Or his Uncle, maybe, since Tal was our dog, my family’s dog, and Lassie was my dog. Tal was a Great Dane and Lassie a Collie so clearly they aren’t biologically related, but it doesn’t really matter because they’re bros. These two were total bros and I wish I could’ve seen them being reunited on the other side.

I’m fairly certain I have shared pictures of Talos, Tal for short, our Great Dane before. Tal was my family’s second dog, but I often think of him as our first. I’ll share more about that and Tal next week along with our legitimate first dog, Penelope.

Today I’m just going to share some adorable pictures of Lassie and Tal together.

When I brought Lassie home Tal was around the age of 3 or 4 years old. Tal was the gentle giant Great Danes are known to be, but he still put Lassie in his place and made sure he knew that he was there first and the boss. Lassie respectfully allowed him to believe that. Tal taught Lassie a lot of important lessons.

This photo, as well as the photos to follow, was taken in December 2004.

Tal taught two month old Lassie the simple pleasure of relaxing in the sun. He taught him that it was okay to lay back and relax a little. It wasn’t required that you be on the move constantly.

He taught him when it was acceptable to play dirty and when to play gently. Don’t bite too hard, kid, or the Great Dane will gobble you up. 😉

(It totally looks like Lassie is about to poop on Tal’s face, doesn’t it? In reality he had been trying to hop away but Tal grabbed him by his little chicken leg).

Tal taught Lassie that chewing on ears is fine so long as you don’t chew it off.

Tal also taught Lassie that if you’re a real pain in the butt all day and then decide to play tug with your Mickey Mouse and Pluto leash, your humans will allow this because at least you’re both being quiet.

(As you probably saw in the photo before, they destroyed said leash).

He taught Lassie about the importance of dental hygiene.

January 1 2005

Tal taught Lassie how to party hard on New Years and then sleep all day.

He taught him how to have fun with the Family Christmas pictures.
(Yeah, I cropped the family out, ’cause I’m rude like that. But they basically looked like this: in the first photo we were all smiling and trying to ignore the dogs, in the second photo all of us, with the exception of two of my sisters, were watching the dogs).

March 2005.

Tal also taught Lassie were all the best hiding spots were.

August 2005.

He also taught Lassie how to be his personal pillow when we went camping.

But most of all, Tal taught Lassie about my family and what being a member of our family was all about. He taught him to love us for who we are and to be extremely patient with us because despite our faults we always mean well.

Tal went to the Rainbow Bridge when Lassie was about 2 years old, shortly after Ella joined the family. I can say without a doubt that Lassie mourned over his brother. Ella was a great comfort to him, but no one could ever replace Tal. Now the three of them are all reunited on the other side.

Today we’re linking up with the Throwback Thursday Blog Hop hosted by Dolly the Doxie and DOGthusiast

We’re also joining the Thoughtless Thursday blog hop hosted by Ruckus the Eskie and Love is being owned by a Husky.

Annnd the Barks and Bytes blog hop too! Hosted by 2 Brown Dawgs and Heart Like A Dog. That’s right, we be triple hoppin’, but we’re not leaving three blog hop links here because that would be obnoxious and I think WP would have a heart attack, SO head over to the hosts’ websites to learn more about each hop and to link up and join the fun!