Dogs are a common sight at Free Coffee Friday; Blue, the short Blue Heeler owned by Phil Kennedy, is inarguably the event’s official mascot, showing up each week without fail, wearing a bandana promoting whomever that week’s sponsor is. Over the years that CTX Coffee (117 E Dewey) has held Free Coffee Friday, dogs have been free to come and go with their owners as the community gathers around and visits, catching up on the week’s events.
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Still, it was hard to miss it when Tank showed up.
Tank, a 150-lb brindle-colored European Great Dane, is large enough to do whatever he wants when he goes places, but all he wanted was to sit and be pet by the throngs of people coming up to ask if they could. If he was getting a good scratching and the person stopped but didn’t leave, a gentle paw nudged them to continue.
In the hour or more that Tank was at CTX, he never barked, growled, or shied away. Other dogs—including Blue—came to see what he was all about, and his ears perked up, but he was more occupied by all the attention he was getting from the petting hands of strangers than anything on four legs.
The activity and attention was likely quite a change from the life Tank had been living at the Sapulpa Animal Shelter. In a post on Facebook, the shelter said that Tank had been surrendered to them after his owner could no longer keep him. “Tank sat at the shelter for 6 days just watching everyone pass him by due to how big he was, and [that] he was not a small puppy,” they said.
Meanwhile, Sapulpa native Saundra Wilson, had told her husband she’d like a large dog. “I was telling my son I was going to buy a dog, and he said, ‘You should go to the animal shelter, those dogs have more love to give.'”
Wilson decided the idea was worth exploring, and fell in love with Tank the moment she saw him. “I went to the animal shelter that day, went to the back where the dogs were, he was the last dog in the cage, I looked in his eyes and I knew I had to have him.”
She said that Tank was oddly silent in a room full of barking dogs and puppies. “He kind of pulled his head up, but he didn’t even bark at me, like all the other dogs were doing.” His calm demeanor was a surprise, but not the only one; “He never licks you, you can put his hand up all over his mouth, or put your face up to his, and he won’t lick you. I didn’t train him on that, he’s just naturally that way.”
Saundra said she watched her son and his dog go through K9 First Response training at a school in Ardmore, Oklahoma. “When I got Tank, I knew that this was what he needed to do,” she said. “It’s not cheap, but the reward is worth it.”
Saundra said Tank was a star pupil at the training and would often be pointed to as an example in the classes. At the end of the training, he even won a coveted “Sportsmanship Award” for how well he performed with people and the other dogs.
Now a certified K9 therapy dog, Tank is brought into high-stress situations to help calm things down and reduce anxiety. He’s been trained to come into a courtroom and be there for 6 to 8 hours if needed. Police and fire departments can call on him to bring calm into tense situations involving children or people contemplating suicide. Despite the cost of training, Saundra and Tank are volunteers and don’t charge for their services. “We’ll go where we’re needed,” she said.
To be fair, Tank isn’t working all the time. When the collar and vest come off, Tank can “get the zoomies” like any other dog, and has been known to knock things over with his wagging tail. “I have some broken picture frames,” Wilson said, laughing. When standing on his hind legs, Tank is six feet tall. In July, he’ll turn two.
But when the vest goes on, Tank understands he’s working, and the tail gets tucked, but thankfully, the pets and affection continue.
“Dogs are just angels on four legs,” she said. And she believes Tank was “born with” a desire and ability to help people. “This is what he’s about,” she says. “And my son called it: these shelter dogs will give you more back than you ever give them. They have more love than you can ever imagine.”
You can call Saundra to request Tank’s services at 918-520-2919. The Sapulpa Animal Shelter is located at 8812 W. 100th Street South in Sapulpa. You can find their hours on their Facebook page.
