Meet Hank

Say HELLO to Hank. Hank has been officially adopted into our family. He's a boxer mix (most likely, according to our vet), and is a very sweet boy. Are we crazy? Pretty much. Let me tell you how this came about.

The Monday before Thanksgiving, Davey and I were outside putting up Christmas lights on the house. Lailey was with Grammy and Granddaddy for the day, riding the pink pig and getting spoiled...I mean, having a ton of fun. (That's what grandparents are for, right?) Rudy was outside hanging in the yard while we worked. I saw a dog wander near our yard, and of course Rudy went quickly out to greet him, despite me hollering like a crazy person for him to stay in the yard. I worry about Rudy and stray dogs since he's quite bold and they may be quite unfriendly. Anyway, they engaged in the usual dog-sniffing behavior, and the dog didn't seem bothered whatsoever about Rudy's crazy, ahem, "friendly" behavior.

Eventually he wandered over to us as we were working and we engaged in the usual dog-petting behavior. Rudy was a little perplexed and kept trying to rough house with him. I suppose he was trying to establish that it was his yard and his humans. He came back to the house on and off that day and then spent part of the night on our porch.

If you had asked us the day before that if we'd adopt a stray dog, we both would have said "no way." But there is just something about him. He's a good soul. The next day I called the Humane Society and Animal Control to see if anyone had reported a missing dog. They said no. He has a collar (seen here) that is quite faded, no tag, and is definitely a bit underweight.

Davey decided one day he needed a name. While considering it, his face suddenly lit up and he said "Hey! What about "HANK!?" I quickly agreed. You see, Davey loves the name "Hank" for a boy and tried to make a good case for it before we had Lailey. I, however, vetoed it. (It's okay. He vetoed lots of my suggestions too :) I knew if the dog was named Hank then none of our future children would ever have it!!! Don't worry, I was completely honest about my sly plan. The name stuck.

Over the next few days we talked, discussed, prayed, considered, and thought and thought about it. Finally on Friday Hank went to our vet. He was calm in the car, calm at the vet's office, and calm at Tractor Supply Co. where we bought dog food and a no-bark collar -- a necessity if we want to stay on friendly terms with our neighbors. The vet guessed that he was around a year and a half old. It didn't occur to me until just now, but if that's true, then his birthday would be around Lailey's birthday (April 7th), which is also Rudy's birthday!
With the help of our brother-in-law, Tim, Davey started building a large dog pen in our backyard last weekend and is trying to finish it up as I write this. The rain has set him back, but he's been at it as much as possible. Hopefully Rudy and Hank will have a nice dog pen by the end of the week. Thanks to a Humane Society volunteer, we're getting one dog house for free and another very cheap off of Craig's List. The boys should be comfy in no time.

Oh yeah. Lailey LOVES him.