our dog, tank, died on july 30. it was a sad day for our family. especially because it all ended so tragically.
the boys and i had just got home from running some errands at about 6pm. i parked our car on the driveway and then went to open the front door and drop off a grocery bag i was carrying. the older boys unbuckled themselves and climbed out of the car. tad was still buckled into his seat.
i had barely got in the house when i heard tank barking outside. it wasn't uncommon for him to slip out the front door and do his business on the front yard when we got home, but this time there was so much barking and yelping and shouting. i could hear some young girls shouting "kick her! kick her!".
so i dropped the grocery bag and ran out to see what was up. and there was tank... in the mouth of a large doberman. the dog had his teeth inside tanks midsection and was shaking him side to side, like animals do with their prey. instinct took over, and i ran over the dog and tried to get it release tank out of its' mouth - which was probably not smart, now that i look back. what if that dog had've turned on me?! - but the dog kept shaking tank back and forth. it all happened so fast, and then the big dog dropped tank on the ground and tank took a final breath, and died.
our neighbors door camera recorded a portion of what happened. they sent the video to me, and it really was just as chaotic as i remembered it.
chet and holden saw the whole thing, which broke my heart. and the poor girls who were walking the larger dog were maybe 10 years old (i honestly don't know what the mom was thinking, letting them walk such a powerful dog on their own) had to witness the awful scene too. thank goodness my next door neighbor hear the commotion and came running out to help. she sent the girls and the dog home, took my boys into her house, and then helped me wrap up tank's body. i am so seriously grateful she was there.
i called matt. he planned on staying at work late that night but, when he heard the news, headed straight home. it took him just over an hour to get home. in that time, i brought our kids back to our house, let them each say a goodbye to tank (although, taddy is much too young to understand!) and found a pet hospital around the corner that was open until 8pm. when matt got home, we all had a good cry. and then matt, holden, and i took tank to the vet and left his body there. it had to happen quite fast because we had no where to keep him in our house. tad went to bed and chet chose to not go to the vet, so our neighbor kept an eye on them. we weren't surprised by chet and holden's choices - they were true to their personalities!
it shocked me how quickly tank's body changed. by the time we took him to the pet hospital, he was rigid and his tongue was drying out. i know those are gross details, but it just really surprised me how harsh and final death is. he was gone. there was nothing we could have said or done to bring him back. there was no way for him to feel one more scratch or snuggle. and that made me sad. BUT i honestly don't know how someone copes with that fact when a PERSON they love dies. no matter if it was a sudden death or a long-time-coming one. my heart aches hard just thinking of how i would feel if i lost one of my people.
i know tank was a dog. and, if someone were saying what i am saying about their dead hamster or cat, i would think they were a little weird. but this experience, combined with our car accident a few months back, have reminded me to love and live now. life is fragile and totally doesn't go how you expect it to.
tank had been part of our family for more than a decade. matt got him for me for our 1st wedding anniversary. i had found him online and matt secretly organized for his parents to go pick that teeny puppy up from spruce grove, AB (3 hours north of us). he was the cutest puppy!
tank did a lot of really annoying things in the 10 years we had him, but he was a good dog. it is so weird not to have him greet us at the door when we get home, sit basically on our shoulder when we are snacking on the couch, tag along on our walks, and eat the crumbs off our floor. we definitely feel like a part of our little family it gone.
adios, tank.
the hospital cremated tank. we plan to bury him on a nearby hike soon.
