We brought Henry to his first triathlon today! For the most part, he was a good little triathlete pup. There were TONS of other dogs, and I mean tons. As in every single triathlete brought their kids, their mother, and their trusty dog. And, of course, Henry announced his presence at every opportunity - what a goof. I was kind of getting flustered with him until I saw these two Boarder Collies attack a puppy, then I completely relieved all Henry does is rudely bark in other dogs' faces. Sure, he's loud. But he's all bark and no bite. Just awkward.
For the most part Chris and I have figured out how his mind ticks and what signs to look for when he's about to let out that big ol' coonhound howl. However, grandma and grandpa aren't so good at it, and they were babysitting at the race today. They let him get away with a lot more than Chris and I do - typical grandparent fashion. It's like last weekend at Mikey's baseball game when Henry's great-grandparents snuck him treats at every opportunity and howled at him because they thought it was funny to get him riled up. Call me an overbearing parent, but I was so mad! Not really, I was more amused...but still. Let's just say I won't be handing Henry off to their house for the weekend: I'd come back to a fat, non-stop barking dog who thinks he has his own spot at the dinner table.
Chris keeps claiming he's the fun parent and I'm the iron fist. Somebody has to make the rules around here! The funny thing is I can tell what kind of parent Chris is going to be from the way he treats Henry- if he so much as whimpers, Chris runs to his side. He's worried about the littlest sneeze and the tiniest cough. When Henry snores Chris is concerned he has a cold. If Henry is sleeping on the floor and he looks uncomfortable, Chris adjusts him. It's hilarious to see a big military guy so concerned over his dog. What a loved boy Henry is!
So anyway, when Chris and I could be around before and after the race Sir Henry was a good boy but during the race I could hear Henry barking after us from 1/4 mile away - I'm sure everyone loved that!
But oh well, he's getting better everyday and he had a blast at the race, so that's all that matters to me in the end. After the race I took him and slowly introduced him to some pups and he was a good boy. He absolutely passed out on the car ride home - he's so adorable when he falls asleep sitting up.
The best part about Henry is that his personality comes out more and more everyday - he even has started giving tons of kisses to the whole family! My favorite is in the morning when Henry wakes me up by pawing at me, stretches out, clears out his nose my making pig snorts, then jumps up on me and tries to lick my face. When we first adopted him Chris and I completely expected him to be as withdrawn as he seemed when we had him overnight and for the first few days, but he actually is an incredibly affectionate, snuggly fluff ball - who knew!? My other favorite is when Henry is napping on the couch and one of us comes and lays next to him and he leans against us or rolls over to paw at us. I think he's secretly loving all this attention and relishing in the fact that we fawn over him so much.
Today I was really happy because we had him in the backyard tossing around a tennis ball and running around and he was playing in typical puppy fashion - crouching down, jumping up, sprinting away, and barking happily after the ball. Chris noticed that he was also taking the passive position when playing, laying his back on the ground instead of trying to jump up on him, which is a great sign because it shows he views Chris as dominant. I'm not sure what he thinks of me...probably typical mom: the person who feeds him and snuggles him and follows him around worrying about him.
He just looked so happy and carefree - I think he's getting back all those puppy days he missed out on when he was homeless. I'll take a video sometime of him when he gets really excited and goes crazy in the backyard on his tie out - it's so hysterical to see him get a huge burst of energy and sprint in circles. I hope one day we can take him off his 30 ft leash!
Oh! News! We taught Henry to shake hands :) He doesn't do it every time but he's definitely getting the hang of it. He kind of looks confused when he does it, like he's thinking, "I'm not sure why I'm lifting my paws like this and I actually think I look rather stupid but I will do this because it results in a treat."
So today, all in all, I had a very happy mother's day with my hound Henry
High paws,
Katie and Chris
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