I had spent my whole childhood loving animals and always knew that dogs would be a huge part of my future, but it wasn’t until I was 28 years old that I got my first puppy, a beautiful mid-golden girl, whom I named Henrietta, Henri for short. Henri was quite a girl, and a massive handful for a novice dog owner; energetic and incredibly intelligent and at the same time assertive and wilful. When she had matured, we immediately began obedience training, competing at beginner and intermediate levels, then later trying our hand at agility, which she loved and really excelled at. Although a challenging girl to live with, I believe that it was in those first few months of knowing her that my interest in dog behaviour and psychology began, and to this day remains a huge passion of mine. Nevertheless, her bold nature and intelligence made Henri a joy to train and I am sure she would have been an enormous asset in the field, doing what the Golden Retriever was originally bred for, retrieving game. With beauty as well as brains, we may even have been successful in the show ring. I am just grateful for the whole dog that she was, for the experience of knowing her, and the confidence of the breeder in handing over one of her precious puppies to a first time golden owner. I have very fond memories of those early days and of course, as with my all my dogs that have left us, wish she were here today with my present gang of Goldens.