This is Tonka.



This is him, dressed as "Marilyn Mastiff" for a Halloween party. He doesn't look jazzed about it.



Doing hydrotherapy for his hips. He looked forward to these trips because his therapist, Jeremy Flocker, had Mastiffs and this gave Tonka someone to talk to in his native language. Big dude sure could swim!



He was a therapy dog, and graduated to being a service dog. 152 pounds of cuddles.



Tonka was a mix of Great Dane, English Mastiff and Anatolian Shepherd. He came to us at 9 weeks of age, a gift from a friend- kind of a gift that kept right on giving.

At age 11, his hips finally got to be a real problem, followed closely by his kidneys. We pursued every reasonable option to keep him healthy, but all we could really do toward the end was manage his pain. His hips wouldn't support him; he needed help to stand. What happened if he went down in the back yard in the middle of our miserably hot Arizona summer?  He always met me at the door when I got home from work, and it broke my heart to see him lose that ability. Much as we couldn't stand the inevitability, we faced the music. One fine late-spring morning, we took Tonka to a restaurant where the wait staff (like every other human who ever met him) just loved the big doofus. He had steak and eggs, and all the company he could wish for. Then 8 of us went with him to his final vet appointment. I rubbed his shoulders as he crossed over the Bridge.

He was the finest dog who ever lived; I'm sure a lot of you have had that same dog. He comforted people in hospitals and hospices all over Phoenix. He taught scared little kids that it was OK to hug the huge, hairy critter. He would always find the one person in the room who most needed some unconditional Tonka love, and deliver it by the barrelful. I've seen him lay down on his belly and crawl, inch by inch, to make friends with a smaller dog that was terrified of him. He shedded like a snowstorm and drooled like a waterfall. He was too smart for his own good. It was my honor to know him, and I don't mean for this be a dirge- I mean to celebrate his life.  

Thanks for letting me howl!

We really don't deserve them...

Thank you for sharing that glimpse of Tonka with us, OP. You and your family were certainly blessed to have had him in your lives. What a handsome fellow! RIP, Tonka!

what a fine and honorable creature. I hope it is a comfort to you and yours that Tonka enjoyed a life that was the best possible and that you made that happen.
condolences from the Scruffs, and from Ol Fearless.

Sorry for the loss.