Welcome Hank!

Hank Steve McQueen Stangl-Ward has arrived. He got a clean heartworm test on Thursday and has joined our family. Yep-- 2 dogs, 2 cats-- does it even need to be said that there are 2 women in this family too?

Hank is a 3 1/2 year old Bloodhound. We wondered for a bit if he was mixed with something else, but have come to be pretty certain that he's full-blooded. It helped as he got healthier and put some good weight on. He's up to 97 pounds and feeling pretty good. The heartworm treatment was pretty hard on him, but he's gained weight and has stopped shedding so excessively. He's got an amazing personality and was definitely ready to come home with me. It's been a bit of an adjustment...more of an adjustment than I naively planned on. I think part of it has been my fault, and part of it is adjusting to life in an apartment after having been shuffled around a tad. It will take us a bit, but I'm feeling fairly confident that getting a routine set and making some minor adjustments will be all he needs.

Hank and Holden get along great and even had a brotherly wrestling match last night. I do, however, feel a tad sorry for my neighbors since they decided to do this around midnite... I should probably go talk to my neighbors downstairs anyway. Even though their dog barks all day, I should probably apologize for Hank's contribution to that. If getting Hankers into a routine isn't enough to get rid of some of that barking (ie. howling/braying/yelping/"crying all the time") I may need to make my neighbors all cookies to achieve some time to rectify the situation... I think once he establishes that I will *always* be back, he'll feel a lot better. I think discovering that he can go back and lay on my bed might help as well.

So far, Bax & Moni haven't really "met" him. They were quite intimidated by his size and hid as soon as he came home. They have yet to venture out very far. Bax has kept his distance, but has expressed his need for attention loud enough that we have been prompted to go back and give him some snuggles. I'm sure they'll figure it out soon enough.