Henry off Leash

GREAT NEWS! Yesterday I took Henry with my friends Kate and Dana and their dogs Murphy and Kooka on an afternoon hike. Murphy and Kooka are both labs so they are always off leash on hikes and they love running back and forth along the trail. I've never let Henry off leash because I know coonhounds are notoriously terrible with recall but after some training with a vibrating collar and lots of treats, I finally felt confident enough to let Henry have a little bit of freedom. I was so nervous to let him off leash, because if anything ever happened to him I would just die.
But guess what!?
He did fantastic. He stayed right with the pack. He would sprint up the trail a few hundred feet, then turn around and wait or make sure I was  coming. He would sprint out of sight, then a second later come flying back down the trail to the group again. I've never seen him so excited! He rarely was actually on the trail, I could tell he was absolutely loving running free through the woods and I'm SO incredibly proud of him for staying with us. I used the collar once when some dogs were running with their owner down the trail and Henry sprinted off with them (he'd rather be with the runners) but I vibrated the collar and called him and he was easy to call back. I'm so incredibly happy with him!
I'm not sure if he would be the same without the other dogs with us, so I'm still going to err on the side of caution, but this is such a positive sign! I would love to take Henry trail running or mountain biking with me and not have to have him on a leash all the time.
I was always against the idea of the e collar because I thought it was terribly inhumane, but after talking to some other coonhound owners who told me you don't actually have to use the shock, there's also just a vibrating part (which I put on myself and it feels like a cell phone vibrating) I felt better about it. I've only had to use it a few times and Henry has never yelped or expressed pain, it just grabs his attention enough for me to call him back and give him a treat.
Henry has a lot  more loyalty to me than I thought! I loved seeing him run up the trail ahead and then turn around and look to make sure I was coming. He and Murphy had a blast racing each other. Henry just looks so natural in the woods and he's so much happier off leash. I would love to get him a GPS collar so that if he ever did get turned around I wouldn't worry so much about finding him again.
Yesterday I had class all day so I dropped Henry off at Kate's again to hang out with Murphy all day. Kate is a preschool teacher as the school I do my clinicals at so she lives really close to the school. I'm so happy Henry and Murphy get along so well, and I don't feel so bad leaving him if he has a friend to hang out with. After school we all went hiking and then Henry had another slumber party with Murphy last night- AKA I slept on the couch with both dogs.
I can really see an improvement in Henry's behavior with other dogs even in the past week. He's almost perfect with new dogs now - when he met Kooka yesterday he didn't bark or jump, he just casually sniffed and moved on - WOO!

Henry and Murphy

This weekend I'm dog-sitting my friend Kate's lab/hound mix so Henry and I spent the weekend at her apartment hanging out with him. So far they've spent the weekend hiking, running, going to doggy-daycamp, getting treats, and taking LOTS of naps. Both of them are absolutely exhausted from the non-stop playtime! The funniest thing that happened was when I went out to dinner and left them alone for a few hours. I didn't think they would get into anything but I wasn't 100% sure so I double checked to make sure all food items were put away, important stuff was picked up, and everything was off the counter. I thought I was safe by putting all of Henry's food in plastic bags, in his dog duffle bag, on the counter where he can't reach. I returned a few hours later to find the dogs sitting on the couch looking INCREDIBLY guilty (hanging heads, droopy ears, low tails). Immediately I became suspicious. Then at the same time they both looked to the side of the table outside of eye-shot. Then I saw the duffle bag on the floor in the kitchen and unzipped - uh-oh.
I walked around the table and found a single zip-lock bag, still full of food, with little teeth marks in it. Sweet relief! Both dogs sulked for at least ten minutes - they felt so guilty.
If the worst they did was knock over a bag and steal but not even eat a cup of dog food, I'd say it's been a good weekend.
Friday we went for a run and a walk, Saturday I went skiing so I dropped them both off at the local doggy day care where Henry reviewed "3 barks" (A+) on his report card and apparently had a "howling good time" playing with the dogs, running around outside, play fetch and tug-o-war, and sniffing around,  and today we all went to the dog park and for a hike. Both dogs are currently completely passed out.
Murphy has been a really great influence on Henry this weekend. He's really calm, he never gets too excited or barks...he's just a huge, laid-back, gentle giant. Spending the weekend with him has been awesome and Henry really loved having a friend to play with the whole time. Usually if I leave the apartment Henry barks for a bit but when he was with Murphy he didn't let out a peep. And he's usually pretty antsy/nervous in the car but when Murphy immediately laid down and fell asleep in the backseat, Henry really calmed down. I was also really pleasantly surprised that neither of the dogs were territorial about food, toys, or sleeping. The only time I heard Henry growl was when he was laying on the couch and Murphy came over and sat on top of him - which was hilarious. I'm so glad Henry found such a great dog to be his friend and that they get along so well!

Henry as of Late

Not much has changed since my last blog about Sir Henry. He went to the vet today - I swear that dog goes to the vet on average once a month. I find it amazing he survived as a stray...he's what I call "delicate". He went to the vet in December and January for a cold/sore throat that set him up on antibiotics - which I think he milked because he considered them treats - and today he went for a wart on his chin that left Chris and I worried. I think we're just super-hyper parents, the vet is actually extremely amused by us and I'm sure thankful that we are funding his Jaguar. Oh well. Better safe than sorry! Plus...I think Henry oddly likes going to the vet. He gets excessive amounts of treats there.
Turns out with the "papilloma virus" we just sit and wait it for it to away as long as it doesn't get worse - that cost me $60, Henry! You better start paying rent!
I let him play in the dog park behind the vet for a little bit before taking him on his daily 4 mile run.

Here's some pictures of Henry doing Henry things for your enjoyment - he runs this house.

Sleeping on the bed isn't good enough for him...he has to sleep on the pillow on the bed

Henry absolutely delighted - and confused - by the puppybowl. Whenever he sees/hears dogs on the TV he looks under and behind it to find them - poor Henry.

Henry always gets super awkward when we pick him up....so naturally we pick him up whenever we need a good laugh.

Just me and my hound getting ready for our daily run

Henry pooped after his run

His 2nd preferred napping place

....this is his first

Henry and his favorite toy...it used to be a rope that he actively ignored until he managed to unravel it. Now his favorite thing to do when he gets hyper is to fling it in the air and let it land on himself