It's my pleasure to introduce . . .

[Terran Starek]

. . .our newest member to the family!

Meet Hank! My wife and I just adopted our first dog on Thursday night - a purebreed yellow lab puppy named Hank. We're in love with him, and he's such a mild mannered pup. He chews and bites everything - his favorites including (but not limited to) socks, shoes, walls, toes, fingers, and noses. Anyway, I'll let the pics do the talking. :D

When we first got him home:

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/7940/hankweb1bq6.th.jpg (http://img206.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hankweb1bq6.jpg)

His first bath:

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/2711/hankweb2hb3.th.jpg (http://img206.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hankweb2hb3.jpg)

Sleeping in his bed:

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/3097/hankweb3bw0.th.jpg (http://img206.imageshack.us/my.php?image=hankweb3bw0.jpg)

An afternoon nap:

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/1493/handkweb4mf6.th.jpg (http://img206.imageshack.us/my.php?image=handkweb4mf6.jpg)


I will update you as he grows. Feel free to post some pet pics of your own. :)

[Fiona Devlin]

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwww! so cute!!! :D

[Lilaena De'Ville]

The last picture is my favorite. Adorable! :D

[Peter McCoy]

Awww ... I'd love a lab.

A dog would be pretty nifty too!

Labradors are awesome. I'd love a dog - but mumsy says no-no whenever me or my dad mention them. We've had two dobermen and a dalmatian in the past. Our first dog (Buela) was a doberman and the best dog in the world (though everyone says their dog is the best in the world). Poor girl got cancer on her back and had to be put down, but she had a good life.

I remember when my dad first got her, and we were living in Anfield at the time (one of the roughest areas in Liverpool). He was walking her down our street the day after we got her and as he turned the corner there were these four scallies (read: unruly scouse youths) about 19 years old and they stopped when they saw him. He kinda knew they were gonna try to jump him so was a bit nervous. One of the guys asked my dad...

'Hey mate, does that dog bite?'

My dad, not having any clue how Buela might react since he'd had her only a day, said...

'Take a step forward and you'll find out."

The guy gave his mates a glance before stepping forward with just one foot. Straight away Buela was growling and snarling and baring her awesome set of canines. The guys crapped themselves and retreated with a 'Nice dog mate....

When she had to be put down my mum and dad got a doberman pup for me but I hated him - he was a little bugger. Biting me and biting everything else in sight. We just didn't click and so my mum gave him away to her friend. The funniest thing he did was try to eat a pair of my mums tights - when she came home from picking me up from school the tights were hanging out of his bum :p

And then there was Jake - our Dalmatian. That was a funny dog. Hard to put into words but he was such a delightfully pleasant dog. I was amazed at how quickly he ate his food - gave me the impression his previous owners never fed him well. Safe to say I was generous with his portions, as well as giving him the bone off our sunday roast leg of lamb - just like we used to do with Buela too.

But eventually my mum and dad realised that it wasn't fair on Jake that they were always out during the day and he was stuck in too much - so they gave him to a friend of my mums from work. I was gutted and cried a lot. Eventually my parents also missed him a lot and so we eventually marched down to my mums friends and got him back - this was also because my mums friend had told her that her husband was a bit rough with the dog and the kids were too. So we got him back, but he was different. He hardly touched his food and just wasn't the same dog. He was still a joy to be around, and loved a good roll around with me on the floor, but there was something mkissing - I'll never know exactly what they did to him. But again, eventually we had to give him away because it simply wasn't fair to have him locked indoors all day until me and my mum got home from work/school.

We gave him to my dads cousin who lives down south - they have their own little farm and a few acres of open land outside of London. I haven't seen him since (it was a good few years ago now). I doubt they've still got him but thats life I guess. As soon as I move out and get a place with my girlfriend, we'll be having a dog for definite!

Hope I didn't put a downer on the thread with that - though it wasn't all great, there's a lot of nice memories of my two old dogs - I don't count the doberman pup because he was a little horror. You'll have to show us some pictures when you first take him out avter he's had his...you guys call them shots, right? His needles - whatever. First time we took Jake to the park it had been raining. He ran so fast once my dad took his lead off (leash!) that when he turned suddenly he went skidding on his back. He was covered in mud and my dad had to bath him as soon as we got home - oh, how he hated baths! He looked like a drowned rat when the soap was washed off :p

I envy you mate. Enjoy the teaching! :)

[Hera]

You sound like you really miss those dogs Peter.

Hank is too, too cute, Terran. Labs are seriously energetic dogs - you guys are gonna know you're alive!

[Peter McCoy]

I don't think thats the right word. its not like I think about them all the time - it was a long time ago now so I only really think about them when prompted, like by a photograph or a topic of conversation (this thread for example). I just think back on them with very fond memories, and then look to the future since thats whats coming. I'm definitely not a cat person - and I don't really like little dogs. Pups are lovely, but toy/small dogs aren't really my thing. I love big dogs you can push around and roll on the floor with. My mate David has a great Border Collie called Tess whom I just love to bits. Whenever I call round she goes berzerk, she's so happy to see me (besides my friend, I'm the only one who gives her any attention since his family aren't really interested in her).

If I can dig out some photo's - and get my scanner working - I'll post some pics of my old dogs.

[Mandy with an I]

^I'm the complete opposite; I love our little dogs and don't like bigger dogs. I researched a lot of toy breeds before I bought Pickle because my brother likes to rough house - some can handle being "pushed around" and some can't.

I can totally relate to all of the biting and chewing though - buy Hank a lot of toys and chew bones to gnaw on. Chew Lotta bones are great - it keeps them entertained for hours and they can eat the whole thing :)

[Wyl Staedtler]

He is very, very cute. :D

Make sure you get all his vaccinations and until he has them all keep him away from other dogs; no parks, no beach, no walks. You don't want Hank to get parvovirus. )

[Aurelias Kazaar]

Nice dog. Looks good :)

[Kelly Perris]

Aww, cute puppy. Last dog my mother had was a pomeranian. Can be likened to a pom-pom with kitten feet. Very cute, very obnoxiously yappy, very much a five-pound sack of fluff. And by my terms, not a real dog.

A real dog should be able to walk you when it's grown, and remove any evidence of facial fixtures such as noses and eyes with its tongue.

And no, I'm not crazy, honest. :lol