DAY EIGHT: 10 Days of Gratitude

I'm thankful for the one and only Tank Petersen.

Tanky Tankerton

Look at that face? You can totally see why, right?!

He's smart. He's funny. He thinks I'm the bomb dot com.

And, well, I think he is, too.

Tank's a little ham and provides hours of entertaining distraction with his antics. So many tricks and commands in his arsenal. "Sit." "Lay down." "Wait." "Ok." Those are the staples. He flips treats off his nose and catches them. He also plays dead if I point and shoot him with my finger, catches a frisbee like a badass (and pretty much anything I throw his way). When he gets in trouble, all I have to say is "go to your mat" and he goes. Stays there until I say, "OK".  He even rings a jingle bell hanging on the front door knob to let me know when he wants to go outside. When we go for walks, he heels on command and doesn't drag me all over the place. And, if I even say the word "ride" he goes out of his mind with excitement... He'll do anything for a ride in the car. Most of the time I have to spell it out to minimize the length of flippage. "Walk" in any context gets the same reaction.

Tanky Livn' Large @ the dog park

Tank is also my protector... my built in security guard.  I defy anyone to not be a little scared of his bark.  It's loud, assertive and I have no doubt he's freaked more than one visitor out. Sorry, peeps. But, I don't mind that he's that way. Tanky would totally have my back if anyone tried to bust in the house or hurt me. I'm okay with the occasional delivery person or maintenance person feeling a little uncomfortable. When I had my house alarm worked on last fall, the alarm dude said, "With him... you don't need an alarm." Pretty comforting.

If only they knew that he becomes a furry earthquake at the hint of a thunderstorm. He's chill most of the time... until someone comes to the door.  Tanky loves loves loves visitors. (Thank you friends who've had to work around the first 5 minutes of arriving here... and the obnoxious jealous bark that erupts if we hug goodbye.)

Not gonna lie, sometimes the responsibility of having a dog and three cats can be overwhelming as a single person with a day gig and active music life. (Parents... I seriously don't know how you do it. It's probably best that I never became a Mom. LOL)  But the benefits of having Tank, my loyal buddy, in my life way outweigh the occasional inconvenience.  And, I'm blessed to have Annette and Robin next door for those times when my day runs long or travel plans change.  They have helped me out in a pinch more than once... words can't express how much I appreciate it.

So, today is my Tanky day of Thanks.

GENESIS 9: 14-17
When I gather the clouds over the earth and the bow appears in the clouds, I shall recall the covenant between myself and you and every living creature, in a word all living things, and never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all living things. When the bow is in the clouds I shall see it and call to mind the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth, that is, all living things. `That' God told Noah, `is the sign of the covenant I have established between myself and all living things on earth.'