandng certified therapy dog. We were so proud of the work that she and her owner, Karen, did together. Belle and Karen were honored for more than 150 credited visits in a nursing home. The title TDIAOV is the top title a therapy dog can earn. It stands for Therapy Dogs International Outstanding Volunteer. With all Belle's titles, her official name became CH. Dakota's Catch R Nokona Belle CGC TDIA TDIAOV! Karen and Belle are pictured above getting their certificate. Nursing home residents and staff had gathered to say "Thank You" while Belle took time to greet each person by shaking hands or giving a kiss.

In addition to her first therapy certification, Belle also completed her official International Therapy Dog title. She became TDIA Ch. Dakota's Catch R Nokona Belle! Her work was featured in a wonderful article in the "Spotter," the official quarterly magazine published by the Dalmatian Club of America. It included several beautiful pictures of Belle at work and some moving accounts of the impact she had on the patients. More information about certified Therapy Dogs can be found at http://www.tdi-dog.org/

"Martin"
Dakota's Tell Me No Lies!

Hearing Dogs assist deaf and hard of hearing individuals by alerting them to a variety of household sounds such as a door knock or doorbell, alarm clock, oven buzzer, telephone, baby cry, name call or smoke alarm. Dogs are trained to make physical contact and lead their deaf partners to the source of the sound.

While Hearing Dogs are generally mixed breeds acquired from animal shelters and are small to medium in size, Martin is a fairly large, AKC registered Dalmatian! He originally joined his family as a pet and companion, but now has been trained to help his owner as a hearing dog..

We were so pleased when we got an email from Martin's family telling us about his transition from family pet to "hearing dog." Martin learned to focus on unfamiliar sounds as well as sounds he was trained for. This can be quite difficult as Martin had to decide on his own which unfamiliar sounds were significant. He also had training to hold his "orienting" on new sounds longer and also was retrained from walking at heel to walking with his head in front so his sound orienting is visible to his owner . Martin behaved perfectly in public places and businesses so the next step planned was to get him certified so he could gain full public access.

We couldn't be more proud of this team!