My parents' new dog!

Apologies for the crappy phone pic. My camera's batteries are charging now, so I'll have better pics later.

Stanleyyyyyy

I went with my parents today to a shelter to look at dogs. We were looking for a medium sized, "basic" dog, as my mother put it. All of the dogs they had were of medium size and they were all very cute and definitely wanted to come home with us. My parents are suckers for the typical hound face so sweet Stanley stood out right away. We took him outside to play and he was pretty good on the leash (a little pulling but he stops if you stop and will just need a little training to learn his manners.) After getting info about his background and personality, we decided he was our new dog.

He's a Treeing Walker Coonhound, which I've heard of but have never seen in person. He's a little shorter and lighter than the breed standard but he looks like the pics I've seen of other Walker hounds. He's very sweet and cuddly and just wants to be next to a person, getting pets. He doesn't seem interested in toys - just pets. He'll wander around the house or yard for a few seconds to sniff and then comes back for more pets. His primary interests in life seem to be humans, being pet by humans, sitting next to or around a human, and sniffing. He's not evven interested in dog treats! Just pets!

The people who work at the shelter just gushed about what a wonderful dog he is, etc. etc. and one of the employee's mothers had already dubbed the dog Stanley. My parents love the name, so Stanley it is. They weren't very sure of his background but he looks to be around 2 and judging from his uncertainity with stairs and other household things, I think he lived on a farm or outside.

He has marked on a chair and a wall but a good, firm NO! stops him in his tracks. He isn't fixed yet but his appointment is Tuesday so I'm hoping that will help. He is very eager to please and responds well to a firm vocal command so I don't see any real ongoing problems. He's learning good doggie manners now but he's already a really good match for my parents. He likes to sit on the porch or by the front gate and just observe. I know that he's tired today so he's calmer but he has lots of room to play and a dog who lives behind us to talk to.

Oh and his bark sounds like a walrus.