Welcome Home Henry!

Henry is a 4 year old Newfoundland who had been rescued by Big Dogs, Huge Paws, a great rescue organization doing amazing work to save dogs. Henry was rescued from a shelter in South Dakota and was being fostered by a loving family in Nebraska. Last month, I  put in an application to adopt a large breed and then waited until we found just the right one...

This weekend we drove to North Platte, Nebraska where we met Henry. He'd already been in two different cars when he arrived at the Holiday Inn parking lot where we met. And yet, when he stepped out of the car, it was as if we'd known each other for ages and after a walk around the parking lot to stretch his legs, and a refreshing drink of water, he graciously got into the back of our car for the ride back to Colorado.

Given Henry's size, Coco had to ride up front with Mom, my co-pilot on this trip. Luckily Mom's always up for a road trip. And so is Coco.

Once we got home Henry was able to enjoy his first night in his new bed. To give you an idea of Henry's size...that is a twin-size mattress from a fold out bed that I had in the closet, placed at the foot of a king size bed...and Henry takes up the whole thing. I covered the mattress with a foam pad, a mattress pad, flannel sheet and teddy bear pillow to make it extra cozy because Henry has been  recovering from surgery to fix a broken ankle.

Henry doesn't snore, but he makes this adorable low grumbling noise, like a dragon, when he turns over or stretches in his sleep.

This morning we had a few inches of snow on the deck. And I quickly discovered just how much Henry enjoys the snow...

Exploring the deck...

Guarding the bird feeder from squirrels...

Watching the deer cross through the field beyond the back fence...

Eating snow, which makes his drool freeze...

In other words, Henry's making himself right at home.  Amazingly, he acts like he's been with us for ages, he's sleeping at my feet as I write this, which leads me to believe he came from a wonderful home that for one reason or another was no longer able to care for him. We feel very lucky to have him join ours.