So today I said good bye to an amazing dog!!!
In 2007 I was really just cutting my teeth in the dog training world. I had my yellow lab Morgan for a year at that point, had done a number of courses, was working hard as an assistant trainer and was getting as much experience as I could with dogs. One of my ways of doing this was to volunteer with Heavenly Creatures. By 2007, I had fostered a number of their harder luck cases and started developing a reputation to be able to handle the sad stories.
In July Jessica called me. The conversations went something like this….
“Ken, we have been contacted by the SPCA in Clarenville. They have a white husky mix that came to them from the West Coast. A number of the agencies have had him in their care. They attempted to adopt him out a number of times but to no avail. He displays some animal and people aggression. In Clarenville he is getting into the other dogs runs and attacking them. They can’t keep him. Is there any way you can take him”
At the time I had Morgan who was a year and a half old. I was also fostering Chopper, a large male lab who had aggression. So I declined saying I could not bring another dog into the house with issues like that while Chopper was with me.
Jessica sent me pics of him and then said…
“It is Canada Day weekend, there is nobody to take him. Even if you can sit on him for the weekend until we can arrange another home for him. If we can’t come up with something, he will be euthanized”
Oh dear.
I accepted.
I often tell this story in class and as is often the case with stories they tend to take on a life of their own over the years of telling. Sometimes they get embellished but this one is pretty close to reality.
So I arrange to meet the volunteers from the SPCA at the Village Mall. They tell me they will be driving a white cube van and will park on the side parking lot. I see the van and one of the volunteers is outside smoking. He hands me the leash and says “good luck”. At the point the van is rocking and the howls coming from inside are deafening. It reminded me of the old Bugs Bunny cartoons where they introduce the Tasmanian Devil…..you hear grumbling and the box is rocking while everybody runs away. I go to the back of the van and pull open the doors. Hunched into the rear corner is this pure white fuzzy adult dog. He has his teeth showing, he is crouched down and his tail is swaying back and forth. He is looking at me as if to say “bring it bud”.
So I wait.
After about 5 mins, he sniffs, I hop in, hook the leash on him and off we go.
I immediately bring him for a walk and discover he walks like a dream. Totally by my side. No pulling, no rudeness and completely ignoring anybody we pass. I bring him into the house, take off his leash and he proceeds to be my shadow following me step by step. I leash him up again and off we go with Morgan. It was rough starting but Morgan was so easy going, by the end of the walk, they were walking side by side. The meeting with Chopper was totally different.
The following day fortunately Chopper met a couple who turned into his new furever home.
I wish I could say everything was peaches and cream between Tanner and Morgan. They had a few scuffles. Fortunately all were mainly bluster and always broken up by me. The third day I had him I remember taking some pictures for the adoption website. Trying to get him to stay while I took the pictures was challenging. He turned on me at one point…the one and only time he ever displayed any aggression toward me. He continued to be typical Tanner. He followed me around, matching me step by step. When he was out of his kennel, he never left my side. I quickly realized I was dealing with a dog who had a unique personality. He was not overly affectionate, he was always watching, was serious and LOVED when you asked him to do something.
The adoption ad picture. it was just before this was taken that he laid teeth on me…the one and only time ever. No punctures or anything but he was telling me to cut the crap.
The second week I had him, I brought him home to my folks. We were visited by friends of the family, one of which owned a number of chicken farms. He took one look at Tanner and said..
“Ken, you realize what kind of dog you are dealing with here? That is a maremma”
At that point I had no idea what a maremma was. Harry proceeded to tell me that there were a number of farmers on the west coast that had gotten these dogs in. They were a rarer breed. They were live stock guardians from Italy originally. An ancient breed of dogs bred to live amongst the sheep and protect them from predators when the shepherds were not present…hence the white color. They were known for their confidence, their aloof disposition, their independence and there innate desire to attach to whatever they were in charge of guarding. The maremma is not for the faint of heart. They tend not to be dogs for first time owners, a description that was confirmed to me over and over again in the years as I have heped people with a dozen of them. I did some reading and saw some pictures…sure enough, that is what I had on my hands.
So I continued my work with Tanner. We bonded more and more. In the 8th week of foster I headed to class with he and Morgan. That evening I was supposed to demo Morgan to a new group of students. I showed up early to practice with Morgan leaving Tanner in my truck with the windows partially open. About 15 mins into practice, I catch a white blur through the classroom window out of the corner of my eye. I look at Morgan and say, “that looked like Tanner”. As I said that, I see Tanner with his front paws on the window staring into the classroom. I take off for the door to find him disappearing behind the building. So I run after him.
Picture the building as a big H block with the classroom on one side of the H and kennels full of dog runs on the other side. Tanner runs through one of the side doors, runs through the dog part of the H hooking open doors as he goes, ignoring all the dogs in their kennels, runs through the hallway in the middle part of the H. I discover him standing in front of the back door to the classroom. He looks at me and scratches at the door. I walk over, open the door, he runs into the classroom, sits next to Morgan and looks at me. I say…”how the hell did you get out of the truck and into the yard?”
Two days after I signed his adoption papers…we went on a little adventure. Ya, he was living large
Turned out that as students arrived, he wiggled his way through the gap in the window of the truck To this day I have no idea how he managed to do it without breaking the window. He ran into the store, through all the students and their dogs waiting to be fitted with leashes and collars for class. Out the back door of the store. He climbed over a 7 foot chain link fence and came across the yard. That’s where I saw him and the chase ensued.
I leashed him up and he lay down in the corner of the class while myself and Morgan demoed. I remember calling Jessica during break telling her to take Tanner off the website…he was my new dog.
Tanner’s disposition taught me so much. The maremma temperament and personality really emerged. He was aloof with strangers but once he considered you his, he was fiercely loyal and protective. I remember when I brought Kitty home, he wanted to eat her. Three days later he was following her around and keeping her from going underneath the fridge, after seeing me pull her out a half dozen times, hooking her back inside after she choose to dart out the door with him and Morgan. He was just that type of dog. He loved to work. I decided to make him a therapy dog. Getting patted by strangers was not something he particularly enjoyed but when he figured out it was something I expected of him, he took to the role like a duck to water. Anything I asked him to do, I ever really only had to ask him once and he did it. Most things I never had to ask him, he just figured it out from watching me. He hated strange dogs up in his face. It took me a year to get him more accepting of that but he eventually he came around and developed all kinds of dog friends. For those who know him now, it is hard to imagine him not being this way. He has dog friends from 8 pounds to 250 pounds and he loves them all.
Tanner was a literal houdini. My truck was not the last thing he managed to get out of my any stretch. Doors were mere inconveniences to him. Tie outs NEVER worked. Bottom line was, if he wanted to be somewhere, he was getting there. Once I was up on the roof of my house fixing some shingles that had blown off during a wind storm. I was bent over looking at the damage and I hear foot steps coming across the roof. I look up to see Tanner walking toward me. Ya, up the 15 foot ladder and across the roof he came. He strolled over, sat alongside me as if to say “ Hey, what’s up, need a hand?” Getting him down the ladder was so much fun.
I mentioned Tanner was fiercely protective. He was never aggressive with anybody but if you were not supposed to be doing something, he let you know. About two years after I got him that summer there were a number of break ins happening in Cowan Heights. My house backs on a trail as so many of our houses do. For those young people wanting to get up to no good, these areas are prime places to hit as you can just jump back into the woods and be gone. I was in the bedroom half asleep one night. It was about two in the morning. Tanner jumped up, cocked him head and headed for the bedroom door. I followed him to the kitchen to find him staring at the open kitchen window. Beneath that window is the roof of the appartment porch and a set of stairs leading to my patio. It is quite easy to hoist yourself onto the porch roof from the stairs and look into my kitchen. Tanner was just standing and looking at the window and I hear whispering outside. I see a hand come through window to the crank handle and start turning it. I can’t believe my eyes. Bold as brass somebody was attempting to break into my house with me in it!!! To be fair…my truck was in the garage at the time and all the lights were off so perhaps they just didn’t know. As I am looking at this and reaching for a big mag flashlight I had to bust the intruders head, I see the face of a young teen male appear in the window. He goes to crawl in only to come face to face with Tanner. His eyes meet Tanners and go wide. Tanner immediately lets the HUGE bark out of him. The guy throws himself back, falls off the roof and lands on the pavement with an “UMPH”. I run to the door to see him running across the lawn. By this time Morgan had figured out something was up. Both dogs charged through the door. The young guy is climbing the 6 foot fence and yelling to his buddies to help him over..that the dogs were going to get him. I let the yell out of me, he gets to the other side. They yell back at me with a few choice words ad laugh at the dogs. Tanner didn’t even break stride. He just sailed over the fence. I never saw four young guys move so fast. I yell to Tanner to stop, he immediate does and I see them disappearing down the trail. I climb the fence and walk him around and back into the house. I haven’t had an issue with any break and enters since.
I remember when I brought him into St. John’s Animal Hospital to have him neutered. It took us three visits to have it done. I dropped him off for the initial appointment. They call me half an hour later asking me to come get him. When they put him into the kennel, he hooked open the door. They caught him darting through the surgery room heading for the main door. Unfortunately he made a pit stop along the way and ripped open a couple of bags of food. Surgery postponed. His next visit they placed him into the kennel, left the leash on him, tied the leash to the inside and zip tied the door closed. Two hours later I get a phone call to pick him up. He chewed through the leash and the zip ties, popped the door open and again got out and into the food. They apologized and promised the next visit would be different…special kennel to hold him and the neuter would be discounted significantly. It worked this time but only because q vet assistant was in the holding area cleaning the kennels. He managed to figure out the lock and pop it open. She just kept him attached to her as they moved the surgery earlier to get it done.
My boy had quite the wild streak that definitely softened as he got older but never left him entirely
He and Morgan were my 1-2 punch. He taught dogs to mind their manners and be respectful. Morgan taught them to trust and have fun. Between the both of them, fostering was made so much easier. I look back on dogs like Trout, Polar, Diesel, Angel and so many more. They all benefitted from their interactions with Tanner and Morgan. They made me look good.
Morgan and Tanner working their magic with Angel. Tanner was always patient with her
A couple years later, I took on Rigger as a long term project. Oh boy, Tanner had a field day with her. It was amazing to see him step up to the plate and teach her. I can write a book on that alone. It was honestly a beautiful thing to see and I constantly marvelled at his interaction with her.
Did I mention Tanner could jump? Ya, he had a 7 foot vertical…no problem at all. He was fearless. One time out scuba diving, I popped up in the middle of the bay. Dad had Tanner and Morgan in the boat with him. He started the motor and sped toward me intending to make a wide circle and come up behind me. At half throttle and just approaching the circle, Tanner figured he did not want to turn away. Over the side he went to get to me. He hit the water, flipped over, surfaced and then came swimming toward me. We dragged him back into the boat. As I am passing my gear up, I look up to see him staring me in the face…over he comes again.
Yes he was fearless and he could get air when he wanted to
Did I mention he sheds? Worse than ANY dog I have ever seen. When people remark…”my lab sheds something awful” or “My husky is a heavy shedder”….I appreciate that but you never saw what came off of Tanner. I could fill bags of fur from his coat. It was a year round shed. I could have him groomed one day and the next be pulling just as much hair from him.
There are so many stories I can tell about my boy. He never really lost that wild streak. He would face down anybody and anything. Nothing phased him. From kids hanging off him, to other dogs wanting to push him around, to being surrounded by 40 cows to hanging out on stage while I did my presentations. From the pet expo to therapy dog orientations, working with other dogs to driving them away if they showed too much interest in our Kitty, cuddling up with seniors to working with kids with Downs…pages can be filled with his exploits.
Tanner hanging out as we do an orientation for the SJA Therapy Dog Program
Tanner never seemed to age. He was always so light on his feet and so able to go. We could do miles together without him seeming to notice. Even as Morgan got older and less able. Tanner looked and acted the same.
Unfortunately like all great dogs, time caught up. The last year I started to notice changes. The first one was that he started to slow down a little on the walks. He still had the spring in his step but it was not as pronounced. His hearing started to deteriorate and he got tired more easily. At this point he was roughly 15 years old. So for a larger dog, that is up there. This winter was particularly rough. Our group walks in Bowring Park began to get shorter. After a lap, he was done. He loved the walksa nd loved seeing everybody. He loved coming to class and was a total mooch for treats. Where he always took treats so gentle, the older he got, the more he snapped them up. Group members were very understanding though and realized it was an age thing. He developed more eccentricities….he went back to sleeping alongside my bed…where for years he would sleep nowhere but his open kennel.
One of our group dog walks last fall in the Goulds. Tanner was front and centre but starting to show his age
The last month was a rough one. Lock down with Covid seemed to coincide with Tanner getting even worse. Our walks became short strolls. He would wake randomly panting heavily and couldn’t settle. His legs and hips were giving out constantly especially on smooth flooring and stairs. Sometimes when he woke up, he would look at me confused. The panting grew to be a steady thing. The last week he deteriorated badly. He would wake every hour and head for the door. He would go outside and get stuck there. I would find him underneath the patio or behind the shed just standing. Mobility was greatly decreased. When he ignored his food the last two days I could tell he was in trouble. Yesterday I made the tough choice…he was miserable and I couldn’t have him suffer. I contacted CBS Animal Hospital and made an appointment with Dr. Harvey to have him put to sleep.
We spent yesterday hanging out when he was awake. He ignored his dog food but any human food offered, he gladly ate. He couldn’t move much. This morning I went outside to get him to find him laying next to a pile of poop. He couldn’t remove himself.
When I got him to the vet he perked up…to the point I was almost prepared to cancel the appointment. He wagged his tail and sniffed around at the grass. He nearly took the fingers off the vet tech when she offered him a cookie. But one look in his face and I knew he was just giving me a last moment of happiness and comfort. Even then, he was looking out for me.
I sit here typing this up and bawling my eyes out. At 10:30 am this morning Tanner crossed the rainbow bridge. I sat with him on the floor as he fell asleep. I told him what a great dog he was, how I was lucky to have him come into my life. I told him to find Morgan, Rigger and so many other of our family and friends who had already crossed. I hope he, Morgan and Rigger and hanging out, looking down at me now and grinning their doggy grins.
I want to thank everybody for their kind words, their love and their support. It means everything to me. Over the years I have done this too often. It never gets easier. Dogs burn so bright but their time with us is way too short.
Tanner is at Angel Paws now where Jackie is looking after him. When I bring him home, he will go into a box with Morgan and Rigger. I miss them all so much and don’t know what I am going to do without them. Loosing Rigger was difficult but it was made easier because I still had Morgan and Tanner. Morgan's passing was really rough. He was the first and the reason I am who am today. But, Tanner was there to pick up the pieces. Now Tanner has joined them…it is myself and the Kitty. She is already going around the house lost. I will be cleaning his hair out of this house for the next couple of years. For the first time in 15 years, I don’t have a dog in my home.
The three buttheads. Such different personalities. They were my heart and soul!!!
Hold your puppies close and appreciate every moment you have with them..even the trying ones. There will come a time you would give anything to have any one of those moments back!
Tanner, you my friend were amazing. I will never find another dog like you. You taught me so much about living, and about being in the moment. Your calm steady unwavering disposition would be the envy of any. Your devotion and love were unparalleled. I will miss you!!!
Run free sweet boy until I see you and all of our pack again!!!