Henry in the Snow

Henry absolutely hates the rain, but didn't seem to mind the snow...especially in his waterproof, flannel, reflective jacket. That dog dresses better than I do.

Socializing Henry

Lately we've really been putting an effort into socializing Henry. Eventually we'd love to get Henry a little brother or sister hound he can snuggle with so he doesn't have to be home alone while I'm at school and Chris is at work, but to do that we have to teach him not get SO incredibly excited when he sees other dogs!
I actually think he tries to 'tree' dogs when he sees them....hm.
Lately we've been taking him to weekend races, dog parks, and hiking with my friend's Black Lab. Instead of avoiding dogs when we see them on our runs and walks, we bring Henry up to them.  If the owner looks nervous about Henry's barking we just explain to them that he's perfectly friendly, just loud. So far everyone has been awesome about it and, just like we do, finds Henry irresistibly darling. We brought him to the vet last week for a checkup/vaccination updates and found out the vet has a dog park behind it - less than 2 miles from our house! Henry went there 3 times last week, and played with some Pitbulls, who were actually delightfully playful and gentle.
The vet also told us Henry "is a keeper" - we agree!
A few days ago our friend brought his 10 week old puppy over for some play time. His dog, Rocky, is a rescue too, so we thought Henry might be able to show him the ropes. Henry was incredible! He didn't bark at all, was not even remotely territorial (even when the puppy stole his toys, licked his food bowl, and drank from his water bowl) and played really well with the little guy.
The funniest thing that happened was Rocky went onto Henry's bed with all of his blankets and laid down and Henry came over and literally started pulling the blankets out from under him. Eventually he shared his bed but at first he was very confused why there was a puppy hogging up all the space.

Henry and rocky sharing Henry's blankets and bed

Henry teaching Rocky how the big dogs howl

I'm so proud of our little hound - he's come such a long way. This weekend Chris and I went to Park City for a night and left Henry at a dog hotel. I literally almost started crying on our way out the door, I've never left him anywhere before, so it was hard leaving him.... but according to his "doggy report car" he did really well and I think he had fun howling with all the other dogs and running around with them at play time. 

We have to leave him again at Christmas time but he seemed perfectly happy when we picked him up, and is now curled up dead asleep on his bed so I feel better about it. 

I just hope he doesn't think we left him there forever, or that its a pound! Perhaps I'm over thinking this.

Til next time!

-Katie