About three years ago a family was living a normal life; the date was around August 31, 2009. It was like any other normal day of school for the children, Katie and Sophia. Each day to greet them at the door was their dog Clifford. Clifford is a black Labrador Retriever who is 10 years old. He has some gray spots on him, especially on his feet and around his mouth. Clifford is a lazy dog that sleeps all day and only gets up when he needs to go out or eat. Clifford was getting older and slowing down, so Katie and Sophia kept on asking for another dog to play with and maybe even make Clifford live longer.

Fast approaching was Katie's birthday, and on her list, along with other presents, was another dog. Katie was certain she was going to get another dog, but since she has been asking for one for at least three years Sophia did not think it was going to happen. On September 2, 2009 it was Katie's birthday. The family tradition on birthdays is to open presents after their dad comes home from work, which is usually around six o'clock in the evening. Katie could not wait to open her presents. Finally, when their dad came home, Katie tore open all of her presents. In the pile of presents there was not a dog which made her a little upset. As Katie and Sophia were looking at all of the presents, their mom came out with two envelopes -- one for each of them. As their mom handed the envelopes to Katie and Sophia, they thought that they were tickets for an event or to go skiing. Their mom told them to open them at the same time. As they were opening the envelopes the anticipation grew, they wanted to know what was inside. They finally opened them and a piece of paper was inside. They took the piece of paper out and it said, "Hi, I'm Henry. See you on Saturday!", and in the middle was a picture of a chocolate Labrador Retriever with a blue bandana around his neck. Katie and Sophia were thrilled to be getting another dog. They were jumping for joy and could not wait for Saturday.

The family got Henry from a Labrador Retriever rescue organization that rescues dogs (mostly Labradors) from all over the United States and puts them up for adoption. The organization found Henry in Indiana abandoned from his family -- and it really showed. Henry was the skinniest dog the family had ever seen. His fur was in poor condition and lighter in some areas then others because had been out in the sun for too long. At the time the family adopted him, he was about six months old.

On Saturday, September 5th, the family went to New Hampshire to get the new addition to their family. Henry was in a van with many other dogs, and when he came out he met the family and they gave him some water. When it was time to leave they put a leash on Henry to take him back to the car, but he did not know how to walk on a leash so he would not move. They tried taking the leash off and just holding on to his collar, but he still would not move. Eventually their dad ended up picking him up, carrying him to the car and putting him in the kennel in the back of the van. Henry was panting and drooling everywhere the whole ride home.

Finally, the family and Henry got home and Henry was relieved to get out of the car. They let Henry and Clifford meet each other and gave Henry a chance to explore the backyard before he went inside. After a little while, Henry went inside and sniffed everything and investigated the whole house. At lunch time for the dogs, Katie and Sophia brought the dogs down stairs, but they soon learned that Henry did not know how to go down stairs. They let Clifford go down first as an example, then slowly guided Henry down the stairs. He made it down the stairs successfully, but then came another challenge. He did not know the commands to sit, lay down, or any other command. Along with house training, Henry needed basic command training. The first day was over, but the next he had to go to the Veterinarian.

Bringing Henry to the Veterinarian meant going back in the car. Since it was Sunday, Sophia went with her mom to help out. For the car ride Sophia sat in back with Henry to keep him calm, however, that was not the best decision. Since Henry was panting, drool was flowing out of his mouth like a faucet and Sophia was the sink. By the time they got to the Vet's office Sophia was covered in Henry's drool and dog hair. They were both happy to get out of the car, but Henry did not know what was going to await him in the Vet's office. After all of the tests and shots the Vet gave Henry, they found out that he was: under weight, had heartworms, had intestinal parasites, and was malnourished. The Vet gave the family a bunch of medicine to help all of Henry's problems. After a couple of months he did not have any more intestinal parasites, and was getting more towards a healthy weight. A yearlong process of medicine and shots were required to cure the heartworms.

Today, Henry is a three year old healthy, happy dog. He does not have heartworms anymore, and all of his other medical problems are gone. He is now at a healthy weight, and has gotten bigger and stronger. The family has taught him some basic commands, but he still does not really listen. In the car he still drools like crazy, and is now scared of the Vet. Also, drool starts pouring out of his mouth when he sits to eat. He is able to go up and down the stairs just fine now. When he goes outside, there are three stairs to go up and out to the backyard. When Henry is really excited he gets a running start and jumps over all of the stairs to go out and later back inside. Also, when Henry has so much energy, he sprints laps around the back yard.

Henry and Clifford have became the best dog brothers. Henry always follows Clifford around where ever he goes, even if he knows that he might get in trouble. Katie, Sophia, and their parents call Henry "Shadow" because he is very clingy and he will follow anyone in the family around everywhere. When a family member is sitting at a desk or a table, he will put his head on their lap because he always needs to be touched or be touching someone. Clifford is now more energetic and is getting more exercise because of Henry. When the two are outside they always play tug of war instead of just laying in the sun. I think Henry has improved Clifford's life and will make him live longer. Overall, Henry has improved everyone's life and I will never be able to live without him.