Dogs Trust Snetterton: Look At Us Now!

Henry

I adopted my dog from Snetterton in the New Year of 2009, and I thought that you might like to hear how we're getting on.

Henry (known as Sammy when he was adopted) really settled into his new life, and I now couldn't imagine being without him. He has blossomed from being a boisterous, opinionated little fatty (he weighs about 16kg now - down from 22.5kg when I got him, which is pretty heavy for a Cocker Spaniel!) into a fit, happy dog (although still pretty boisterous - but in a good way!). In turn, he has also changed my life. He comes to work with me almost every day, and can normally be found either asleep under my desk, or sitting on my colleague's lap, helping her with her paperwork. He's carried collecting tins around on open days, made friends with various rescued foals at the horse charity I work for, dressed up as a sled-dog to raise money for Sport Relief, and has also become a bit of a star pupil at his dog training class. Thanks to him I am now an assistant dog trainer myself at the same dog training school, something that would never have happened without Henry - although Henry still keeps me on my toes! In addition to this, Henry occasionally spends weekends working at a local shoot - which he absolutely loves (as do I), but which I'd never have contemplated before adopting him. He is a great advert for rescue dogs.

His greatest challenge has been adjusting to us moving house to live with my partner earlier this year - although after a bit of a shaky start (Henry not being all that keen on sharing my attention to begin with) I'm happy to say that they are now good friends. In fact, on the days that Henry can't come to work with me, he goes to work with my partner instead and 'helps' by emptying all the bins he can reach... He has never lost the habit of eating any stray food he finds (or any horse poo he drops across either) and our kitchen bin has a child lock on it!

I have attached some pictures that I thought you might like. One shows Henry up in the Lake District, attempting to telepathically will us into sharing our lunch with him. He has climbed a couple of Wainwrights with us, and no doubt will climb many more in years to come. The next shows Henry in the snow, wondering how long I'm going to faff about taking pictures, when really I should be getting on with the important business of throwing his ball! The final one shows Henry meeting a foal at work that was only a little bigger than he is - he is gentle enough to give them a good introduction to dogs and build up their confidence, which is great.

This January, it will be four years since Henry came home with me. I just wanted to say thanks for letting me have such a lovely dog.

Hannah