One of these Beagles is coming to Blogpaws with me and the other is staying home. I wish it was the other way around. The cranky looking one is my favorite. Sadly, he’s just a bit on the heavy side for a carry-on and I think the TSA frowns on dogs in checked luggage. Au revoir best friend, I’ll be back from Salt Lake soon!! 
Henry will be 4 years old on Friday. Along with wondering where the last three and a half years went, I’ve been thinking about how that will make him 28 in human years (7 dogs years to 1 human year). That means that, right now, Henry is 27 in human years. We are the same age. From here on out, Henry will be older than I am. It’s strange to think about my dog eclipsing me in age. Luckily, Henry and I have had a chat and he has agreed to live forever. THANK GOD because that little Beagle boy is one of the best things to ever happen to me.
Henry & me on the day I brought him home.
“27 year old” Henry relaxing in barely tolerating Julie’s pool over Memorial Day weekend.
P.S. I do realize I haven’t been here in a while. I have a lot to write about- life has just been getting in the way!
As usual, Chris and I were completely overshadowed at the holiday family gatherings by Henry and Kramer. I guess it’s good practice for babies, right?
Kramer was extra lovey and Henry just sat waiting for treats most of the day.
We hope you had a happy Easter!
I meant to post this hours ago but got distracted by an impromptu cookout and rehearsal…
I worked from home yesterday and the dogs reveled in the fabulous weather- one getting covered in mud while endlessly chasing a racquet ball (Kramer) and the other chomping on every dead leaf leftover from fall that he could find (Henry). Here’s a few quick pics…
3 years ago, I brought this smiling pup home with no idea what I was getting into. I had never had a pet, let alone a puppy. I was clueless and I needed all the help I could get to make it through the first few weeks. That help came in the form of the staff at The Mutt Hutt (god bless them for not wanting kill me after days of constant emailing), Victoria Stillwell of It’s Me or the Dog, and a book entitled Puppy Preschool. After a while the 7 month old, 25 pound, ball of energy who came to be known as Henry J. Puppypants stopped ruling my life and started fitting into it. We stopped have house training accidents and (with a lot of patience and practice) started having a dog who listened and followed commands. It was a slow process, there were bumps and chewed flip-flops along the way, but we got through it.
I
n the time since, I’ve fostered 14 other dog (helping find homes for 4 along the way), joined the board of Secondhand Mutts and started working at Embrace Pet Insurance- all things I wouldn’t have thought possible before bringing Henry home. Now, I’ve reached another milestone. I wrote and designed a puppy book. Yup, that’s right. The girl who knew nothing 3 years ago is now giving other’s advice on how to raise a puppy.
This was a project for work- one that I find thoroughly daunting when it was given to me. How could I write a puppy book? After a short moment of dread, I knew the answer was simple. I started with research. Rereading Puppy Preschool, picking up other puppy books (especially ones written by vets or other companies similar to Embrace), and scouring the internet for the best information I could find. Then I wrote an outline- picking out the topics I found most important when raising MY puppy. Then I started writing… and writing… and writing. We wanted the book to be approachable- a good reference but not overwhelming. Something vets could provide clients in their puppy kits. When I saw done I had over 30 typed pages of content. Who knew there was so much to say and that I could say it?! Then the book went to my manager for edits and we cut it down to 24 pages with pictures. Finally, I started to design. I am in no way a graphic designer but I enjoy content layout, understand inDesign, and like to think that I have a good eye for what is aesthetically pleasing.
Between the writing and design, this is most definitely the biggest project I have ever done and it’s likely to have the farthest reach. We’ll be sending this book to vets across the country. New pet parents in need of guidance when their puppy is chewing up flip flops and pooping in the house, just like mine did, will turn to this book and my writing for wisdom. HOW CRAZY IS THAT?!?! Last week, the finally printed product came in to the office. I left like a proud mama- the book was my baby…
I’ve come a long way from that girl emailing the staff at The Mutt Hutt and watching endless hours of It’s Me or the Dog. I am in NO WAY an expert and would never claim to be. However, I can’t help but smile when I see my name on the inside cover of this book. To date, it’s one of my biggest accomplishments. Hopefully, one of many to come!
You may be asking yourself “what is an Entlebucher” and “What does that have to do with Henry?” Good questions, reader! I’ll start out by saying that it all started with this photo that I took at my office last week…
So, here’s some background for those who don’t know Henry’s story. In December of 2008, he was brought into Gateway Animal Clinic with a broken leg. It’s not clear if the people who brought him in owned him or if he was a stray, but they couldn’t pay for his care and the staff convinced them to surrender him. Henry spent the holidays recovering and was admitted into the Secondhand Mutts adoption program. I found him on petfinder.com and Chris and I spent the next 2 weeks debating if we could handle a dog. Finally, I just caved and emailed Secondhand Mutts to see if we could foster to adopt. We brought Henry home on January 29, 2009 and officially adopted him on February 9th. Here’s a picture from his first night at our house…
Basically, all that back story was to make it clear that Henry is a mutt whom we rescued at 7 months of age. We have no idea where he was before that (which kills me a little inside), we don’t know who his parents were and we have no papers for him. He’s not a purebred dog. That being said, we’ve always assumed that he was part Beagle. He was listed on the Secondhand Mutts site as a Beagle mix and he has the general look of a Beagle- size, head shape, ears (although they are a bit small), etc.
It’s always been Henry J. Puppypants the Beagle mix. Whatever that mix is, we can’t know for sure. However, that doesn’t mean we (and everyone around us) don’t like to speculate. I’ve heard that he’s probably mixed with a larger hound because he’s taller than a normal Beagle. We’ve heard that he might be mixed with Pit Bull because he’s got ridiculously strong jaws. You name it, we’ve debated it. Henry’s coloring is not typical for a Beagle. While he is tri-color, I’ve never seen a purebred Beagle that’s mostly black like Henry. Frankly, I have never seen another dog in person that looks anything like my Henry.
As we got to know more about breeds of dogs, we noticed how similar Henry’s coloring was to the Swiss and Bernese Mountian Dogs. My sister was even able to capture the similarity in a photograph. It just so happened that one weekend when she was watching Henry for us, her boyfriend and his roommate were dog sitting a friend’s Bernese Mountain Dog, Autumn. Check it out:
While Autumn is SIGNIFICANTLY larger, the similarity is uncanny. As I’ve debated what Henry could be mixed with, I’ve often shown people this photo on my phone. Occasionally, I’ve even been asked which one is Henry! When I started working at Embrace we would joke that Henry was a Bernese Mountain Beagle. This brings me back (did you ever thing we’d get here?!) to that photo of Henry at my office last week…
I posted the picture on the Embrace Pet Insurance Facebook page with a quip about how he loves to hoard toys and enjoyed the flood of comments about how cute my dog is (I’m a very vain proud pet parent). As I was perusing, I noticed a comment that gave me pause. It said, “Is he an Entlebucher?? I have a Swissy and its always exciting to see any of the Sennenhund breeds!” I had heard of the Sennenhunds- they are the family of dogs that the Swiss and Bernese Mountain Dogs belonged to. But what in the world was an Entlebucher???
God bless Google because I had my answer in moments. The Entlebucher is the smallest and rarest of the Sennenhunds. They have a tri-color smooth coat and symmetrical markings. These facts were interesting but what stopped me in my tracks where the first images I saw…
While not an identical match (the Entlebucher is a bit bigger and thicker), I had never seen a dog that was so close to both Henry’s size AND coloring. So I took the bait and went to Google images. There I saw a photo that was the spitting image of Henry. So close that I absolutely have to do a side by side comparison:
So, what do you think? Could it be a match? This is the closest that I’ve ever seen and, trust me, I’ve looked. We will never know what Henry is for sure. And before you suggest one of those genetic tests you send away to find out your dog’s breed, let me say that they are both expensive and, from what I’ve heard, extremely inaccurate. (However, if someone out there reading this would like me to test their genetic testing product and prove my preconceived notions wrong, I’m happy to do so!) So, what do you think? Do you have other theories about what could have created the adorable boy known as Henry J. Puppypants or…
The Rottweiler started it, but I’m sure the Beagle helped finish it. Nice job, guys.
…not for me (I wish), but for my blog. I loved my old design but the pink polka dots were getting kinda old (or I was getting too old for them, depending on how you look at it).
The new look is a little more lean, clean and simple. I like it. I hope you do to. I also added a new “blog love” page filled with all my favorite blogs to follow. If you’re reading this on your RSS feed, I hope you’ll hop over and take a look.
…while your waiting for some new content, check out this puppy picture of Henry I recently found on my sister’s computer. It’s from April of 2009, when he was 10 months old. 
Love this pup.
P.S. Have you entered to win my Near West Theatre Benefit ticket giveaway? If not, get all the info from my guest post at Clue into Cleveland.
Chris got this drumming Santa in his white elephant exchange at work. Henry decided to get in on Santa’s act. Here’s what happened:
We hope you have a fabulous Christmas eve and a very merry Christmas.
Happy (almost) Halloween! If Henry didn’t hate me before, he hates me now…
…but it’s worth it because he’s SO CUTE.
Yup, I’m that pet owner. Go ahead and judge!
Human Halloween costume photos to come! Chris has a great idea for a homemade costume, we’ll see if it pans out. I am taking my sister’s prom dress and a friend’s wings and attempting to rock the Fairy look. Can’t wait for Saturday- our official Halloween Party-palooza!
P.S. – You might be wondering about the crate and the tarp in the background. It’s been a rough week. More about that in my post about Foster Dog #14 coming soon!
