Tanner Tallman

We had to say good bye to out beautiful boy Tanner yesterday. We adopted Tanner 13 years ago. He was a scrappy guy who lived in a dog house in his previous home. After figuring out his various illnesses (megaesophagus, hyper-thryroid & nerve disease I can't spell) he settled right into our home and became best buds with Lily.

When we first brought him home we couldn't get him to stay on our bed but soon enough he was sleeping next to me every night. Chad used to get annoyed with me because I would spoon Tanner instead of Chad! Of course I love (& felt loved) by Lily and Taco but Tanner used to look at me like I was the most wonderful being in the world... he adored me and I adored him. In the last two years Tanner aged rapidly, first loosing his hearing, a little of his mind and finally the use of his legs. We lost the "real" Tanner a while ago but that doesn't make it any less hard to loose him for good. He was a goofy, loving guy who didn't put up with any crap from other dogs (he was named after Tanner Boyle the short stop who got in all the fights in The Bad News Bears).
He loved old people, cats and staring at seaweed floating in the water. He also has been know to bite the heads off of frogs and take bites out of out ice cream cones when he was only supposed to take a few licks.

I have so many older pics of Tanner but I just don't have the energy to scan them... so here's a few from the past 5 years.









This was taken by my good friend Niki Rossi.



It's going to take Chad & I a long time to adjust to not having Lily or Tanner in our lives... they've been with us for so long, they are a big part of who we are as a couple. Taco will be getting spoiled even more now.


To end on a light note... Tanner used to bark at Chad & I when ever we hugged...

Shelter/rescue dog model search article

Post Star reporter Meg Hagerty wrote a great article about the Shelter/Rescue Dog model search! Check it out HERE!

Here are some shots, by Post Star photographer Jason McKibben, of me photographing rescued lab mix Ollie : )





One correction: I was an adoption counselor at an animal shelter in Salem, Ma (not Puerto Rico) and did a documentary photo project on rescue dogs in Puerto Rico (with Save a Sato.... as well as rescuing a few dogs while I was there.