Wildlife Superhero - Henry The Hedgehog Dog Wins SuperDog Worker Award!

Henry the Hedgehog is quite an outstanding fellow and this week was announced as the 2021 winner of the prestigious SuperDog Carer Award! Well done Henry the Hedgehog dog, we at DogLife360 raise our paws in Respect!

Dr Scott Miller on stage presenting the trophy for Henry the Hedgehog Dog's 2021 SuperDog Worker Award to his owner, Louise Wilson

Henry's owner, Louise Wilson, was thrilled to accept Henry's trophy for the 2021 SuperDog Worker Award from Dr Scott Miller. Hosted by Stacey Dooley, the glamorous event on Tuesday the 9th of November was a stylish affair.

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Leading up to the announcement, Louise told DogLife360 all about her beautiful Henry and how she helped him grow from misunderstood pup to hero and an ambassador for Conservation K9 Consultancy

Proudly Henry the hedgehog dog

Henry the hedgehog dog - learned to trust

Henry was rescued at the age of 8 months. He had been shunted from one home to another, having lived in 5 other homes before his forever home with Louise. His unstable puppy life resulted in him finding it impossible to trust people. But Louse has patience and over the course of a year, he began to trust. His excited and keen personality emerged. He began to show a real ability to focus on his work. Henry is one of the many rescue dogs trained by Conservation K9 Consultancy, the dogs are taught to help with wildlife research, conservation, and ecology. Once he'd learned to trust Henry took to his job like a pro.

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Henry becomes a Hedgehog expert

Lucy and Henry the hedgehog dog — Henry with his mum Louise Wilson tracking hedgehogs

Henry is a wildlife monitoring dog and has been working with Hartpury University, hedgehog expert Lucy Bearman Brown. He's become a real hedgehog expert himself, also working with People’s Trust for Endangered Species and British Hedgehog Preservation Society! Henry has proven that dogs can be one of the best tools to help survey and protect hedgehogs. Already featured in one research paper with another soon to follow, Henry helps to protect our prickly hedgehog friends.

Henry the pioneer

Henry on the infrared camera — Henry and his hedgehog taken with a thermal camera

Henry is able to track hedgehogs in thick undergrowth where camera's and thermal tracking have less success. He is trained to be non-invasive, he sits when he finds a hedgehog. It has been proved that Henry is more reliable than the equipment that has been used up until Henry came along. The spotlighting technique is labour intensive, where a powerful spotlight is operated to track and find the hedgehogs. Henry's magnificent sniffing ability and keen focus make him an excellent tracker. It looks like Henry has pioneered a new way of mapping hedgehogs' location, and once found they can now be protected.

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A conservationist superhero

Henry and his hedgehog

British wildlife needs all the protection it can get, and this trusting little dog shows us what gives rescue dogs are capable of. Proving that with love, support and a job to do rescue dogs can be real-life wildlife superhero's. We love you, Henry! You're a true hero!