Hound of the House

So many firsts for Henry today! First of all, he's the best alarm clock. We set up one of those pillow-like dog beds with a blanket on top next to my bed for him and he curled up when I went to bed and stayed in the same position all night - literally. I woke up 3 or 4 times throughout the night to check on him and he didn't even open an eyelid until 6 am, when I peeked over the side of my bed to see what he was up to. Turns out, he was eyes-wide-open waiting for the first signs of life from me. He perked up as soon as I opened my eyes.

"FINALLY! I've been waiting forever!"

I groaned, rolled over, and went back to bed for an hour until I felt too guilty to snooze anymore. As soon as my legs went over the bed he sat up and pawed me until I was fully up. New sunrise running partner? I think so.

Another hour later we were sprinting up the stairs (yes, he went upstairs!) to get Chris. Henry's whole body was shaking he was so excited to get Chris up. 

...and then he discovered Mikey's fish, his new pet. I've never seen a dog that inquisitive before. He had absolutely no idea what to do except sit in front of the tank and follow the goldfish with his eyes...until he bopped it with his nose then freaked out when the water splashed in the tank. Then he circled the tank over and over and looked around and under the desk trying to figure out how to get the best view. We absolutely could not pull him away from that tank! What a riot. 

I didn't realize the easy part was getting Henry upstairs...because it took us half an hour to coax him downstairs. But I'm so proud of him because after half an hour of sweet talking, coaxing, and treats, he finally took a deep breath and charged downstairs. What a good boy! I think the combination of the wood stairs and the sunshine gleaming off of them completely freaked him out. But he was so brave! And now he can move up and down the stairs with no problem. The trick with him is to get him to do the thing he's scared of just once then after that he 's all, "I got this."

After we conquered the stairs and rewarded him with tons of belly rubs and pet names we put on his harness and brought him on a 4 mile run on the trail behind Chris' house. I was surprised at how focused he was on the trail! He only got distracted with a squirrel once, which caused him to stop dead in his tracks and howl like no tomorrow. I love that howl.

But other than that he kept a little under an 8 minute mile for 4 miles and still had energy when we were done. He is a great training partner! 

After his run we decided Henry definitely needed a bath, he was so dusty! 

I truly cannot describe the level of misery Henry expressed while in the bath. It was the first time I've ever seen him with his tail between his legs, but I really think it was more the fact that he was in a closed in space and not so much the water. The good thing is that he didn't jump or whine or growl, he just looked defeated in the saddest way possible. But he smells like baby shampoo now! And his coat is nice and shiny. After his bath he said hello to his fish and ran down the stairs (whatta champ).

The rest of the day was spent following us around the house, snatching up treats, playing with his toys, and going for two walks.

Chris and I left the house for a bit to go to the store to get him some more toys and a stake for the backyard. We really want him to have more freedom outside, so we got him a 30 foot lead so he can roam - he absolutely loves it! We bought him a supposedly durable fish, but he had it destroyed in less than 5 minutes. We played outside for half an hour between feeding him his dinner - a combination of Wellness food and half a banana.

And now, exhausted, Sir Henry is snoozing in his favorite spot on the couch.

The hound is going to sleep good tonight!

-Katie, Chris, and Henry