Hank: Our Beloved Chow
Hank: (Jan., 1986 - Dec. 5, 1994)
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I met Hank at the
Boulder County Humane Society (BCHS)
in the summer of 1986. I had been volunteering at BCHS for two years
and Hank was the first dog I met there that seemed to have that
undeniable spark of intelligence. I adopted him a few days later.
Hank looked a bit like the Tazmanian Devil and he often acted like it.
Within a few days at home, he was chewing up shoes, clothes, and
various pieces of furniture. I had always maintained that Hank
was simply testing me to see if I really wanted to keep him.
Hank was the center of many cute
and funny stories;
- The Couch: by Bill Ingram.
After Hank was with me for a few months,
my current roommate moved out to return to college, taking his
living room furniture with him. I went down to the local
overhyped furniture store and bought a new couch for $200.
The next day, I came home from work and discovered that Hank
had chewed a huge hole in it and pulled all the stuffing out.
He looked so pleased with himself.
- The Investment Lady: by Bill Ingram.
At the request of a friend, I invested
a few bucks in a mutual fund so that his girlfriend could get a
commission and a better standing in the company. A few months
later, her standing had not improved (nor had the price of the
mutual fund), and she left the company. Her replacement called
me one day and wanted to come over and get me to invest more.
Well, the fund was still dropping and I had no intention of
investing more money, but I humored her and invited her over.
After an hour of fruitless salesmenship, she prepared to leave,
but couldn't find her leather purse. Guess who had it? Yup,
Hank had dragged it outside through the doggie door and chewed
the bottom out of it. The contents of her purse were strewn
all over the patio. It was pretty embarrassing helping her
pick up her "feminine" items. She never called me again and
my mutual fund still isn't worth squat.
- A Real Chowhound: by Bill Ingram.
One day, my wife Bobbi cooked a
nice Pork roast. We had a nice meal and then she left for one
of her evening meetings, leaving the rest of the roast on the
kitchen counter. She returned a couple of hours later and
cleaned up a few things in the kitchen. Later that evening,
I looked in the fridge for a midnight snack. No roast. I
figured Bobbi had finished it off when she got back. She
denied it and said she figured I had finished it while she was
gone. We put two and two together and figured
Hank had taken
it. Sure enough, we found the Pork bone outside, under a tree.
- Half Hour: by Bill Ingram.
My wife swears Hank could talk. One
day, Hank was bugging us to feed him his dinner earlier than
usual. After a particularly passionate woof, I leaned over,
looked him squarely in the eye and said, "Half Hour, Hank."
He looked back and whined two syllables that sounded amazingly
close to, "Half Hour?". My wife still maintains to this day
that that's exactly what he said.
- Hank the Bowler: by Bill Ingram.
Hank had a small wading pool in the backyard that he loved
to play in. Occasionally, it gets very windy here in
Colorado and we've had more than one pool fly over the
back fence, lost forever. I am an avid bowler. As such,
I have several old bowling balls lying around the house,
so I put one in the pool to weight it down. Hank loved
it. He would spend hours rolling the bowling ball around
the pool with his paws.
- Mom's Bath Time: by Bobbi Ingram.
Hank used to sit by
the bathtub whenever someone was taking a shower or bath.
One evening I decided to take a bath with a rubber duck
brought back from a trip to Washington, DC. Hank thought this
must surely be HIS toy, as he was used to all toys in the house
being his property. Boy, did I ever get barked at! We had to
keep telling him that this was Mommy's toy. Another time,
I decided to try an Actibath fizzing tablet for my bath. It
promised a nice relaxing time, and would soothe my aches and
pains. Then Hank wandered in and heard the gentle fizzing of
the tablet. He went nuts. If he wasn't barking at it, he was
growling at this strange thing in the tub. I thought he'd
drink all the water in there trying to get at the tablet. What
a ruckus that was.
Some Photos of Hank.
Hank was not a whiner. Several times throughout his life, he
was sick with a doggie cold or injured from his own
rambunctiousness. He never complained and was brave and
playful at all times. Hank passed away on December 5, 1994
at 7:20 pm. Cancer had taken hold of most of his internal
organs. As was true to his style, up until his last day,
he never whined or let on that he was in pain. We will miss
him. There will never be another dog like him.
Bill Ingram, 12/6/94
Since Hank passed away, we've had several other dogs and cats,
- Yax (1982-1999): A Cocker Spaniel mix.
- Ginger (1995-1998): Another Chow mix.
- Muffin (1996-): An Orange tabby.
- Peanut (1998-): A Chow/Rotweiler mix.
- Butter (1999-): A Besengi mix.
- Peaches (~1999-): A mixed cat.
- Sugar (~1991-): A white cat.
