These pictures were taken in the first few days after we brought him home. I can recall the first full day he spent with us at home...he explored around the flower beds and yard that I was raking, apparently sampling various tidbits as he went. That evening his stomach started making all sorts of growling noises and I ended up sleeping on the bedroom floor next to him, all the time somewhat worried over the non-stop intestinal noises coming from this puppy. All was well next day, but as a precaution he made his first vet visit with us for a good checkup.
Another interesting thing: from his experience with the breeder, he apparently had no stairs to climb there, and didn't know how when he first encountered them around our house. That lasted only a day.
Where did we get the name "Hobo"? See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Littlest_Hobo. Although our Hobo is not a wanderer, I was touched by the TV series -- the few I saw way back many decades ago.
Hobo is now 7 years old. How time flies! I'll have to get some more recent pictures of him on the website here. He's developed into the most intelligent (sometimes too much for his own good!) German Shepherd Dog we've ever owned ... and we've had many over the past 40 years. It was interesting that he never cared too much for toys (except tennis balls) when he was a puppy, but developed a liking to them when around 3 years old. As with most German Shepherds, he seems to never tire of playing with a tennis ball, his other toys, and a favorite squeaky little football. He seems to go through a tennis ball every week or two; the football has held up over a year although my last visit to our Tractor Supply store netted a spare one.
I've been asked by others about GSDs (German Shepherd Dogs) ... we got Hobo from a breeder a little east of Des Moines, Iowa. We picked this breeder for several reasons: temperment (of the dog!) was quite high on our list along with a German bloodline background. You see, the Germans are quite picky about such things as hip dyplasia and maintaining the breed. So Hobo's back and rear end is not "angulated" or sloping like the typical American breed, which incidentally has been fighting hip problems for generations. His daddy was a 115 pounder who often went to various children's schools for demonstrations, etc. and had a very good temperment.
Fortunately, Hobo has turned out to be a very healthy dog. And a very loving dog -- who says a male dog cannot be affectionate? Yet, he is quite protective of our household.
Hobo is now 10 years old ... 11 in a few months from now in December. This summer, he has been showing his age a little more by sleeping a larger proportion of the day, and he is also showing some stiffness when getting up from these naps. His solo trips down to our creek has shortened from his younger days. When I go with him to our creek flowing from our large spring, he still spashes and wades through the water, dipping his head well under water to grab a rock in him mouth. He then takes the rock up on shore and drops it in the grass. Fortunately, we have enough rocks in the creek so his dredging operation has little effect.
Walking back up the path to the house (fairly steep), I've slowed down considerably over the years, and he still patiently waits for me up the trail. Hobo still loves to have the tennis ball or other favorite throw toys thrown for him. He's really good in placing them in your hand -- even if you are trying to catch a nap in the recliner chair.