Ruff Times

Things were a bit rougher today than the past 2 days, but everyday with Sir Henry is a good day, so no complaining here.
It started off with the usual - Henry pawing me until I got out of bed before 7. We ran upstairs and woke up Chris and I let Henry at hi to the goldfish until he bopped it a little too hard and gave the fish a heart attack. He went from staring and following him with his eyes to downright biting the tank! The video cuts off at the end because I turned off the camera to grab Henry before he ate him. Poor fish. No more fish for Henry.

After breakfast I took Henry for a 5 mile run on the trail. Everything was going great until 2 golden retrievers off-leash approached and everything went downhill from there. As I saw them approach from far away I sat Henry down on the side of the trail and gave him some treats to keep him relaxed and distracted. My hope was that the other woman would put the other dogs on a leash, but instead they jogged up and one of the dogs approached Henry, which completely freaked him out. Henry barked madly and I just couldn't bring him out of it and then the retriever got behind Henry and tried to mount him in a dominant way, only raising Henry's fear. I was able to pull Henry away and the other woman got her dog under control, too. We both apologized politely but I could telll Henry was shaken with the whole ordeal. I sat him down a couple yards down the trail after they left and calmed him down. He was a perfect angel after that, running slightly in front of me.
...until we turned around and had to approach the woman with the retrievers again. I tried the same tactic by sitting Henry down, getting between him and the dogs and petting him/offering him treats. The woman was absolutely wonderful and held her two dogs back further up the trail and asked what I wanted to do. By this point Henry was wiggling around and barking like crazy. She was completely understanding and told me she had been there. She suggested I should get behind him and hold his head up so he can't bark. I thought it was worth a try so I did it, which resulted in me losing my balance, falling onto the small hill next to the trail, then Henry wiggling out of his collar and making a dash towards the dogs. I grabbed his harness just in time to be dragged across the trail my knees. Ouch!
In the end, the woman walked by, offered some kind words of encouragement and was on her way. They were less than 10 feet away before Henry completely snapped out of it and was fine. I suppose a situation like that needed to happen so I know how to handle it next time. He's just been such a perfect boy I didn't expect it! He was fantastic the rest of the run, and I'm optimistic about the next time that happens. I hate to have to run with him with his prong collar on, but it definitely needs to happen. At least until Henry realizes he's safe with us and we'll never let any dog hurt him, so there's no reason he should feel nervous and anxious.
I guess I'm not sure if it's better if I left him approach the dog and sniff him/bark in his face/possibly try to mount them, or if I should get him out of the situation as quick as possible. I would love for Henry to be around other dogs but I'm unfamiliar with him at this point, so I'm not sure if he's aggressive or just socially awkward. I also feel bad asking other dog owners to participate in Henry's training when they're just trying to walk their own dog - who is usually acting totally normal.
In retrospect, I'm laughing because we must have looked like the most ridiculous, spastic runners ever. Henry is just such a good boy and a wonderful dog - he just needs to show other dogs that!
Like right now, he's laying on my legs sleeping. What a goob.

This afternoon we took Henry to Mikey's baseball game. For the most part I was very proud of him and his behavior. There was a lot going on at the highschool and Henry, for the most part, was a very good boy. There were tons of dogs though, and I could tell he was agitated by them all. He just couldn't seem to relax no matter how much we petted him and tried to make him feel secure. So that led to a few barking fits that were only solved when the other dog walked by and was out of Henry's "range", which is about 30 feet.
I think maybe we've overwhelmed him with the amount of running, attention, walks, toys, treats, etc. we've give him. He's probably absolutely exhausted by it all, and that's adding to his "off" day today....I know he's definitely not napping as much as he'd like to! I feel bad because every time he closes his eyes we're on top of him, waking him to tell him how good he is and how cute he is and how much we love him. The poor kid probably just wants to sleep!
Also, Chris and I haven't really established a good system to dealing with other dogs. So far we just try to stay calm, get Henry's attention by sitting him and giving him treats, and then pretty much just seeing what happens..which isn't really effective. It would be easy to just lead him out of the situation all together because I usually see dogs before he does, but I definitely don't want to isolate Henry. Dogs are social animals and I definitely want him to have doggy friends he can chit-chat with. We'll keep brain storming and trying different methods. We don't give up that easy, Sir Henry!
Time to put this hound to bed, he's getting a little sassy tonight and I think he needs some serious R&R. Last night Henry was so exhausted he fell asleep with his head off his pillow, laying face down on the hardwood floor. Chris adjusted him so he was more comfortable on his bed and he stayed that way all night...I'm not even sure he woke up when Chris moved him.

Any advice about Henry is always appreciated :)

Howling good times,
Katie, Chris, and Sir Henry