This was the picture we saw on the adoption agency's page of Toni; their name, not ours. I did not want a dog. You may recall the "prepuptial agreement" that I made Chris, who wanted the dog, sign? Well when I got to Petco to see this dog, a patient of mine who I knew well was the foster. He said "she'll be great to your kids." He assured me he'd take her back if she wasn't. What he did not mention was "if I untie her from this leash right now, she will run for miles and miles in any direction away from you...."
Grandpa Gerry stopped by the day Toni came home. Eva ran to him and said "Grandpa! I GOT A TONI!!!!!!!!" Guess the name wasn't changing after that.
And then we found out she came with heart worm. A dog we barely know, yet lets my kids do this. Chris is certain that she was a Hurricane Katrina rescue dog. Some members of the adoption agency traveled down south and picked up a bunch of dogs and it was very important that we have them tested for heart worm RIGHT AWAY. Hmmmm......
So now do we spend $500 on a dog we barely know?
Well, clearly we did.
And then after she had the heartworm treatment,
We were supposed to keep her very calm and very still and not even really talk to her to increase her heart rate and possibly dislodge the dying worms too fast and cause a clot (or something like that.) Great way to start a relationship with a new dog.
So as calm and nice as she appears in all these photos, she LOVED to run. At about week 5 of doing exactly what the vets ordered with regards to post-heartworm treatment, she got out of the garage and ran like the wind. We were certain we'd find this expensive dog we barely knew dead from a heart attack.
Her full name:
Toni
Bologna-cheese-and-macaroni-ride-the-zamboni-eat-a-
pepperoni-call-her-on-the-telephoni-while-you-ride-a-pony
Hanson
My parents got a dog about the same age a few months before we got Toni. I'm sure I've shared the Christmas miracle story when Charity spent all Christmas night in a coyote trap, but Gerry found her late the next morning. Charity died just one week before Toni.
He must have food on his face?
Fun camping trip with the dog.
This was one of their favorite games to play: pretend car ride. And the dog would always happily hop in just in case these two really knew how to drive and might take her somewhere.
Charity participated too, but I think she was smarter than Toni and knew they couldn't drive somehow.
This blizzard that hit on Saturday night/Sunday morning when we stayed with the Evens and Blotskes at Walker may have been the most fun I've ever seen Toni have.
Toni loved loved loved Winter. And she loved unexpected snow storms that brought new snow to play in, particularly in Walker where there are hills to run up and down. Much like Chuck.
Another one of Toni's favorite pastimes was the lake.
This was her post.
I always thought Toni might knock in a toddler from the dock, but she never did. She did knock over two women by flying right through or next to their legs too closely. One of those women was pregnant and each time I see that kid I'm relieved Toni didn't do something to him in-utero.
She used to swim along side our canoe trips.
It's funny because all I see on this photo is her anxiety about us possibly leaving on the pontoon without her. She taught us our lesson about leaving her; We were in the middle of the lake jumping off the pontoon and Uncle Scott calls us: "Toni is swimming out to you." Sure enough, she had watched the pontoon and when we stopped, she took off from shore and swam after us.
Sure small toddler Luke, grab that thing she is chewing on right out of her mouth. Again, not sure why she let any of the kids do this.
Toni made Eva feel much better during her recovery from the fall off the horse and her skull fracture.
Another toddler.
This isn't even our kennel, but Luke loved getting in here with Toni or Adam's dog Cuddy. And at that age, it was the right fit for Lukey.
Sorry Toni, here comes another one. At least your strollering days are plentiful. She was as okay with the stroller leaving without her as she was the pontoon.
We broke her of bolting, but we didn't break her of wandering. She'd always come home, the whole neighborhood just knew to yell at her "GO HOME TONI" and she'd high-tail it back before she could get caught. But one night she didn't make it back.
She lost a battle with a really big pick-up truck and her rear femur was shattered. She was about 11 years old. Vet said they could amputate and there was a pretty good chance she'd have a good 2-3 years left. But there was also a chance she wouldn't recover at all.
I have to be honest; I really wanted the next dog we got to be a puppy so that we didn't have to break a bad bolting-habit again. Look at this bunch of kids?!?!?! We were NOT ready for a puppy yet. I needed easy ol' Toni around for a few more years.
Within two months, she was right back with the kids in the snow on three legs. We had hoped for 2-3 more years after the amputation; we got 3 1/2 good, completely functional years plus one last, old-lady year.
She went back to running 3-4 miles with me, and was very happy that we built this patio.
She played....pile stuff on Toni....for many more years.
The Buckhouse family had quite a herd of big-mutts. Nolan's dog Jackson, Tracey's dog Reese, Toni, Charity, Gerry's other dog Laker, and Adam's dog Cuddy. Four of these Six dogs passed away in past 8 months. "The Circle of Life."
Toni was around for every back to school photo we've ever taken.
The video shows her in the spring of 2016 still super excited to go for a jog. Man I loved how excited she'd get when I walked to the mudroom and got near my running shoes. Or if I got on my bike. And the video of Travis and Toni doing a trick is her infamous tail-thumping. She could wake up an entire house with that tail-thump.
Toni-Thanks for helping our kids get big. Thanks for loving us and treating us like we were the perfect humans for you. You set the bar high for the Hansons with regards to a dog. We love you.
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