Henri was the sweetest little guy one could imagine. He let us adopt him just about 8 years ago this month and proceeded to slowly come out of his shell. Having spent 4 years in a puppy mill, he didn’t give his trust easily, but over time he warmed up bit by bit.  We let him grow at his own pace without making demands on him.  

He staked out various spots around the house that he claimed as his, along with every dogbed he could find. For the first 6 years with us, he often stuck to those spots, where he could observe the behavior of his two adopted brothers, Sammi and Willi. But sadly, we lost Sammi 2 years ago and then Willi 6 months later.  I’m sure that confused him, but slowly he began to come out of his shell and we were treated to a precious little personality. He began to show interest in different things around the house – exploring at his own pace.

Henri absolutely loved his ‘girlfriends’ next door. Pixie and Ember, and more recently, Harper, all little yorkies, caught his fancy and he would race to the fence whenever he saw or heard them, and then race up and down the fenceline.  

Henri could count. He knew that after supper, Dad would have an apple and that he was entitled to 4 pieces of said apple. He would come over and wait patiently for his share and once he had 4 pieces he would go back to his chosen spot and not ask for more. And if he was lucky enough to help Mom and Dad with bits of their breakfast, lunch or dinner, he would stand by one of us till he got something and then immediately go to the other person and wait for more. Back and forth, back and forth. And Henri knew when it was time for me to cook dinner. He would ‘nag’ until I got up and went to the kitchen, where he would follow me and bark at me, as if to say Hurry up!  Do your job, mom!

Henri took his jobs seriously. His people needed to be herded, or at least followed very closely. Cuddling was not something that he ever did, but we hope that he knew how very, very much he was loved. We will miss him every day.