Our beloved Tanner

Tanner passed away recently due to a stroke, we believe.

Tanner was 12 yrs old and lived a very happy life. Tanner was 5 wks old when I found her at a pet shop here at Ft. Bragg. I remember how scared and tiny she was. I also remember  the first time she caught a piece of popcorn. She knew a few tricks, as some of you may know, but my favorite was teaching her to dance. Tanner would spin in a circle if we asked her to dance. She always made us laugh.

This is the last picture we took of Tanner a few weeks back.

Nearly 3 years ago when Tanner first met Jake. She was real enthused!

She started warming up to the idea of having little Jake around.

Tanner ruled the roost for may years before B came along. She seemed annoyed with B most of the time but I think there was some love there!

The whole gang wanting Dad's attention. 

This was the average evening for Shawn.

He loved it!!

Now Tanner is in heaven... I'm sure she was completely annoyed by B's hyper greeting. I can just see him bolting through the pearly gates to welcome her, stumbling over her because he's too excited to slow down. We miss you Tanner and Boscoe!

Winter 2010

 

  

Sponge Bob.

Tour du Rental

Get the popcorn out!

Man's Best Friend Update

It's time for us to make that difficult decision about Boscoe.

Today was a difficult day. I made an appointment for Boscoe to be put to sleep. But tomorrow will be even worse. I've been crying ever since.
Tomorrow will be our last day together. I plan to spoil him silly.
We gave him a rawhide bone several days ago but he has yet to touch it. I am fixated on him devouring that bone before he goes. I brought him in the house for the first time in three weeks after I made the call. I gave him the rawhide bone again but he was too excited to be in the house with all of us that the bone was no matter.
He is back in the garage for the night but we will have all day tomorrow to try again.

I am still a bit scared of him and I certainly won't have him in the house while Jake is running about. He really seems fine but we just can't chance it. The Second Chance Shelters will not take a dog that has bitten 'his person'! Unless your dog is of a certain BREED.

I can't decide if I need to witness his passing. I can't bare the thought of him looking at me with fear and confusion and disappointment. Or does he deserve to have me there, to comfort and guide him. This is just hard! Shawn doesn't think I need to be there.
I am hurting. 

Here's a nice picture of B....

Here's some random pictures from September.
The middle two are of Jake determined to get up the steps with ALL the trucks he could handle. Just don't tell Aunt Shannon he used his teeth!

These two are inseparable. Or should I say, Dad never gets a moment alone.
Too cute and yes, this makes Mama jealous!

Back to the ER he went.

Infection sets in....
7 doctors by his side. Pushing a surgical tube through one wound to another then pulling back and forth. What a night! Shawn was gone for 5 hours or more. They almost admitted him. He was sent home at 2am with 5 medications and a big bag of supplies: swabs, irrigation solution jugs, syringes and catheters. I got to help by pushing the syringe. I felt like a nurse. Shawn is to visit the doctor three times a day to get a professional cleaning. What a crazy couple of days!

Man's Best Friend

We adopted Boscoe 7 yrs. ago or so.
B has been a great dog up until last night,
when he
bit his person.

I asked Shawn to take the scowl off his face...
now it looks like a smerk.


We're thanking God it wasn't Jake! 

Shawn has stitches in three spots on his face and is pretty swollen.

The doc said there's a 90% chance of infection because the bite left air pockets.

In other words, they'll have to open up his face to clean it out.

B is in quarantine for 10 days.

Shawn and I are still in shock.

We love Boscoe. He is family. He is our protector, our entertainment, our friend. He is the best babysitter, too. He can keep Jake occupied for hours. This event deeply saddens us and wish we could trust him in our home, with our child. But now we need to make a difficult decision.

OUR ADOPTED CHESAPEAKE, BOSCOE

This is our sweet B. We adopted Boscoe a few years ago. Shawn grew up with a Chesapeak named Teal so when we met B, we had to have him. He is the total opposite of Tanner but he keeps her young and we love to laugh at all the moaning and crying he does for no particular reason.

MY FIRST REAL COMMITMENT

This is my sweet girl Tanner. I rescued her 9 years ago as of April 13th. I guess that also lets me know how long I have lived in this beautiful state far from home. South D will always be home.