# Your "Awww" moment - our new puppy



## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

I fought it for as long as I could. We have a friend who runs a dog rescue and specializes in fostering pregnant dogs - rescuing them. He auctions off the chance to name them and stuff, and my wife always ends up naming one. This time around, we named one dog Conan - but fell in love with the shy little guy who got named Hondo.

We have two older dogs - and I fought getting the puppy, but I promised my wife if Hondo was still available come the end of the year, we could submit the adoption application.

His prior application fell through - my wife filled out the application today. He'll be coming home to us in a couple of weeks.

I mean, really, how could I resist this face?


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## ireadbooks (Jan 11, 2011)

I'll get the ball rolling...

Awww, he's adorable. What a great way to start the new year. 

Sent from my KFTT using Tapatalk 2


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## Betsy the Quilter (Oct 27, 2008)

How cute is he?? ?? ?? ??  * kisses screen*

My husband asks how could the first adoption possibly have fallen through  Too cute!

It was obviously meant to be.

Betsy


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## Jane917 (Dec 29, 2009)

What a cutie. We will enjoy watching him grow up!


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## anguabell (Jan 9, 2011)

So cute!!!! Those eyes! Congratulations, and thank you for giving this cute guy a loving home!


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

And just one more photo of the new guy around here.


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## Mike D. aka jmiked (Oct 28, 2008)

Awww. So cute.


Mike


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## telracs (Jul 12, 2009)

AWWWWW!

hi fuzzy puppy.


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## kindleworm (Aug 24, 2010)

Total cuteness !


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## drenfrow (Jan 27, 2010)

Definitely an awww! What a great way to start the new year.


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## Carol Hanrahan (Mar 31, 2009)

Too adorable!  Bet you fell for him in a heartbeat!


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## Blerch (Oct 17, 2013)

AWWWW!

I'm the type of guy that wants to adopt every fuzzy animal he sees. My fiance has to drag me past pet stores in the mall, otherwise I wander in and want to play with all the animals. if my schedule ever eases up, I'm so volunteering at our humane society. I'd even foster if I had the space. Though then I'd want to keep them... probably not a good idea...


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

He's adorable - how could anyone change their minds about wanting him?!

Glad he's got a new home for the new year.


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## KindleGirl (Nov 11, 2008)

Congrats on the new puppy! He is absolutely adorable and he would be hard to resist. I don't know how you held out. Great way to start the new year.


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## prairiesky (Aug 11, 2009)

Adorable!  Lucky puppy and lucky you.


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## VannaB (Jan 1, 2014)

Cutie patootie! So sweet


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## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

Somebody shoots GREAT puppy-licious-ness. Squeee! Congrats. Hondo (and you) lucked out.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

My friend Ryan took those photos. He is a great photographer and a great guy.

The puppy comes to his new home next week!


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## mlewis78 (Apr 19, 2009)

Let me add another awwwwww.  So cute and adorable.  The photos look like studio photographs.


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## Maria Romana (Jun 7, 2010)

Daniel Gage said:


> I'd even foster if I had the space. Though then I'd want to keep them... probably not a good idea...


This is the part I don't get about fostering a puppy. How could anyone _ever _give them up I'd end up keeping them all!


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## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

meromana said:


> This is the part I don't get about fostering a puppy. How could anyone _ever _give them up I'd end up keeping them all!


That's what they call a "foster fail..." but often is win-win for all. *s*


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

He's home - but earlier than we planned. We planned to bring him home this weekend and the guy fostering him asked if we could bring him home sooner. All of Hondo's siblings had been adopted out and gone home, as had his mother, and he was lonely. Last night was rough, though!


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

balaspa said:


> And just one more photo of the new guy around here.


More, please.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Today was a big day. Today he figured out how to get down the two steps into our living room by the front door. Prior to this, he flopped down both stairs and landed on his face. Today he finally figured out he could drop down to the lower step and then step down rather easily to the floor.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

I am all alone with him and my other two dogs today. I have a job where I get to work from home all the time now, but my wife still has to go into the office from time to time. 

How do people handle baby humans when I can barely handle a baby dog? And, really, why on EARTH would they want to


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

And now the guy who took those first couple of photos put together this image of our three dogs.


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## Tripp (May 28, 2009)

balaspa said:


> How do people handle baby humans when I can barely handle a baby dog? And, really, why on EARTH would they want to


For the same "Awww" factor. Plus, take the love you feel for your fur babies and multiply it a thousandfold. It compensates for a lot.

Edit to add: your fur babies are adorable. And the photographer is very good.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

My wife and I have zero plans to have kids. Never had the desire to be a dad. Being an uncle rocks - and you don't have to worry about the dog going off somewhere and becoming a criminal or something.

Anyway - things are going well with Hondo. He is a trip.


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

Three adorable furbabies.


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## Susan Alison (Jul 1, 2011)

Fabulous! Just fabulous. What a face!


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Oy, but this baby puppy keeps us awake at night. I can't begin to tell you how much sleep I feel like I have lost.


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## SunshineOnMe (Jan 11, 2014)

You did it. You made me go awwwwwww.  sweet fur babies


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

He is such a character. Since we know his mom is a Min Pin, but no idea what the dad was, we have had a DNA test done on him. We're waiting for the results.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

His first visitor came the other day. A friend of ours who wanted to see Hondo. He had two-plus hours of intense play with our visitor and other two dogs. That wore him out which then led to some nice sound sleep last night.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

We have done a DNA test on him and are awaiting results. We are just slightly worried he might have pit bull in him. I refuse to believe that until the results come back - but I think he's a retriever.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

he look like a retriever.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

I am hoping so. Then my wife finds a photo of a pit bull mix puppy that looks almost identical to this puppy's brother.


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

fyi, a litter can have multiple daddies. so brother may be pit mix, yours may still be retriever.


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## prairiesky (Aug 11, 2009)

Even if he has pitbull ancestry, that won't change his sweetness.  Pits are very sweet.  People make them vicious.  They aren't born that way.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

I know that pits are really OK - but there is this stigma. My wife and I love dogs, no matter what, but we both confess that our feelings might change a bit if he had pit in him. I mean, we have two other dogs, one of whom is constantly chasing him and I just have this vision of him, older, taking a bite.

At the same time, I know people actually get bitten more by golden retrievers because, well, there are just so many of them.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

He's growing up fast. Here's what he looks like these days:


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Awww, look at that sweet face. Are you sleeping through at night yet?


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## Jane917 (Dec 29, 2009)

Another aaaaawwwww!


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

Ooooh.  So sweet and innocent.  Innocent, yes??  Not up to any serious mischief?


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## BTackitt (Dec 15, 2008)

how did the DNA test come out?


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

The DNA test came back all mixed up. We're having it re-done.


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## Meemo (Oct 27, 2008)

balaspa said:


> I know that pits are really OK - but there is this stigma. My wife and I love dogs, no matter what, but we both confess that our feelings might change a bit if he had pit in him. I mean, we have two other dogs, one of whom is constantly chasing him and I just have this vision of him, older, taking a bite.
> 
> At the same time, I know people actually get bitten more by golden retrievers because, well, there are just so many of them.


Don't borrow trouble.  DD and her husband have had 2 mixed breed dogs who most likely had some pit bull in them. Both were the sweetest dogs you could imagine. When the first one had to be put down because of a congenital spinal deformity (he was only a couple years old) it broke all our hearts. And they looked for a similar mix to Duke shortly after. Hines is 3 now, and they recently took on two more small dogs that a friend had found (they watched them a couple of days, and kinda sorta found their owner - or a friend of the alleged owner - through Craigslist, but told her they would take them to the animal shelter and she could get them there. It was a weird situation. But they told the shelter that if no owner claimed them after 7 days, they wanted to adopt them). They all get along great - we're pretty sure the baby is part pit bull as well. In fact DD sent me a pic today of a red nose pit/golden lab mix who looks very much like "little" Jewel. The big thing to watch for - chewing! Duke danged near ate an entire wooden kitchen cart. And Jewel was working on a corner of a wall until they put some pepper sauce on it. Keep lots of chewy toys around!


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Now....if he would just sleep through the night. I miss the nights of sleeping straight thru until morning.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

He slept from 10:30 to 5:30 today - a new record!


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

I got Burke at 9 weeks.  He's never made a sound during the night -- not from night one.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Ugh, you're lucky. Last night Hondo woke up at 2 am and started barking and barking until we took him out of his pen.


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

Where does he sleep?  Any sound during the night to comfort him?  Burke has always slept right next to my bed.  First number of months in closed crate.  I always fall asleep to WGN talk radio playing very softly (or sometimes soft instrumental music).  I got him in June '11.  It was HOT.  (Remember warm / hot?   )  So during the night I had small oscillating fan blowing on me.  I think the soft whirring of the fan may have comforted him also.  NEVER a sound from him during the night.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

We have a pen set up in our bedroom - next to the bed. He likes the TV on, so we leave the TV on. He's usually good, at first, but then wakes up in the middle of the night. We have a secondary pen in our living room and he seems to like to move there later at night - and that means one of us has to sleep on the couch and our couch sucks for sleeping.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Big day today - Hondo got neutered. He's so groggy, but the vet said he did fine and so far he has not even needed a Cone of Shame.

He's so big now! Here's a fairly recent photo of me and Hondo.


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## JETaylor (Jan 25, 2011)

Awww is right. What a cutie-pie.


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

OUCH!  Burke had the same surgery, IIRC, at about five months.  He was kinda loopy when I brought him home around noon after early morning surgery.  Back to normal by the next morning after good night's sleep.


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## Tripp (May 28, 2009)

Ouch is right.  I love the picture, he is such a cutie.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

He is a cutie - but can be such a brat, too! He still won't settle down for a full nights sleep. He wants to get up and play in the middle of the night.


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## skyblue (Dec 23, 2009)

balaspa said:


> I am all alone with him and my other two dogs today. I have a job where I get to work from home all the time now, but my wife still has to go into the office from time to time.
> 
> How do people handle baby humans when I can barely handle a baby dog? And, really, why on EARTH would they want to


Your puppy is adorable! Have babies and puppies simultaneously: Double the fun!


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Nah, we have no desire to have any kids. I have never felt any compulsion to be a dad, plus my wife and I are both in our mid-forties - so there are health problems. We both have no desire to have kids - we like being an aunt and uncle and having the furry kids, though.


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## geniebeanie (Apr 23, 2009)

Congratulations on your new baby.  He is so precious.  Please post more pictures as the puppy grows.


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## Tripp (May 28, 2009)

So, have you had any luck with him sleeping throughout the night yet?


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Well, he is getting better. He now sleeps in the bedroom with us and our other two dogs. He sleeps most of the night, but he has new teeth coming in right now and it's tough for him to stay settled.

Here's a new photo of him:


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## B-Kay 1325 (Dec 29, 2008)

He is a beautiful dog!


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Wow he's grown up. I went back to your first posts on this thread to see the difference. What a sweet face.


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

Puppy teeth? I found a few of Burke's. Some look like popcorn.


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## Nancy Beck (Jul 1, 2011)

What a cutie!


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Yes, he is so handsome and we have taken so many photos of him he acts like hes some kind of doggie supermodel. He poses. We don't know how big he is going to get, either.

Yeah, we haven't found any teeth so he must have swallowed them, but when you look at his gums you can see that the teeth were just coming through the gums.


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## Nancy Beck (Jul 1, 2011)

balaspa said:


> Yes, he is so handsome and we have taken so many photos of him he acts like hes some kind of doggie supermodel. He poses. We don't know how big he is going to get, either.
> 
> Yeah, we haven't found any teeth so he must have swallowed them, but when you look at his gums you can see that the teeth were just coming through the gums.


The first Alaskan Malamute I had (the last one, Sammy, is my avatar) also liked to strike poses; and she was beautiful. It's like she knew what to do when the camera came out. And we took the camera out a lot!  Malamutes were so exotic for a woman used to labs and beagles and mutts. 

I hope you have many, many, many happy years with him!


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

He can be so sweet and we know he will be more often than not once he gets past the teething stage. but right now anything in his orbit is something that he wants to chew on.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Of course, last night he managed to get hold of my wife's brand new sweater and eat several of the buttons off of it. :-/


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

Burke is not a biter.  I've had virtually no problem with him chewing on anything he shouldn't.  But in his puppyhood . . . he was an ankle nipper.  OUCH!!  I was walking around with a spray bottle if he was nearby.


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## Kay Bratt (Dec 28, 2011)

balaspa said:


> Well, he is getting better. He now sleeps in the bedroom with us and our other two dogs. He sleeps most of the night, but he has new teeth coming in right now and it's tough for him to stay settled.
> 
> Here's a new photo of him:


Oh my! What a gorgeous and sweet-looking boy! I have to stop looking at these threads. I really do...


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

He's getting so big. I mean, compared to, say, a German Shepherd, he's still very small, but that tiny little puppy we brought home is gone!


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

So, this weekend our puppy Hondo got to see his birth mom and most of his siblings again. The guy who fostered his mom and the puppies had a reunion event. And here is our little champ running in the backyard. It was a great day and a lot of fun.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Any one else here ever fostered dogs? My wife and I talked about it once, but we feel we'd just want to keep every dog and it would be too sad to let them go.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

He's just over 7 months old now. Still adorable, but he is firmly in the chewing stages. We can't get him to stop destroying every toy to shreds and then he moves on to non-authorized things.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Been a while since I posted an update on Hondo. He is getting so big! Still a small dog, but heavy and thick in the shoulders these days. Here he is on my lap yawning, but my wife thought it looked like he was yelling in my face.


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## Sandpiper (Oct 28, 2008)

He sure has gotten bigger.  And, yes, it does look like he's giving you a piece of his mind.  LOL


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

He is quite the character.


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## My_Txxxx_a$$_Left_Too (Feb 13, 2014)

Content removed due to TOS Changes in 2018. I do not agree to the terms.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Another photo - taken by my wife:


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

And he is getting so tall!


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Another new photo:


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## 31842 (Jan 11, 2011)

Cutest EVAH!  And how much do I love that the foster had a reunion event.  So cool!


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

And here's the latest - also featuring our cockapoo Gracie.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

My wife took this photo last night and had to share. His one-year birthday is coming up next month and he's grown so much!


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

Great photo - he looks like he's ready to play. Have you got enough energy to keep up with him?


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## Amyshojai (May 3, 2010)

What a cutie! My baby-dog is now 8 years old!


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

I try to keep up with him, but he is a handful. My wife and I have said that we probably will not get another puppy. We have two older rescue dogs, too, and they are so relaxed and fun and sometimes Hondo is just too energetic and crazy and...bitey. Still, I love that little guy.


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## balaspa (Dec 27, 2009)

Another photo of Hondo I took today. Such a handsome lad.


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