Number Nine

Here goes...I'm so nervous and afraid to even tell you about number nine.  Remember how I left off on my story about Hank the Tank #8...One Sunday afternoon (July 10, I won't forget:), Lane & I were at home.  I opened up my email and there was a message from the guy we got Hank the Tank #8 from...he had woke up that morning to find 7 new puppies in his garage.  My first thought was, didn't he know she was having puppies?  Duh, of course, he did, but he just had failed to mention this to me! 

I cannot even begin to tell you how ecstatic I was, immediately I told Lane, then called Jay and Madolyn.  We were giddy.  Lane & I started going through a list of names.  Our dog guy said he had a couple chocolate males and that we could have whichever one we wanted.  Yee-Haw.  It is silly how excited we were.  A smile was plastered across my face for the remainder of the day.  I don't think the dog guy really understood how badly we wanted another puppy.

Once Jay & Mad got home, the discussion continued.  Everyone but me thought it was okay to name the new puppy Hank the Tank II and so we did.  The countdown was on.  Six long weeks we would have to wait to pick up our precious boy. It was like waiting for Christmas and I don't mean for the kids.  I was crazy-excited about getting a new dog...which is insane because if you've had a puppy of any kind, you know it's very similar to having a newborn baby!  In fact, Jay and I think it should be a prerequisite for having children, you must live through a puppy first. 

After harassing our dog guy for weeks, he finally caved and let us come pick out Hank the Tank II.  It was pretty hard because the two chocolate males were identical.  Jay surprised us on Aug 25 and brought the puppy home on his way home from working all night.  Hank the Tank II has totally lived up to the reputation of his namesake.  His mannerisms are very much the same and we are delighted.  We have been taking him everywhere we can to keep him super busy because...he is like a newborn baby.

For two weeks this sweet Hank the Tank II has slept on our bed.  He roots around and gets comfy for about an hour, hour-and-a-half and then whines.  We take him out, he pees, we come back in.  And the cycle continues.  I realize their bladder is the size of a teaspoon, but come on.  We started keeping water from him right before bed and making him eat earlier in the evening, but that didn't seem to help.  Finally after two weeks of me being sick and a little incident with my father ending up in the hospital and Jay's lack of good sleep, last night Hank the Tank II stayed in his crate in the laundry room.  We put him in there at 10:00, he whined once in the middle of the night and Jay took him out and brought him back in and he was great until 6:00, which is perfect.  He did it.  He had not whined and cried all night.  He didn't have any messes in his crate. 

Here's a cute trick he's picked up.  He learned quickly where and what the air conditioning vents were and he crashes right in front or on them.  When it's not on, he just goes from one vent to another, crashes, waits, gets up and goes to the next one.  It is hilarious that they figure that stuff out so quickly.  But he was just sooo hot and was desperate for some relief...ha!

Hank the Tank II visited our friendly vet office this week, got his medicine which he immediately threw up on my mother-in-law's floor...oops...so I'll be getting another dose of medicine tomorrow for him to take.  Little stinker.  He's adorable, precious and we are becoming quite attached to the little guy, who we plan to guard with our lives.  We are so nervous about getting attached to him.  Jay now has him on high-quality, high-dollar puppy food, we are watching him like a hawk, you will be tired of seeing him everywhere.  I know it may seem a little overboard, but you haven't been a dog at our house...