Henry, playing dead.
Henry is the latest addition to our family.
He belongs to my oldest son, who’s come back home to live temporarily.
Henry is a Pit mix. His coat is a shiny, smoky gray with white markings. He has a tiny underbite, as bulldogs do. His eyes take in everything – he is incredibly perceptive of moods and every move we humans make. If he thinks someone is angry, he creeps over to his crate and goes in.
He is meek, the gentlest, most affectionate dog; he never seems to get enough belly rubs. He puts one paw up on your arm when you pet him. He is always ready to play – he brings tennis balls to us and drops them in our laps. If we’re too slow in responding, Henry nudges the ball closer to our hands.
If we fail to give Henry the attention he wants, he lies in the floor and plays dead. Poor neglected creature!
On the second night home, Henry hopped up on my husband’s and my bed, where he settled himself Sphinx-like, quite majestically, looking at us as if to say: “This is where I shall sleep henceforth. This is my place.”
And so it is. Henry snuggles deep between us every night, often sleeping with his head on my leg.
My husband tells our son: “Henry is our dog now.”
Our son rolls his eyes. “Yeah, sure, Dad.”
Henry has been used to living in an apartment, so having a big backyard where he can run around is an absolute joy to him. He’s in dog paradise.
One morning our son went to call him back in and Henry was gone.
Someone had left the gate open.
A stab went through my heart – I could hardly breathe. This is our boy’s beloved dog, he brings him here, and we lose him.
Our son had adopted Henry from an animal shelter.
He was a stray.
“HEENNNNNRRRYYYY!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. I ran outside in my pajamas, not caring if the neighbors woke up to see. “HEEEEENNNNNRYYYY!”
After a couple of heart-wrenching minutes, our son found Henry on the front porch, looking guilty. Once inside the house, Henry slunk over to his crate and lay down, looking at us with the whites of his eyes showing.
Oh, Henry.
We are so thankful that you’re here.
Henry making himself at home.
lit bits and pieces 
Adopted shelter animals hold a special place in my heart. I just knew from the beginning Henry was one. I’m glad he didn’t go far. He’s part of the family too!
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He’s a huge part of the family – we can’t imagine not having Henry. He’s a joy in every way. You can be sure the gate stays closed and locked now!
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Looks a bit like our son’s dog he adopted. Sweetest thing! Love your story!
http://mainelywrite.blogspot.com
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Thank you! I bet there are many stories to tell about your son’s dog. Such joys. 🙂
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Don’t they have a way of saying SO much with the whites of their eyes and their body language. He sounds like a really special dog. Hope your son realizes that a big back yard is heaven–especially with a closed gate!
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Henry’s good nature and keen perception have often made me think he’d make a perfect service dog. He could certainly be a therapy dog – it’s impossible to be down in his presence! He gives back every bit and more of the affection he’s given. He makes us laugh every day. Oh yes, our son says Henry is living the life now with backyard freedom. That gate is checked endlessly, each day!
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The underlying story here, I think, is how sharing your love and tolerance for your son’s dog demonstrates your love and acceptance of your son moving back. He is lucky, as is his dog!!!
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Oh, Fran. What a poignant analysis. You have hit at the heart of the matter, for sure. Thank you for these words.
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Pets do become such a part of our lives and our hearts. They can just understand us so well and always give us what we need. Enjoy your time with your son’s dog.
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Thank you. We have told our son when he gets ready to move back out, Henry is staying with us (nice try on our part!). We are cherishing every minute with Henry – and his owner. 🙂
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My heart stopped when you said the gate was open. Henry clearly knew where his home ( and heart) was and came back to the front porch.
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Believe me, my heart stopped, too – only a couple of times in my life have I felt like it might stay stopped, and this is one of them. Henry was probably just checking out his new digs with no idea why all the humans were freaking out. I can hardly think about it, even now!
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I felt that moment of panic all dog-owners feel when you said he wasn’t there! So glad he was on the porch! I love how dogs are so adaptable and make themselves right at home (I’m dog-sitting my mom’s dog right now). Yay for Henry!
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Yes, it is a horrible feeling, thinking a dog is gone. Thank heaven we only experienced it for a few minutes. Henry totally rules the place now! Have fun dog-sitting – there’s always a story …. 🙂
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We have a pit, and they are by far my favorite breed. You’ve captured all those sweet features of the pit–their sensitivity to their people’s moods; their Velcro dog qualities; their gentle nature; their need for a couch to nap on! So glad he was just hanging out on the porch!
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We became attached to Henry immediately. Happy to know these are characteristics of the breed. We have two other dogs as well – a 15-year-old dachshund that Henry tries to herd (the dachshund, characteristically, ignores him) and a yellow Lab. Henry doesn’t like the Lab – probably because he’s only a year old and hyper – so for the time being they take turns in the backyard. I am ever grateful Henry didn’t stray off!
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Oh, Henry! I can feel the doggie-love reaching through this slice to my heart.
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Henry has plenty of love to share! Thanks for reading his slice. 🙂
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Will Henry change the word “temporarily” to permanently…to be continued.
On another note – it may be because I just wrapped up a unit on punctuation, specifically dashes, commas, and parentheses to set off parenthetical elements, but this piece is a perfect punctuation mentor text! You have so many things for my students to look at tomorrow: colons, semi-colons, dashes, complex and compound sentences, fragments used for emphasis, italics, internal dialogue just to name a few. Thank you for changing my lesson plans for tomorrow! 🙂
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We say that when our son must go, he must go, but Henry … ! Yes, to be continued. I have never even dreamed of any of my pieces being punctuation mentor texts! I play with punctuation for the “feel,” for clarity, and intended effect, usually. I would be honored for you to use this in your lesson – and I hope the kids enjoy reading about Henry. 🙂
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You really brought Henry to life for me in this story! Having had a similar experience with my dog getting out of the backyard, I could feel your panic as you frantically searched for him. What a lucky dog Henry is to have found a place in the hearts of your family!
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It’s a horrifying feeling, isn’t it! As I respond here, he is lying by my chair. I believe we are all lucky to have Henry. He’s added a layer of happy to life.
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