Above are a few of my recent close-up photos of Hobo... and a link to photos of him in a
Picassa Web Album.
Hobo Slide Show
Hobo's story:
I found Hobo in our backyard at the beginning of March 1996 when I heard the barking of our neighbor's dog during a blizzard. I was off work that day. I went out with a dog cookie thinking the neighbor's dog had gotten tangled in the old chicken coop at the back of our property. I was very surprised to find a soaking wet and shivering puppy.
Someone had dumped him off a few days before on our dead-end street. He was about 3 months old our vet said. We had 2 dogs at the time, and had lost our first dog the year before. We called the dog officer and left a message that we'd keep the dog at our house until he found the owners. When I went to a friend's house to get a smaller dog crate than the one we had for him, she checked him for fleas. He was loaded with fleas and scabs and eggs. We had to bathe him a few times that night and then daily for a few days afterward.
In the meantime my friend suggested we bring him to the vet and have him checked because he had been near our dogs. The vet found he was dehydrated and felt he was neglected and possibly abused. He was probably a Christmas present for a little boy. I remember his paws were so rough, rougher than either of my dogs. The vet suggested we not give the dog back to the owners, but find him a new home if we didn't keep him.
We kept him... but I gave him the choice. He was sitting on my lap with me on the floor in front of the couch and I asked him if he wanted to stay with us or be adopted. I told him if he gave me a kiss when I let him go, before he took off to go play, I'd keep him. Knowing how puppies are, I thought for sure when I opened my arms, he'd scurry off, and he did, after he licked my face. I started to cry and my husband said we couldn't give him away, and I'd always wonder what happened to him and how he was doing.
Over the years we found out some of his fears from his previous owners and we allayed them. He is the only male dog and the only purebred we've ever had. He's also the only dog we had that graduated from advanced dog training! He's been camping and on vacation to Florida and N Carolina. He loved eating, being outside, eating, walking on the beach, eating, riding in the car, eating and playing at the dog park. His 'girls' Gretchen and Blue miss him, and so do we, terribly.
