By Denise Crane

Tank is one of the senior members of our pack. He is also the smartest dog we have ever had in any version of our pack. He went to Baylor University. He belongs to my daughter and her family, and there was a time when my daughter was pretty sure that after she graduated from college that she and Tank would live alone in a little house somewhere while she taught school.

Tank began life with the name TRex. He has wicked sharp little teeth and is some type of chihuahua/min pin mix. Maybe. He also has claws like talons which he will rake across your arm if he wants to be petted. He has to be knocked out at the vet to get his talons trimmed. My daughter adopted him a week before her final exams her freshman year in college. He lived with my husband and me for finals week. Courtney thought it was hilarious to name him Tank because Tank implies bigness and he is anything but big!  Courtney and Tank were buddies from the get go. She taught him all manner of good tricks, my favorite being “army crawl” where he drops on his belly, rolls onto his side, and crawls on his side like he is wiggling under barbed wire. 

I think I mentioned; he is smart.

As Courtney went through her remaining three years at Baylor, she kept a good eye out for her faithful companion. She scheduled classes to ensure he wouldn’t be too long in his crate. She chose living situations that allowed pets, and roommates who were dog friendly. Tank reciprocated by ensuring that his mom was notified immediately if Tank sensed the presence of anything nearby. He can bark. A lot. He also wanted to be near her all the time. They have been great buddies. Tank lives in a perpetual state of high alert. He also loves to instigate trouble then leave others to deal with it. 

When Courtney graduated, she accepted a teaching position in Waco and moved into an Intentional community belonging to the Missional Wisdom Foundation. The other members of the community would help care for Tank in the late afternoon since teacher days are long days. 

Then Courtney met David. They began to “hang out” together a fair amount. As I began to notice that Courtney called me less often and that the topic of calls seems to have a fair number of mentions of David, I began to wonder how Tank was going to react. He had been Courtney’s focus of attention for so long, I just didn’t think he was going to like this new person taking attention away from him. To my surprise, though Tank was not a fan of David’s roommate’s cat (another story for another time perhaps), he accepted David right away.

I think I mentioned; he is smart.

We tried to figure out a way to include Tank in the wedding since he was part of their relationship from the beginning. 

For all that Tank loves to be cuddled and tended to, loves to bark and instigate trouble, hates to have his nails cut, and adores his mom, his message to me when he accepted David into his life with Courtney, is that love multiplies. He innately seemed to understand that rather than being a threat to his own attention from Courtney, that he could make room for David in their circle of being and there is more than enough love to go around. He has reacted the same to the addition of two children into their family. 

I think I mentioned; he is smart.