First seven hours with Banjo

Banjo came over around 10:30 this morning and wondered why his foster family left without him. He has been excited and affectionate towards us and has loved exploring the neighborhood. Banjo and I are working on mastering the walk since I am asserting that I am the "pack leader" (I know I'm going to get a ton of shit for that one) and he goes crazy when he sees and/or smells a squirrel. But we've been improving with each walk - he pulls much less and I'm getting better about getting his attention when he goes crazy.

I found out from his vet records that he was born 2/16/01, meaning he's now an eight-year-old beagle. It's incredible how much energy he has. I have to admit it was a little disturbing to watch him completely destroy a squeaky toy in front of us. I thought it was so great that he was playing with a toy, squeaking it and thrashing his head around. Then he settled down and proceeded to rip it in half, throwing stuffing all over. We decided it must have been a new toy.

He has a crazy howl. He has done it several times and we're hoping it doesn't happen at four in the morning. I'm also hoping that I can get Banjo to sleep on his own bed tonight. There's barely enough room for Chris and I, let alone a dog!

Banjo and Harley met for the first time. We took them over to Macalester and Banjo was on one side of the fence and Harley on the other. They barked at each other and then seemed disinterested. Banjo wanted desperately to sniff the bushes because he knew there were squirrels in there. We walked back together, with one dog in front and one further behind. It seemed like Harley was interested in sniffing Banjo, but didn't want to admit it. Banjo clearly knows Harley's in the building though because right when he got here, he laid down flat at the door heading to the hallway and whined. The foster family said they had never heard him whine.

I've tried taking a few photos and here's my favorite: