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Tank a.k.a. Tankie

March 04, 2009 - December 21, 2020

Owned, cherished and given the best life imaginable by Mark & Michele Dougherty

Tank was the best behaved dog who ever lived with us. All of our dogs have been good dogs but Tank was always well behaved ... for the most part.

The day she left on her "Big Adventure" we had a moment to share. She lay on my lap in the lounge chair and we talked about all the places we had been traveling with our trailer. I was lucky to have that time with her just before it all went wrong.

I was reminding her how we had hiked in the Painted Desert and the Badlands. We had a nice lunch overlooking the Grand Canyon at the Desert View picnic area. We always made sure which trails or paths were OK to bring your dog along. The National Parks have rules and we obey them. She saw a lot of parking lots and campgrounds as dogs are permitted there.

One snowy day we were able to have a relatively quiet tour of Bryce Canyon. The shuttle buses were running but otherwise to drive through you had to be in a four wheel drive vehicle which we were. We were at the last stop in the park and there was a path where we were allowed to bring a dog. We were at the edge of the canyon and a nice woman next to us, bundled up as were we in a parka, mentioned that Tank was "smelling the canyon". It was true. She was leaning out sniffing the air rising from the canyon. Can you imagine what it was she could smell and how she was enjoying herself?

How we had met a number of German young people, students likely, in various places on our trip.
They had all been nice to chat with.

It was nearing sunset and we were standing on an observation semicircle concrete platform overlooking Bryce canyon. Tank was allowed in that area so she was standing next to me once more sniffing in the scents of the canyon. I heard a young man with a German accent nearby asking whether my dog was enjoying the Canyon. I answered pleasantly that indeed she was enjoying it. Then he seemed to be questioning as to whether she could be there. I thought at first he was kidding so I chuckled and said that she was permitted to be there. He was looking at a sign indicating that dogs could not take the trail that descended into the canyon which was understandable. Now there was plenty of room for him to join us on the platform. We moved off anyway as we were done there. It did occur to me later that he might have been afraid of dogs. I had half wanted to tell him that if he did not like it he should contact his congressman. I think he came to realize that the no dogs sign applied to the narrow trail leading into the canyon.
Those poor devils on tour buses only have so long to see the sights.

The only time Tank had to be asked to restrain herself was when we saw a herd of bison in Custer State Park in SD.
A ranger had told us where the buffalo herd was that afternoon. We drove down the road and there were several cars and people angling for pictures of the bison. Now Tank's crate was set up on the back seat of our crew cab truck so she had a great view of the scenery. She let out a short of funny garbled series of sounds at the sight of the bison families feeding and hanging out together. We had to ask her to not insult or aggravate the bison in any way as we did not want the huge creatures to surround our truck. You can imagine what she had to say about the large groups of prairie dogs standing outside of their dens as we passed.

She was pretty good about the bears we saw by the side of the road on the Alaska Highway.
She was also well behaved when we saw a mountain goat near the edge of the road to Mt. Rushmore.
Then there were the Begging Burros who try to stick their heads into your vehicle looking for treats in Custer State Park.

She was the perfect traveler and wonderful companion always.
We were lucky to have her to share our home and our travels.

Michele and Mark