Tank and National Black Dog Day

October 1st is National Black Dog Day. We celebrated by sending our only black foster dog, Tank, to his new home today. First off, there's a national black dog day and not a national white dog day for the same reason that there's a gay pride day and not a straight pride day.* If you don't understand, stop reading this blog, just stop.

The thing we all say about black dogs is that they are hard to photograph. That's true, but it's not the reason I don't have any good pics of Tank from today. It's just the way it all went down today.

I took Tank to meet a prospective adopter on Sunday morning. I ended up leaving him there for the day, and then for a couple days because their current dog, a 10 year old chocolate lab, seemed to be having trouble adjusting. They were a nice young couple, a good home, and I thought it would work out if they gave it some time. I received an email and a phone call Tuesday morning, however, and they brought Tank back to me Tuesday afternoon. I've never been so happy about having a dog returned to me, because on Monday I had a message from a former adopter who inquired about Tank.

This wasn't just any former adopter either. He had adopted a shepherd from me about 10 years ago who recently died. It wasn't just any shepherd either. It was a serious pain in the ass dog that no one, including me, would have kept, much less loved, for all those years. The dog was so difficult, and he had stuck by him for so long, through so many things, that I would have adopted any dog to this guy today, just because I know his level of commitment. The other reason I was so glad to send Tank home with this guy today was that he deserved a great dog, a nice easy dog, like Tank. That's not to say that they may not have some problems; Tank will need time to settle in, especially after being bounced around the last couple of days, but I think Tank can handle it and the adopter can and will handle whatever presents itself.

I got Tank about about 1:00 p.m. today. The adopter drove about three hours to get up here about 4:00 p.m. today. Tank was in and out of here pretty quickly so I didn't get any good send off pictures, but that's not really important. Tank has a good, solid, committed home. That's all any dog needs.

* I stand corrected. There actually is a White Dog Day although it has nothing to do with white dogs. It's an event celebrated at Buffalo Trace Distillery, when the first barrel of the season is filled with "white dog" - the raw distilled liquor that will become bourbon after being barrel aged. This year it's August 10th.