Henry was picked up by the police over Memorial Day weekend of 1999. Because he was found wandering, the Humane Society gave him the name of Moses.He had a bad case of kennel cough and was dreadfully thin and so he was not adoptable right away. He and I met on July 4th of 1999. I knew I wanted to rescue a dog and I was hoping that there might be a beagle available.
When we got the the H.S., we were told that there were six beagles. Five were pups and there was an older male who was very shy. We strolled around and I almost didn’t see Henry. He was lurking in the back of the cage and wouldn’t come to the front for any reason. When I walked by, he ran to the front and barked. That was it, I knew he was the one!
He arrived at his forever home on July 8th and was shy, frightened and so skinny. The first night he huddled in the corner and whined at his new Daddy. He got used to us very quickly and also loved to hang out with his Grandpa and Grandma. They were always good for a treat and a walk. He always remained a bit skittish around his Daddy, which led the vet to determine that he may have been abused by a man at some point in his little life.
He seemed thrilled on Sept 29th of that year when a black furball came frolicking through the door and instantly made a life-long friend. He did seem puzzled though, when this new creature quickly outgrew him and became his guardian, in stead of the other way around.
He loved it when we moved to our new house and he had a huge fenced in yard to run in and many squirrels to terrorize. He was even more pleased in October of that year when we rescued another beagle. The two of them connected immediately and were like an old married couple.
Henry’s favorite thing to was to be read to. Every evening, I would tell him that it was sleepy-night-night time and he would follow me up the stairs and fall asleep to me reading aloud to him. He would wake to hear Daddy coming up the stairs and would howl at him.
Henry’s favorite food was venison. He was not one to hang around in the kitchen when meals were being prepared; but when Daddy would pull out any venison at all, Henry would be underfoot
trying to trip Daddy up.
He had another brother, too; but did not like to compete for my attention. He would always lay he entire body across my thigh and try to block his brother’s advances toward me.
During the last year of his life, he slowed down gradually. It was such a treat when he would get an occasional burst of energy and want to play.
He had slipped a disk in his back and had difficulty climbing stairs and jumping on the couch, so I would carry him upstairs each evening for storytime and would lift him onto the couch.
The last week, he seemed very frustrated and did not want to eat anything. He was content to lay on his orthopedic doggie bed with his head near his sister’s heart and just “be”.
On the final night, Daddy cooked a bit of venison just to see if he would eat that and Henry was very happy with that. His sister licked his face, got up from the bed and went to lay on the arm of the couch almost as if she was saying goodbye; but at the same time she still wanted to look over him. That night, I slept on his bed with him and we took him to the vet first thing in the morning. Dr. K said it was probably anemia; but he wanted to run some tests. As Dr. K picked him up,
Henry took his final breath.
He was such a loving devoted dog to the very last minute of his life. I know that he is waiting at the Rainbow Bridge and has been reunited with his cousin Frieda and his uncle Rolf. His brothers and sister still look for him and we will miss him for the rest of our lives.
Thank you Henry, for being you.
All My Love,
| Henry |
| Monica |