A brief History of Henry,

Henry is one of five pups born to Sally, their black lab mother who lives on Bear River Horse Farm, where I have been riding for about 8 years.  As the story goes, Sally was destined for breeding purebred black lab puppies each to be sold on reputation alone.  Sally, however, had other ideas.  She managed a brief, but passionate affair with Henry's father who lived up the street.  While Henry's father moved away shortly thereafter, Sally carried on with wonderful memories and a belly full of puppies that she delivered during a snowstorm on Easter Night 2008.  Owner/Horseman Extraordinaire/all around friend to animals everywhere, Bill, had created a cozy whelping area in one of the stalls in his barn.  It was here that Henry and his littermates spent the first eight weeks of life.  They became accustomed to the noises, smells, comings and goings of all the animals and people around the farm just as the whole world around them was waking up to the new spring.  

Each pup was absolutely adorable and mesmerizing in their own way and had small characteristics that distinguished each from the other.  They were all black just like Sally, but they carried small mementos of their father.  Henry carried a large white bib that looked like he was decked out in a formal tux and tails.  He also carried white fingernails that looked almost as if they were deliberately polished as such.  It is with some shame that I admit I was open to adopting only a female, my biases were right up front and formed with no reasonable information.  However, when the time actually came, I had become very enamored of Henry and so on a sunny afternoon in mid-May, Henry came home to live with my sons, my husband, fluffernutter, the house rabbit, our chickens and me.  As Henry began learning to adjust to life with us in his new home, we were figuring out just how long it had been since we had a puppy in the house and how much our daily routines and structure were going to have to change.  Teaching OldDogs, (Chris and me) new tricks seemed the sole purpose of Henry's new life with us.  Thank goodness he was up to the challenge!  Could we reciprocate and teach him all the stuff he needed to know to get along well in this world.  Time would tell.
Here is Henry's first day at his new home: