Little Dog on the Prairie

Time to share a little bit of history and a few pictures of the resident four-legged creature that shares our home, Tonka. He has been with us just over a year now and last week we celebrated his imaginary birthday (imaginary in the sense that it was borne from the depths of our imagination). We have absolutely no idea of his real birth date so we selected June 11 based on a smidgen of algebra, a hint of sorcery, and a quick game of pin-the-tail-on-the calendar. With our vet's concurrence, we believe him to be three years old. Tonka's not sayin'.

A cattle dog/aussie mix, Tonka is a "prison dog" we found through the Colorado Prison Trained Dog Program. This program rescues, trains, and adopts dogs. They save both pure and mixed breed dogs from humane shelters and other animal rescues all over Colorado and surrounding states. Each dog is adopted by a team of inmate handlers who socialize and train. The dogs live in the cell with an inmate but also are exposed to the general population and daily institutional living conditions.

Knowing we wanted to adopt from this particular program, we made arrangements to meet three dogs that seemed to have what we were looking for. As we were walking Dog #1 (Olive), we strolled past the crate that held Dog #2 (Tonka). We knew right away it was him; the black masks on his face were a dead giveaway. Dave remarked, "Tonka's pretty cute!" We held off making a decision until after we met Dog #3 (Doc). In the end, Tonka won our affection.

Tonka was a stray found on the eastern plains of Colorado near Lamar. He was given to a local rescue organization. The woman who fostered him said a ditch rider discovered Tonka. The poor dog was thin and covered with fleas but he was smart, willing to learn, and so eager to please. We have often wondered how he came to be a stray out on the plains and what his life was like. Our main speculation is that he was dumped out on the prairie, a common occurrence in the rural parts of our state. Nor do we know how long he had to fend for himself. He is quite focused on birds and once caught a dove in mid-flight in the back yard, so we suspect birds may have been a source of food for him.

Our little Tonka-man now leads a privileged, happy, comfortable life filled with lots of love, lots of toys, his very own swimming pool, and frequent hiking trips in the mountains. Much like his predecessor, Raven, we believe Tonka grabbed the brass ring on the dog adoption carousel.

When they could not find him a forever home, the rescue group turned Tonka over to the Colorado prison dogs program, where we picked him out of a lineup. And the rest, as they say, is Tonka history...

The Tonka Movie from Deborah French on Vimeo.