Thursday afternoon I was at work getting a little overtime. I was almost done with my shift when my phone rang. It was Talia. She NEVER calls me at work so I knew something was wrong. When I answered all I could hear was wailing in the background. I honest to goodness thought she was going to tell me Kennedy broke her leg. Kennedy was crying that hard. Finally she was able to hear me over Kennedys crying. I truly was expecting her to be hurt. Talia started stammering to tell me what was wrong and all I was thinking is "Its ok. Shes a kid. She will get hurt. If shes crying that means shes breathing and if shes breathing we're good" She finally gets out " I think Tanks dead" WHAT!??? Not what I was expecting. Every day Kennedy and Talia let Tank out to play after Kennedy gets home from school and then they take him for a walk, clean his kennel and feed him. Kennedy went out to get him for his walk and he was laying in his kennel. She yelled to him and he wouldn't come. She went into his kennel to get him and realized he was dead.
We had just had him out that night running around and he was FINE. Full of energy, throwing his ball in the air with his mouth, playing. Perfectly fine Tank. When Chris left for work that morning at 0530 he barked at him (he usually barks at us when we leave the house) I headed home from work to go see if he was really gone or if we could take him to the vet and to console Kennedy.
When I got home I told her to stay inside and I would go out and see him. She said "No mom. I found him. He was my dog Im going to show you him." I said no honey you really should stay inside. That way you dont have to see him again. She said "No Im going with you" She grabbed my hand and took me out to see Tank. He was gone. She was crying saying "Mom I loved him so much!! I took care of him. He was just fine what happened!?" We had called the vet and they said it would be 350-400 for an autopsy. He had thrashed around some in his kennel and they said a lot of times bigger dogs have heart attacks because their heart grows too fast and will thrash or he could have had a twisted intestine. We didn't see anything wrong with him. His belly wasn't bloated, no diarrhea or foaming or vomit like if he had ate something bad or been poisoned. We decided to bury him and forgo the autopsy. My dad actually had to put his hunting dog down that afternoon too. She had gotten bone cancer and couldn't walk anymore. We buried them together. Kennedy helped me put him in Dads truck and insisted on watching him be buried next to Ruby. She did so good. She said Mom Im tough and I wont cry. We decided we had enough of a day so we went to Sonic for some Oreo milk shakes and then we went home to watch Frozen and cuddle on the couch.
Grandma Jana stopped by to check on Kennedy and cuddled with us. Then Grandpa Todd. Then Daddy Chris came home. Then Grandma Chris came over too. Kennedy was a bawling mess. She would do good then break down into sobbing.
Tank was such a good dog. He loved to be right with us on anything we were doing. People would come over to visit and he would run to greet them and stop right at their feet and sit down. He was our family dog but he was a little more Kennedys dog. He loved to pick on her. He was so well behaved with everyone else but loved to aggravate Kennedy. She would be walking and he would come up behind her and hit the back of her legs with his paws to trip her. He'd nuzzle his head into her constantly and push her around. It was hilarious. I think they bonded since she slept in his kennel lol!
You were only 9 months but are missed!
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