Henrietta
What can I say about this girl? Henrietta was the biggest of the bitches in the litter and she did grow on us, but the decision to keep Zorro had been taken. Henrietta would be sold - and so she was. What's more she had been delivered to her new owner and money had changed hands amid promises to keep in touch, etc. A couple of weeks later we were asked if we could take her back for a while as the new owner was to be hospitalised. We collected Henrietta. The outcome for the owner was not particularly favourable and we were asked to take Henrietta on a permanent basis. She was back with us and with us she would remain.
She's a beautiful girl: brash, confident, you name it she can do it - almost. She is 3 pounds heavier than Zorro and, although of similar height, she is longer in the body which is good: bigger strides = faster dog. She already outruns Zorro and Moss. There are good times ahead for this bitch. As with Zorro, she makes her lure coursing debut next weekend and you'll be the first to know how the both of them get on!
Christopher Doyle, January 2006
We are now in November of 2006 and Henrietta has matured into a lovely bitch, 19 ½ inches and 25lbs. She has had two seasons. Her first was essentially non eventful with her, seemingly, getting over it and back to normal relatively quickly.
The second season however was less simple. For about 2 weeks before, she became less competitive on the track and as her season began and progressed, she seemed to want her own space more. She could also get a bit tetchy with the other dogs in the house. Her season drew to a close after the normal time but Henrietta remained lethargic for what turned into weeks afterwards. We didn’t race her and just monitored her behaviour.
At 7 weeks following the end of her season she developed a phantom pregnancy, producing milk and a bit more intolerance to the other dogs. We had her to the vet, were given medication and told to increase her exercise and generally try to take her mind off the prospect of pups etc. Three weeks later she appears to be back to normal. The veterinary view was that this phantom situation could and probably would reoccur with spaying being the best solution for Henrietta’s well being. To that end, in 3 days time she will have the operation and I will post more news a little later.
We are now in to March 2007 and Henrietta’s convalescence and rehabilitation is complete. Her moods that accompanied her pre op phase have disappeared and she is back to being the Henrietta of old. We brought her back to full fitness quite slowly as due to the winter season, competitive events were not taking place so time was on our side. Exercise, at first limited to lead walking, very slowly progressed to free running, and the task was complete. You will see in the news section that Henrietta, having her first competitive outing on 3rd March 2007, scored an impressive victory at Somerleyton.
