Yeah, only cost $150!

I took Hank up to Marymoor today like most Saturday's (unless there's too much snow, etc.) The water has receded, but it's still moving REALLY fast though, so I was careful with tossing his ball into the water. As Hank was swimming, he did the usual barking, and running up near someone and then shaking. You know, those polite things we've taught him to do...
But, as I was playing with Hank, some guy who was playing with his dog asked about Hank. Where did we get him, etc. I told him he was a Humane Society find (which ALWAYS surprises people) and that we know he was found on the side of the road in Ellensburg, not neutered or microchiped. This guy was a BIG fan of Hank. Almost as much as my grandpa.

Side Note...
Dad called Grandpa on his way to Portland the other night (Dad's in DC with Jake for the inauguration, because he's the biggest whore for Obama EVER...) and Grandpa asked if dad was bringing Hank with. Dad explained that Hank is MY dog, not his. Grandpa was kind of sad, so I guess a trip to Portland for Hank and Grandpa to hang out is in order soon...

So this guy asks some questions about Hank and he was nice enough, although I think he also was kind of hitting on me, so Hank and I moved on to the next pool. The water was really cold too, and I was ready for Hank to be done swimming. But then later we ran into the guy and his dog again, and at this point Hank had broken one tennis ball (I blame the weather) and lost the other one, so we were shopping for a ball and heading towards the car.

I can only handle so many socially awkward men in my life, and unless I;m getting paid (for work, thank you) I have nominal patience for it...

Hank's New Friend & a flood!

Today I took Hank up to Marymoor. We all know it's his favorite place on earth, but as you may have heard, there's been some flooding lately. So, I was curious to see what the slough looked like up at the park. Well, it was interesting. The water was up high and there were large parts of the park that were closed off because of the flooding. There's usually about 4-5 steps down into the water, and today the water was up to the second step, so when Hank jumped, he occasionally jumped on a step. And the current was STRONG, there were a couple of times he was swimming against the current for his ball, and never moved but you could see he was trying!

My friend Jennifer came to the dog park today with her dog Clyde. I ADORE Jen! She is so much fun to be around and always entertaining! Her dog Clyde is a pit bull rescue. Which means, he's the sweetest dog ever, but gets some looks...a couple of times while we were at the park, Jen would talk with folks, and a couple of times, Clyde got his leash put back on, but he was FABULOUS, and the leash wasn't for him, it was to calm down some OCD owner. Hank and Clyde had a BLAST together! We all know that Hank couldn't care less about anyone else at the park, as long as he has his ball, and knows we're still in the park. So, it was fun to watch Clyde, with his short pit bull legs, try to keep up with Hank. A few times, Clyde pulled the "go ahead, I'll wait here" move. They ran, and ran, and ran, and Hank is still sleeping. Lots of barking was had and some playful growling, but they sure had fun together! As you can see from the picture above, it was a lot of following around...this was towards the end of the time at the park, I think they were both a little tired at this point...

I know Hank can't wait to go back to the park, and he hopes that Clyde can come again to play with him soon!

Clean up on aisle 3 please...

On Monday it was back to day camp for Hank. January is the beginning of Busy Season for Jeremiah, so he works late every day (9:30 tonight) and so Hank and I spend more time together. Except that this has been a busy week for ME, so Hank got to go to Day Camp 4 days in a row this week (oh and next week too...). So, on Monday, I took Hank to camp. It was POURING down rain on Monday (see the regional flooding on Tuesday...) so I think Jeremiah slightly skimped on Hank's morning walk. When we walked into Pet Smart at 7:30 on Monday, we got almost to the day camp door when he SQUATS in the middle of the store and took a HUGE dump. CLASSY!
So, after two weeks off of work, before I even GET to work and all THAT crap, I had to pick up some other crap first...Thanks Hank, you sure have a special way of showing your love...

Hank's Christmas visit...

Here's a few pictures from Hank's trip to Oregon for Christmas. He got to snuggle with Uncle Jakey and Jeremy and he met Grandma and Grandpa Milliron in Portland. Evidently Grandpa kept saying he wanted to take Hank fishing with him. Even though Hank would jump in the water and scare the fish away...

Here's Jake with Hank and Rudy on Christmas morning.

Jeremy giving Rudy & Hank treats on Christmas day...

Grandma and Grandpa Milliron and Hank. Rudy wanted nothing to do with this.

STAY!!!

So, this year it was Christmas down in Oregon with my family. Now that my folks are divorced that means trekking all over the state of Oregon, sitting in traffic that takes 6 hours to get 45 miles. It was CRAZY, but a good trip. We took Hank with us for Christmas at my dad's house, and then left Hank with dad and Rudy while we went to Bend to see my mom. We then came BACK to Eugene to pick up Hank and see my little brother coach a basketball game. Hank had a great time with Rudy and my dad, and got LOTS of presents, which he loved. He got use to the hardwood floors, and Rudy always wanting to play with him. And, he learned a few things...

We got back to Eugene on Monday afternoon from my mom's house. My dad lives in a loft in Eugene and has a patio on the roof that is over the garage. Since it was nice in Eugene, dad decided to leave the patio open for the dogs. So, as we pulled out of the garage, I noticed that Hank was standing in a flower pot looking out at us, which he hadn't done before. He was just enough leaning over that I got nervous, and asked dad to loop back to make sure Hank didn't try something stupid....

Well he did. We come back around, and Hank is STANDING ON THE ROOF! Here's a picture...He had crawled over the ledge and was walking around on the roof. I FREAKED out. Dad went running inside and up the stairs to see what he could do, and I stood in the parking lot hollering at him to STAY. It sure seemed like maybe he got in too far and wasn't sure what to do. So, when dad got upstairs, he called for Hank, and he jumped right back over the ledge and into the house. My heart has never raced so fast...so we closed the patio door at that point and called it good...ACK!