Tank the Friendly Dog

Tank is a very friendly dog. He loves people. Some friend's tended him while we were gone to that Family Reunion in Fillmore and brought him to their house a few times. Everyone in the family keeps begging their Mom for a dog and she keeps telling them "NO!" Turns out her hubby was taking a nap while Tank was roaming their house. He woke to being covered in dog slobber as Tank was gazing sadly, as usual, into his eyes. Then he remembered, "Now I know why I don't want a dog." I guess that Mom will be at peace for a few weeks.

Tank is normally locked in the backyard whenever we are gone, hence the reason my friends brought him to their house, they felt sorry for the poor guy. And even though he gets walked regularly he makes a run for it anytime someone leaves a door open. He's escaped three times when we weren't able to track him down immediately. The first two times we got calls from people within two blocks of our house.


The first time I went to get him Baby and I walked since it was so close. The lady was out in her front yard and her kids were in the back of their truck and the younger one was crying. I thought 'Oh no, Tank's scaring her kids.' She very kindly gave me Tank back and informed me that the crying little girl was sad because they couldn't keep Tank. I felt much better. Normally Tank doesn't scare people but you never know.

The last time Tank got out we didn't even know it had happened. About 15 minutes after we put him in the backyard we got a call on our home phone. Middle Child answered and whispered to me since I was on my own phone, "Tank got out!" I told him to get the address and we'd come right over. He jotted down the address, grabbed the leash, and we were off. I headed to the corner where he was waiting for us, expecting one of the houses on the corner to be waiting for us to save them from this friendly hound. Not so. There was the Animal Control Officer on the side of the road holding Tank's collar. I was still on the phone and groaned, "Gotta let you go, the cops have my dog!" I got out expecting a fine or at least a lecture but thankfully the Officer was on his own phone. I thanked him gratefully and Tank ran to get in our truck since that mean Officer wouldn't let the hairy dog in his backseat.


I wonder why there are packs of dogs roaming the city and yet every time my dog gets out we instantly get a call to come and get him. Then I remembered, Tank is a very friendly dog. He's trying to make friends and get more car rides.

Dog Training

The only thing we can train our basset hounds to do is to run outside when they somehow secure some unauthorized food.


"Please let me out! You'll never know I had it!" Those eyes just beg for more food.


And to whet all your tastebuds. Something Tank didn't get hold of, Middle Child's birthday cake. I frosted it with the NieNie Mudcake recipe as found here at the bottom of the page. Needless to say, it was delicious.

He turned 12! I'm not quite sure where the time has gone but he sure has grown up lately. He can sleep in like a teenager. He can pull attitude like a teenager. He can shirk chores and homework like a teenager. But, thank goodness, he's still sweet like a little boy and loves to give hugs. He's got more love to spread than the rest of us combined. He makes up for our lack.

Happy 12th Birthday Middle Child!!!

Partying Hard

This is how the New Year's Eve festivities began:


What more could one ask for? Hot men and guns! After the excitement of checking out new guns and scopes and comparing a few stories (someone shot a buffalo this past year) we were ready to eat and party like 1999. We had a yummy potluck dinner and then proceeded to the partying part.

We played Guitar Hero for hours on end! (refer to 9 New Year's Resolutions for 2009 #8) It was a blast til no one could get past a certain song at around 1 am when everybody decided to head home and sleep. So we finally got to sleep around 1:30. The next morning came with everyone feeling like the Baby and his Dog.

This was at 9:30 am. Tank soon got up and went outside to take care of business. Lately he's on a short leash. With the snow and wind we now have a three-foot snow drift in our backyard, enabling the pooch to jump the four-foot fence and run free. So we had to buy a 20-foot chain to attach him to so he stays with his loving family. But unfortunately he promptly wraps it around everything within reach in the backyard and ends up whining when he's stuck with about a one-foot radius to move around in.

Then at 10:30 am Baby was in this position.


Then Tank came in and decided to wake the sleeping child.





But then Tank said "On second thought that looks comfy. I think I'm gonna join him."


And that was how 2009 began for us! Hope yours was almost as fun as ours cuz we had the rockingest party in town!

The Aftermath of Christmas Treats

Christmas Day was quite uneventful at our house, despite the fact that there was mad unwrapping of presents, paper flying all through the air, and children squealing in delight. As usual those kids of ours made out like bandits! The Jolly Old Man brought the kids a Wii! They were so delighted and ecstatic to FINALLY have a Wii like everyone else in the world. Baby has been playing Lego Star Wars nonstop. Middle Child turned off his Nintendo DS for a few minutes yesterday in order to play Guitar Hero Aerosmith, one of the best games ever invented!

Olaf and I got some nice things from each other and Santa. But the best present of all was the new carpet cleaner stuck in a big box under the tree. As I opened it Olaf told me I could return it but thought it would be good since we have a dog. I figured we'd keep it cuz we sure could use it occasionally.

That night after I had put the kids to bed and turned on Guitar Hero Aerosmith and played for a while, Olaf, at the computer playing, looked in the other room at Tank and asked, "Are you all right Tank?" After asking this several times over the next ten minutes he turned to me and said "I think our dog has a cold."

I put the guitar down and went to check on him. I didn't know you could tell when a dog has a cold. Turns out he didn't have a cold. I flipped on the light and saw splashes of puke on the sofa blanket from the poor dry heaving dog. I sent him outside and threw the blanket in the washer. We let him back in and then as soon as he would start dry heaving I sent him back out for a few minutes. Unfortunately it was snowing and very cold and I didn't have the heart to leave him out for very long. Olaf went and put a big blanket over Baby's bed and Tank went to sleep with his boy. Unfortunately he still wasn't feeling good and soon he had puked all over the end of the blanket and it trickled down to Baby's regular quilt, pillow shams and blankets put on the ground to be out of Tank's reach, and finally the floor.

At this point I got a little frustrated. I put that dog back outside while I gathered up more things that needed washing. I then decided I wanted to go to sleep, it was midnight. So I took the pillow out of the kennel and put in a blanket. Then I wrapped a big huge blanket over the top and sides of the kennel. Then I let Tank back in and put him in the kennel and hoped he wouldn't get too sick. And if he did I hoped the blanket would catch any messes from flying all over the house.

In the morning I got up and noticed he had only gotten sick once, and of course most of it landed on the floor, but at least we have that cool new Carpet Cleaner. So I put the contraption together while I waited for my friend to shower. This way Olaf could get to work right away when he got home and wouldn't have to waste time. And then I went shopping with that freshly showered friend of mine.

And Tank was fine by morning. We don't know what he got into but it was probably some of the enormous amounts Christmas treats we have laying around the house.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas with your family!

And the winner is. . .

TANK

We named our new dog Tank. He seems to respond to the name. He is doing pretty good with us as his new family. The first day we brought him home he was so hyper he was jumping over the sofas! He has calmed down quite a bit but still has his moments when he's running crazy. He makes us think that Boomer was much older than we thought!

Welcome

Last Saturday we added a new member to our family. Our children could hardly bare the whole two lives missing. While they can never ever be replaced we have been trying hard to find a new member to add. So, as of last Saturday, we have a new member. Welcome our new dog, Snyder, Tank, Sniper, or the accidental Boomer. I'm going to have my first contest. We are trying to come up with a good name for him and need some help. So leave us some hints. I haven't gotten a pic yet, but he looks a lot like Boomer, a little longer and a little darker. Scared our neighbor to death! He kind of freaked out when he first saw the new dog in the backyard. His wife assured him that this was indeed a different dog, not Boomer. So, leave us some ideas for a new name and we'll let you know what we name him soon!

Real African Dog

A while ago Baby's friend from across the street, Z, started pounding on our front door. I opened it.

"Where's Baby? There's a hurt bird out here he has to see!" Z exclaimed.

I thought 'Boys and their desire for grossness.'

Baby went outside while I started the truck, we were leaving for the store and we had just put Boomer the Basset Hound in the backyard, his Kingdom. I pulled around the corner to grab Baby. He was watching a bird flutter off the ground about an inch. The poor thing would fly a foot or two and fall back to the ground. While it looked ok, it definitely wasn't. As it was fluttering around it flapped through our chain link fence into Boomer the Basset Hound's Kingdom.

Whatever came next couldn't have a happy ending. Those with delicate indispositions may want to stop reading now.

Boomer the Basset Hound soon noticed the disabled bird and started barking at it. Then he opened wide and scooped it up in his mouth. The bird sure didn't like that! He fought and Boomer the Basset Hound had to let him go. The bird fluttered frantically away from the big beast. But he wasn't fast enough in his crippled condition. Boomer the Basset Hound barked and tried to eat the bird again. The bird fought back again and got away for a moment.

At this point I decided there was only one probable outcome and the children would be devastated that Boomer the Basset Hound could be so cruel. I put Baby in the truck and instructed the other children to go home. I blatantly lied to them and said the bird would get away but needed to be left alone. I fled the scene.

For several days Baby talked about how the bird got away until he discovered a dead bird in our backyard! He was distressed that Boomer the Basset Hound could do something so brutal. I tried to explain the Circle of Life, but I don't think he's ever seen Lion King. So I related it to Secondhand Lions, his favorite movie and that appeased him. I told him:

"Boomer the Basset Hound is a real African Dog."