Meet handsome Henry and his family, the Andersons: Meg, Katie, Kate and Lindsey. Katie, a writer, and Lindsey, in the furniture business, relocated to Rebel country for career opportunities. Dog lovers, they shared their life with both a legendary black terror of a dog and a Great Dane before seeking a calmer and smaller addition to their household. Katie liked an Atlanta friend’s ‘Schnoodle’ and after studying the expert’s recommendations on selecting the best puppy from a litter, headed to the same family that owned the Poodle and Schnauzer (the family is not quite sure about the pedigree of the doggie daddy) parents of their friend’s ‘Schnoodle’. Katie threw out the entire puppy-selecting rulebook when she immediately fell in love with the little runt of the litter that followed everyone around ‘talking’. And ‘talking’. Katie had always favored the name Henrietta or Henri for a dog, so they adapted it for a boy and Henry was christened.
Henry still chatters, using more of a grown up whisper when requesting food from Lindsey. His Poodle heritage is evident in his intuitive attention to the family’s emotions and moods, cuddling up when someone is sad or upset and paying extra attention to someone under the weather. When Katie was laid up after knee surgery, Henry was her constant companion, quietly lying by her side. Henry is also apparently sensitive to the less appealing aspects of doggie ownership — clean up. When suffering the indignities of an upset tummy when home alone, Henry very thoughtfully jumped in the tub to do his messy business. The Schnauzer part? Henry is a forager, investigating the pantry at every opportunity and bringing all kind of found objects into the house to hide (under pillows is a favorite spot) for future savoring. He’s such a good boy; he’s seldom in the proverbial doghouse. However, he’s been known to comically put himself in time-out, in his bed, when discovered doing something he knows he shouldn’t!
The family has a host of nicknames for their boy Henry: Hooty, Henrick, Hen and Henny, among others. The family even made up their own theme song for him, Henry Bunkers. His cat like perch on the back of the sofa, where he can observe all that goes on in the neighborhood has earned him another family favorite nickname: Mrs. Kravitz. Every neighborhood has one, right?