Well, it's been over a year since we adopted Tanner, and we're more in love with him now than ever. Tanner is currently 4.5 years old but has the spirit of a puppy. He loves to go for walks, run at the dog park, rough around with his Dad and snuggle with Mom. He's always excited to greet us at the door, whether we've been gone for 30 minutes or a couple hours.

He has quite a few furry friends who he gets along with very well. We're convinced that he and one of his furry friends, Kelly, who was adopted by my sister, are brother and sister at heart. They're inseparable when they're together and have each managed to wrap Grandma around their paws...meaning T-R-E-A-T-S and lots and lots of special attention.

We've been working on table manners with Tanner, but we're not sure how well we're managing. Tanner appears to have some sort of addiction to baked goods and has been known to swipe cookies, muffins and the like from the counter without as much as a peep. The trail of crumbs leading to a very guilty looking puppy is usually the only evidence left from such adventures. We've had much more luck teaching ourselves to leave nothing on the counter and to put everything away which, in turn, helps Tanner behave better and to also avoid a tummy ache.

In January, my husband, myself and Tanner welcomed a new addition to our family, a little girl named Brynn. Tanner has adjusted pretty well to the change. He certainly has his jealous moments, but has also become very protective of Brynn, needing to know where she is at all times, and he makes it a point to let us know when any sort of ruckus is occurring outside.

Tanner is an incredible dog, and we only hope we can give him as much as he has already given our family. When people ask us what kind of dog we have, we proudly tell them it's a special breed of Tanner...there's only one kind!

Well, it has been along time since Tanner's last update. He has been with us now for 2 months and has come a long ways. He does not get into the garbage anymore, but of course the garbage has a lid on it. He does not countersurf if there is nothing on the counter to do so. He still loves cookies. When FD makes cookies he is right there to try and see what he can get. When we make dinner or anything else it does not seem to bother him but cookies that's a different story. We call him our cookie bandit.

Tanner used to be afraid of alot of things and he is slowly being not afraid. He was very afraid of the fire in our fireplace but now he will walk right by it. Loud noises he did not like and raised voices, even the telephone bothered him, now it seems to get better and better every day.

I have been taking Tanner to obedience training to see how he would be around other dogs and he is just fine with them as long as they do not charge him. Well, who isn't scared of a charging dog. Tonight was his third night and it only took him 10 minutes to warm up and do the commands. He knows how to sit, stay, lay down, jump over a bar (of course I have to coax him a little, but he does it), and he is getting the heeling and about turn really down pat. We are using a clicker for these commands and he is doing good and he is very much treat motivated. We have 2 more Thursday's of training doing the simple things. Tanner learns very fast as long as you keep working with him. He does not forget things easily.

He still does not like the crate when we are gone. Maybe he just doesn't like a crate. He has free roam at night, and when we are home and he does just great.

Here are a few things that we want for Tanner in his forever home:

• a physical fence
• he does not need another dog for company, he loves alot of attention.
• he loves being with you all the time. I call him my shadow.
• children are ok, but he is too wiggley for little ones, so I would say kids in their teens.
• someone that will help him get over his anxiety when you are away.
• he loves riding in the car, he can't wait when we go for car rides.
• someone that would be able to continue with obedience training to bond with you. (I say this because he has come along way in just the 3 lessons he has had.)

I am not taking him to obedience training because he is not behaving, only because I wanted him to come and trust me as his foster mom, and I am getting the trust very much.

Ok that's what happens when you don't update for along time, so here are some recent pictures of Tanner and his foster sister Charmin.

When we are going somewhere he always knows it, so he will go over to the door and block it and play dead, and then I have to take his collar and help him into his crate.

Tanner would like to say Thank you to his sponsor. Stay tuned he is whipping something up special for you Sandra.