We had to put him down today, he’s been ate up with cancer for years now and it finally got him where we didn’t feel it was right to operate on. Tank was the poster child of the blue collar meat dog - home schooled by me sparingly, he would try to jump the first shot of the morning every time, didn’t know any cool whistle stop hand commands, and his lazy butt would drop the birds right out of arms reach every time. But he never ruined a hunt and he always stayed still when the birds were working which was all I could ask for. My wife and her masters in English wrote up a real nice obituary for him on fb that I’ve copy and pasted.

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All dogs should get an obituary, but I could write a book about Tank. Tank, Tanky, Tanky-Spanky, Puppy, Tankersly. I said I’d never love a dog more than Balto, but then came Tank, a $300 Craig’s List dog that we picked up in Cabelas parking lot from some guy who said Tank’s parents’ names were Shrek and Fiona. He fought those big genes his whole life. I think he topped out at 105 pounds, but we got him down to 95 and tried to maintain around that weight. This was much harder than it seemed. He ate literally everything, which leads me to the following list of items that he would probably view as a list of accomplishments:

Tank retrieved his first dove at the age of 10 months old and swallowed it whole before he made it back to Mike. He’s retrieved every dove since then and never ate another one. He’s gotten into the trash countless times, and he always runs outside when he’s in trouble, but he’ll run around to the back door and watch as you clean up his mess, so he knew when it was safe to come inside. He’s eaten whole cans of chili that were UNopened in the pantry. He ate 2 POUNDS of peanut butter at one time from a 4 pound can. He and Biloxi almost ate 2 loaves of bread that he definitely got off the counter. They ate so much bread, they left some of it on the couch, and they were miserable for days after that. He ate 1 pound of candy corn that caused him to have explosive diarrhea the next morning when he was supposed to go on a hunting trip with Mike, but Tank had to call in sick for that one due to the violent nature of his self-inflicted illness. I made 7 can soup one time, and he and the huskies ate every bit of it when I ran outside to do something. I left it simmering on the stove, and it was licked clean when I came back. I usually make enough to freeze and feed us a few meals. It was a lot. He was very proud of himself for figuring out how to bring a 4 foot tree branch inside the house through a 10 inch doggy door. He ALWAYS steals pizza. No one’s pizza is safe if he’s in the room. You look away from your plate for a second, and it’s gone! He stole it off the counter and off the stove. Until the pizza was put in the fridge, it was free game to him. He absolutely loved watermelon and grapes! He ate corn on the cob like he was at a tea party by nibbling at it as a human would.

Around the age of 3, he ate 8 pounds of dogfood, and we had to take him to the emergency vet in Abilene because we thought his stomach flipped due to how massive it was. He looked pregnant, like due any minute with 15 puppies pregnant. We knew he got into the dogfood, but we did not know how much he ate. He was moaning and groaning for hours before we decided it was time to take him. We got to Abilene around midnight, and he threw up on the X-ray table, on the floor multiple times, but $500 later, he was “all better”. Speaking of his monetary accomplishments, we estimate that he ended up being somewhere around a $15,000 dog. It’s honestly probably more than that. He was neutered and had some battle wounds stitched up when he was a puppy from Balto tearing into him. He had the ER vet visit. He had TPLO on one knee, and then MTA on the other knee. Both held up to the end! He had several (8ish) masses removed and teeth cleaned. He had a bad tooth removed during a separate surgery, and most impressively, he had a lobectomy, just like his momma! He had an entire lobe removed that had a malignant golf ball in it. It was primary lung cancer, which is pretty rare for dogs. We caught it soon, but due to its aggressive nature we were still told he only had about 6-9 months to live, and here we are 18 months later. He got an entire additional hunting season in, and made another year of memories with us. It eventually got him in the end, but every penny was worth it, and if there was any amount of money I could pay to have him here and healthy, I’d happily give it.

Tank was a homeschooled duck dog. Mike trained him in our backyard in McKinney. We had a few acres that he loved exploring. We brought him to the ranch in Paint Rock and hadn’t taken him swimming before. He wouldn’t get in the water, so we threw him in, and his little head popped right up, and he swam out. He learned quickly that when the shock collar was on, he was all business, but when it was off, he didn’t listen for [censored]. He always jumped the gun. In fact, when you flipped the safety off, he’d go in the water half the time. If you missed, he always made you feel bad because he’d be out there looking for the ducks you never shot. He was so eager to fetch, and truly loved hunting with Mike. He always ran after the first few, and after that, he’d leisurely walk out and back. He never brought them to you, but rather just dropped them at your feet or just out of reach, so you’d have to get up to see what they were. He roughed it out in some pretty harsh weather conditions and really thick mud. Had many ducks dive and try to drown him, but he usually went under and got them. We have a picture somewhere of him retrieving TWO ducks at the same time. Laziness and intelligence produce efficiency, I guess.

He had an amazing life. He never slept outside once. He had 4 girls that loved on him constantly. We will miss our summers in the pool with him. The girls used to hang on his tail, and he would drag them all over the pool. He’d fetch until he couldn’t get out of the water, and then he’d fetch some more, but his favorite thing was to be dried off. He loved being dried with a towel all over and then he’d go dry off more in the grass or dirt.

Towards the very end, he stopped eating dog food, so we got creative, and his last few meals were potato wedges, steak, sausage links, a breakfast sausage sandwich, French fries, chocolate chip cookie, and bread. He went out with a full stomach and surrounded by myself, Mike, Dylan, and Mason. We love you, Tank, and we will miss you dearly!!


Here are some photos from his last hunts this year, we didn’t have birds but he got all he could handle anyways. A lot of these are at the taxi for a special mount I’m going to have done for him.

Sounds like he live a great life. Rest in Peace Tank!

Sorry to hear, handsome hund there, rip Tank

Great dog. Rest in peace Tank

Sorry for your loss. My condolences to you and your family.

Condolences

Sorry for your loss.

Posts like this really get to me and I am very sorry for your loss. He had a good daddy and lived a great life.

My condolences.

Rest in Peace Tank, enjoy the buffet.

Enjoyed the read, but not the end result. Humans do NOT deserve dogs. Prayers for all concerned. RIP Tank.

I know the pain, I had to dig a grave for my best buddy a year ago. Be glad knowing that you gave him the best life he could've had and cherish the memories made. Cliché to say, but time will help.

nice tribute Ramball.

Sounds like a great dog that had a great life. The way he ate reminds me of my chocolate lab.

Rest easy Ol’ Boy.

Condolences

That's an awesome tribute. Worst part of owning them is how attached we get to them. Prayers for the Ramball family.

Was once told you don’t move on from a lost love one, but move forward with cherished memories. Condolences.

Sorry to here that, seems like he had as good of a life as a dog could.

I'm sorry for your family's loss. He had a damn good life, but it still sucks to lose a best friend.

I sure wish our furry little friends lived longer. RIP Tank.

sorry for your loss man. Tank seems like a real special one. They really are the best gift we will ever have.

Sorry for your loss. It's a shame they don't live as long as we do. I've hated that feeling every single time.

Sorry for your losss. Always tough to lose one. We have a lab. that just turned 13 yrs. last week, and she very likely won't be far behind yours.

Hard to read because I can tell how much you will miss him . He had a great life

Sorry Mike that’s always a hard one!!

RIP Tank