Getting Loose

The Ton-Bon

   We got some terrible news tonight.  Tahnee has had a seizure.   Her current owners called us in a state of panic.  We had never witnessed that behavior in Tahnee, and it must have been very upsetting.  My wife and I both agreed, that if her new owners came to the conclusion that Tahnee needed to be put down, we'd offer to take her back and nurse her and do what we could for her.  There is no doubt in my mind that she is loved by her new family.  Their children play and play and play with her.  She never has had a lot of sense to know when she should stop and rest.  She lives life intensely, to put it mildly.  We've asked to be kept up to date on her condition.

Tahnee

   Her name is Tahnee. The Ton-Bon. And I miss her.

   No, she is not dead, but we gave her away. I think she was about 4 or so.

   We got her at the pound in Texarkana, Arkansas. We just fell in love with her at nearly first sight. She was so full of energy, such a live wire, such a good guard dog. She was the best Frisbee dog I personally had ever seen. She could almost effortlessly jump 3 ½ feet into the air and catch it, and she would come back to have you throw it to her again and again and again and . . . But after reading the Dog Whisperer, I realized that we needed to walk her far more than I would ever be able to do. And it wasn’t fair to leave it all the exercising and disciplining up to my wife. So she found a loving family out somewhere in the La Porte area with a bigger house than ours, lots of kids, a bigger yard than ours. They had recently lost their own dog, and from the last I heard they have fallen in love with her. There probably isn’t a kid alive who wouldn’t fall in love with her when they see how she can chase that Frisbee so well.

   My wife said, "We can always go visit if you want . . . " But I don’t want to do that to her. I don’t want to divide her loyalties. She has new masters and mistresses. She is the object of a lot of affection. I am sure the day will come, when my presence to her would only be a faint memory of a day long gone. But I miss her. I know she is being provided for and cared for and loved for. And that gives me solace. And I know I will get over it someday; but right now I miss her. It’s the second time in my life I’ve had to do this.

   The first time was much harder. I was only 9. It killed me to do so. We had to give away our reddish brown Dachshund, Spritzie to my aunt and uncle when we moved from Pennsylvania to Texas. And I did get to see her several more times after that. I think initially she may have remembered me . . . she for sure remembered my dad, but as time moves on, I figure the memories and smells will fade.

    Now Tahnee, you be a good girl for your new family!