The Adventures of Sir Henry the Hound: Recent updates on Henry the Hound and Luna

It's been a busy summer for Henry and Luna! It started off with me and Chris heading for 2 weeks to New England to visit family and the old England for our best friend's wedding. Even though we bring them to one of those doggy day-care style kennels where they run around all day with other dogs in a huge gym and have outside access and get to sleep together at night, I couldn't tolerate the thought of my two beloved dogs sitting in a kennel for 2 weeks while we were in Europe. It seems whenever we leave them in doggy day care for more than 2 days, Henry comes back with scratches and cuts, or his collar has been chewed, or he has somehow contracted kennel cough even though we have all of his vaccinations up-to-date (his propensity for injury is astounding). And Luna comes back limping because her pesky hip problems flare up when she's stressed out or has too much exercise. And I'm downright positive no one can take care of my dogs like I take care of my dogs. So instead of risking Henry's hair falling out and Luna's leg falling off, we had my mom and dad fly out to Utah to stay with them at our place so they can be in the comfort of their own home - that's love. So I could enjoy my vacation with the peace of mind that my dogs were being spoiled out of their minds by grandma by going on daily hikes and walks and eating enough treats to have them gain a solid 2 pounds. The daily picture message updates didn't hurt either...or the fact that it was about a thousand dollars cheaper than kenneling them.

The pups on a hike with grandpa

Afternoon snooze on the porch

Since we've returned from our England adventures, things have toned down a little bit. I graduated in May and my job doesn't start until August, so I spend the majority of my days running and hiking with the dogs and bringing them swimming. It's been a really hot summer here and Henry easily overheats so we have to head out early and limit our hikes to no more than an hour and make sure there's plenty of streams and water nearby, which is perfectly fine with him because he prefers napping in the afternoon. Henry is getting better and better every year. He never quite got over the extreme excitement of seeing other dogs, but we've been using the approach of getting his attention by saying "treat" when we see a dog and rewarding his good behavior rather than waiting for him to howl and then punishing his bad behavior. He's very easily consoled when he sees other dogs now, if he barks at all. He's made plenty of dog friends in our neighborhood and him and Luna are best buds. The kids in the neighborhood also adore him for his ginormous ears - even though one particular child is convinced Henry's name is "Harry". I take great comfort in having them around, especially since we learned Chris is deploying in October. I love that they alert me if someone is in our hallway or if there's an animal around in the woods. Luna is extremely protective and has, on several occasions, stood in front of me and growled on the trail if she feels threatened - and Henry's howl can scare anything within a mile away!

Nothing much else to report! Utah has been good to us the past 2 years and we love the mountains and everything they have to offer, but more and more Chris and I talk about how we want to move back east eventually, probably to New Hampshire. We miss the New England lifestyle! And I always get updates from the NE Coonhound association, where we adopted Henry, and think how fun it would be to bring Henry to their events and walks. Plus Chris' family adores the dogs and I'm sure they'd love to have them around.

Some picture updates of Henry and Luna's life in Utah!

Family photo on a hike

If the trails are empty and Luna is being a good girl sometimes she gets a little off leash action!

Henry and Luna napping on their dog couch

Every morning Henry bolts awake and sits by the closet where we keep his dog food and whines, just so we don't forget it's breakfast time

Luna's life is so exhausting! She's also dramatic.

Henry cautiously testing out the waters - he decided it was too deep and only took a drink

...unlike Luna who jumped right in! Water dog! And then Henry sits on the shore and howls at her

Henry on a hike

Henry and Luna cooling off in one of the many streams in the mountains above our house

Beach day with the pups!

Whenever the guest room door is open Henry sneaks in and burrows himself under the covers

Luna being a silly girl and perching herself on the armrest

Tired pups after a morning on the trails and swimming at Snowbasin

My handsome boy admiring Utah's waterfalls

Henry and Luna out on another hike!

Luna has memorized the sound of our car lock beeps and whenever Chris beeps his when he gets home and she stops whatever she's doing and sits by the door and waits for him- she's definitely a daddy's girl

Henry perched on the armrest of our couch - most of the time he's pretty anti-social and likes to sleep in our bedroom alone while we're out making dinner and watching TV. But sometimes he gets in these odd "cuddly" moods and will stop at nothing to get as close as possible to us while we're on the couch

I rubbed the essential oil Lavender on Henry's ears to relax him - he was very relaxed

While I was cleaning the guest bedroom Luna was trying very hard to get up on the stool, with a little help from me she sat up there and watched me clean - maybe she just wanted a different perspective?