Hank News

While talking to a friend of Ryan's family who is a vet, she mentioned to me that she thinks Hank has hound in him because of his ears. That got me to thinking because although we were told that he was a shepherd/malamute/shar pei mix other than the wrinkles around his shoulder, neck and face he has no other shar pei qualities. I started thinking about different hounds and came up with one that shares quite a few characteristics with our Hank. We all know hounds are good sniffers and Hank is top dog in the picking up random scents when outside. When he catches a scent all hope for having him listen to you is lost. He his mind focused soley on the scent he got in the air or on the ground. He astounded me the other day with his sniffer actually. He was in the backyard, when we had Arctic Blast 2008 happening, and started sniffing around the yard. He finally stopped and shoved his face into the snow and started digging. A few minutes later he came up with his tennis ball. This wouldn't be so amazing to me if it had been a few inches of snow, but it was 6 inches of snow, covered by 1/4 inch of ice, covered by another 6 inches of snow! He apparently did not like having his ball under all the snow the silly dog. Another key thing about Hank is his excess skin; it's only around his upper body, and not on the legs. He also has really deep set, droopy eyes and the loose skin under his chin resembles balls.

So, after thinking more deeply about hound breeds and doing some research I think I figured out what Hank really is. He is not a Shepherd/Malamute/Shar pei mix, in fact I believe he is only ONE of those breeds. His thick double coat, webbed snow shoe paws, love for snow and fear of water, and stubbornness can only mean his is definitly part Malamute. There is no doubt in mind about that. I feel that I can confidently identify that he other part of him, the hound part is......................................................................BLOODHOUND! They all have the chin balls, the deep set, droopy eyes, excessive skin around the upper body and can smell like no other. I read many descriptions of them and Hank fits the bill. If we really wanted to know we could do a DNA test, but I think it's more fun trying to discover it on our own and for now we have a Malamute/Bloodhound mix named Hank. I am going to put some pictures of Hanks droopy eyes and chin balls up, along with some bloodhound pictures so you can decide for yourself. It's a fun game guessing what breeds are in a mutt and that's part of the reason I love them so much. Let us know if you agree with our breed diagnosis!

Arctic Blast 2008 Part Deux

Another six inches of snow last night. That is on top of 1/4" ice and with another 6 1/2" underneath. For all you math whizzes out there you know that means over a foot of snow. We are expected to get 20" after it is all said and done. Needless to say, my car is almost completely covered on the street, my lighted penguins are covered, and we have to walk in the street when we take Hank out. We are hoping we can make it down to my family's for Christmas, but I-5 is closed as of now. Ryan's grandparents are snowed in at the beach as well. It may be in interesting Christmas, that's for sure. I obviously took more pictures because I have nothing else to do with my time so look and be jealous or relieved that it's not you stuck in it!

The Backyard

My Car...can you see it?

The Patio Table with 12 inches of snow on it

The Penguins After

The Penguins Before

Arctic Blast 2008

The meteorologists up here can't agree on the forecast. The newspaper said today we should expect 1"-2" of snow, while KGW News said expect up to 6" of snow. Well, KGW was right, we have probably over 6" of snow as of right now, 8:01pm. The snow started while we were asleep and has not stopped since. I love the snow and therefore am delighted. The only problem is the winds are averaging a speed of 20-30mph. This makes a windchill of -2 degrees.

I took a picture of our patio table right before I started blogging so you could see how massive this snow is. Tomorrow some weather folk are calling for freezing rain, but then again they said this storm wouldn't hit until this afternoon and be done by 10:00pm. I don't believe a word they say and I certainly hope they are wrong about the freezing rain.

I just measured the snow on the patio and read 6 1/2", I can't wait to see how much snow we have in the morning!