Old Man Tank

Tank
Unknown - August 25, 2012

Tank entered our family as we were reeling from the loss of Rita and Marley, our older bulldogs who died a week apart in January. Completely devastated, we began to spend so much time away from home, dreading the silence and profoundly feeling the loss.

We reached out to Colorado Bulldog Rescue to see if there were any bulldogs who needed a home. Turns out, they just had one old guy, Tank, who had been with them a while because he had special needs. He was blind and deaf. Tank was between 8-10 years old, a senior citizen in bulldog years.

Sign us up! We needed a bulldog to love on and Tank needed some TLC. When he came to our house, he was in bad shape with multiple eye infections, sinus infections, and he was extremely overweight. We saw a diamond in the rough. He soaked up our love and made our house a home again.

We did everything we could to get his health back on track. In the short six months that he was with us, he lost weight and recovered from his infections. We took him to massage and acupuncture to help with his arthritis and his dry eye. 

He took himself on walks a few times and our neighbors helped find him. After a while, he was content to sit on a mat in the garage if we were working outside.

We wonder about his past. We think he had up to 5 previous owners and we can't figure out why or how. How did he end up at the Adams County shelter? Was he always called Tank? While we will never know the answers, we do know this: Tank helped us learn that in the midst of grief and sorrow, there is always room for more love. 

Things we miss about Tank:

• Carrying up and down the stairs so we could watch TV as a family.
• Coming home from work and finding Tank snoozing in the armchair.
• His loud bark and tender licks.
• His slow pace on walks as he took in his surroundings.
• Waking up in the night and finding yourself face-to-face with Tank – his way of letting you know that we should lift him onto the bed.
• Listening to him chew on bones.
• His gentle spirit and his ability to soak up love from everyone, especially kids in the neighborhood.
• Despite his medications and limitations, he was easy to take care of. Never had an accident and wasn’t destructive around the house.
• Watching him navigate the dog door and use the ramp that we built just for him.
•   That he loved dog beds and could be found sleeping on carpet, laundry, towels, blankets – even in the bedroom closet – anything that was a little soft and comfortable.