Hello SPCA!  How is my alma mater!

This is your friend and howler, Tank.  I know I haven't written in awhile, but when my female food giver and cuddler said you wrote, I finally said to myself: "Tank, stop procrastinating!  Sure I'm lazy and love to sleep and loll about, but it's time to wake up and respond to your old friends!"  And so, I am.

When I first left you guys with that strange family, I thought oh no, I
don't even speak their language!  They figured out I understood French after a few weeks, and then proceeded to teach me Hebrew.  I am never going to learn Hebrew, so I just go by the tone and what makes the most sense and if they laugh, then I've done the right thing.  I am picking up the English now, but mon ami, this was difficult!  I still look when I hear French.  Anyway ...

We live in a townhouse.  The oldest son, the one I really am "brothers" with, he built me a doghouse right away.  He didn't quite finish the entry, so the front is open, but he put a dog bed in it with some toys after he painted it a very, very bright green so that I couldn't miss it in a snowstorm.  I like to sit outside, but I only go outside to sit when I ask to, they never put me out by myself otherwise.  I love Saturday mornings when female food giver and cuddler gets up early and it's just the two of us - if it is sunny, I will ask to go sit in the sun, and she lets me out for awhile.  I always catch her watching me to see if I'm ok, but that's ok, I love her too.

The youngest is now 18 and goes away to university but comes home on weekends.  He is constantly trying to show his strength by picking me up.  I cannot be picked up, and I make myself a dead weight so it's harder.  But he is strong and lifts my front part anyway.  I just look with pleading eyes at female food giver and cuddler until he puts me down.  I love him though - whenever he is home and takes food to his room to eat and watch his games or something, he always invites me up and I get to sit on his bed.  Sure, female food giver and cuddler doesn't like it because I shed, but he just ignores her and lets me on there anyway.

My "brother" and I, well, we go on camping trips and long walks all the time.  I stick by him like glue.  We are buds.  That's all I have to say ... I think you know what I mean.

At first, I once tried to run away.  They had bought me a beautiful lead and collar - I still wear it today - and they thought I was so tame and well-behaved that in a parking lot they let me walk from the car to my female food giver and cuddler but I had them fooled and ran!  I ran and ran and ran!!!!  But, I saw it was dark, and a big field near where we were, and before I got lost and again would end up in a pound, I regained my senses and found a troop on motorcycles at a gas station.  They called the number on my tag and in minutes, my female and my brother were there!!!  Boy, I knew I was at the vet for something, but they sure made sure I was not going to get lost.  After that, it was a long, long time before they would ever let go of the leash again.  But I learned my lesson and now when female food giver and cuddler goes to pick up one or the other of my brothers, she says "want to come for a car ride?" and I am there, and she lets me run to the car without holding on the leash.  I always go right to the car, I never scare her by going out of her eyesight, and I get a little run and fun out of it!  I like being trusted.

While they feed me Arcana, I don't like dog food as a rule and sometimes I will whine until female food giver and cuddler cooks me something or opens up a can of Green Venison tripe.  I also love chili, cabbage rolls, anything tomato-based really with meat, and chocolate.  I  L-O-V-E chocolate.  And the vet says I can eat a bit of it.  Yes, I once ate a giant Snickers bar from my brother while he slept, but I couldn't eat the second one and that's how he found me, burping, holding onto my second Snickers bar.  I also love donuts, but who doesn't.  I love Granny's cakes too, and she always feeds me cake when she visits, even if everyone else says enough!  Speaking of Granny, when she visits and goes outside to walk a little or to smoke now and then (she cannot smoke indoors, female food giver and cuddler hates smoking) I always accompany her and sit at her side to protect her.

They bake me bones themselves and I am in heaven when I have all my bones in a group on my bed in the living room, and I go to sleep beside them.  I only gnaw at them when someone is around, but when all three are there, I really gnaw because I am so happy.  I sometimes really smile, lift my head up with a big smile on my face, and everyone laughs!

I only got in trouble eating out of the garbage once.  Female food giver was cooking meat, and she left the tray with the sponge bags on the counter.  When she came back to throw them out, I had absconded with the blood soaked bags to enjoy them.  She apparently saw this happen once before and started to get all crazy, got me in the car and drove like crazy to the vet.  Well, I thought I was just going to have my nails trimmed but nope, I was induced and they got the three bags out of me.  She was almost in tears knowing I would be ok.  Now, she puts Comet all over the trays and bags immediately, wraps them in bags, ties them up, puts them in a big green garbage bag and outside into the garbage can so NO ONE eats them.  I am not going to eat them again I am sure but hey, I love meat and who knows?  I guess she thinks better safe than sorry.

I go to the Greenbank vet clinic in Barrhaven and I am on heartworm Sentinel or something once a month.  Gives me stomach ache for two days each time, but apparently it protects me.  When I first came home with them, they had every test done under the sun and I had some intestinal infection that took a long time to get rid of.  Since then, they check my poops (ech) and they give me those pills once a month.

Oh, and I never mentioned Lulu!  I will send you a picture of her too.  She is my nemesis when they are home, but she is just a kindly old cat.  Sure I would love to be friends, but she is female food giver's friend.  For a long while, she would take food out of my bowl and put it in the dining room, and she would eat some of it, so I would I guess be starved out and would leave.  But then she realized she is 8 pounds and couldn't put a dent in the food situation, so she started to drink my water.  Again, my water bowl is bigger than her, so she gave up.  Now, she doesn't even hiss at me too often anymore.

I will be in touch - I think I may set up a Facebook page although you can find me under my female food giver's site apparently.  She calls me Sir Tank-a-lot, but they also call me the Tankster, Tankarooni, Tankman, Stanky Tank, Tankorama, and a plethora of others, including Bud.  I answer to all of them.  I think they are still trying to figure out my real name, but that's ok.  And yes, I missed my old home at the beginning, and I was quite depressed and sad, but now I am much better - I think I have adopted my new family but I wish my old family well and I wish you all well for saving me.

PS  I will send more photos as soon as one of my family here get them sorted!

Tank

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