About Henry, the dog enrichment planner named after a real Vizsla

Why Henry exists

Henry is a Hungarian Vizsla, a breed developed to quarter fields, find birds by scent, point and retrieve. He got a good walk every day and still came home wired. What changed things was not more walking: it was planning his week around what he was bred to do, with scent work most days, safe off-lead running, retrieves with a pause and a release, and plenty of calm time close to his people.

Writing that week out by hand every Sunday became this app. Henry's story has the longer version.

Who built it

Henry was built by Henry's owner. Lives with Henry, a Hungarian Vizsla, and wrote his weekly enrichment plan by hand for months before turning it into this app. Not a vet or a qualified behaviourist: the guides draw on everyday experience with a high-drive gundog and on published guidance from animal welfare organisations, which is linked where it is used.

The guides on this site are written from that experience and from published guidance by animal welfare organisations, which is linked wherever it is used. They have not been reviewed by a vet or a veterinary behaviourist. If that changes, the reviewer will be named on each guide.

How the plans are made

1. You describe your dog: name, breed, age, weight, energy level, home (apartment, no yard, or a yard), health issues and sensitivities, and how many minutes a day you really have.
2. Unsafe activities are removed first. Apartments only get indoor activities. Puppies, seniors, and dogs with joint problems or recovering from surgery lose anything high-impact. Dogs that are reactive to other dogs lose anything that needs another dog. Dogs that aren't food-motivated lose food-based foraging.
3. The rest are weighted. Activities that match the breed's typical instinct (scent, herding, retrieving, terrier work, guarding or companionship) score highest, then energy level, age and weight are taken into account.
4. The week is fitted to your time. Each day leads with a different need, covers two or three of the six, stays within your daily minutes, and avoids repeating the same activity on consecutive days. Weekends can be doubled.

All of this runs on a fixed library of 30 activities written for Henry. The same answers always produce the same week.

The principles behind the activities

• Work with the dog's instincts, not against them. Give sniffing, chasing, carrying, digging and problem-solving a safe outlet rather than trying to suppress them.
• Short and winnable. Sessions are a few minutes to half an hour. Stop while the dog still wants more.
• Reward-based only. Nothing in Henry uses punishment or aversive tools, in line with the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior's position on humane training.
• Safety before variety. Low-impact options for joints and seniors, supervision for anything chewable or edible, and a reminder to use part of the daily food ration so enrichment doesn't lead to weight gain.

What Henry can and can't do

Henry can give you a structured, varied week of enrichment that suits your dog's breed, life stage and home, with clear steps for every activity, so you aren't inventing something new each day.

Henry can't diagnose anything, replace your vet, or treat behaviour problems such as separation anxiety, aggression, reactivity or compulsive behaviour. Enrichment can be one helpful part of a plan for those, but they need a vet and a qualified behaviour professional. Sudden changes in behaviour can have a medical cause, so check with your vet first.

Pricing

Answering the questions and seeing Monday's activities is free. Unlocking the full seven-day plan, the six-week progression and the PDF is a single payment of $4.99 (USD). There is no subscription and nothing to cancel. See the terms and refunds for details.