by Bitsie Tulloch, who plays Juliette Silverton on NBC’s Grimm and has two upcoming films to be released (the crime thriller ‘Dead Draw’ and ‘Chronic’ opposite Tim Roth) talked with K9 Magazine about her constant leading man, her dog Henry. Source: K9 Magazine
Take a sneak peek at the K9 Magazine article.
Tell us about your dog – we’d like to know everything about him!
Henry is a 4 ½ year old French Bulldog. He’s goofy, sassy and super courageous – not even remotely intimidated by bigger or meaner dogs. I have had him since he was about two months old and we have been through so much together, including a move from California to Oregon to shoot ‘Grimm’, and more importantly a life-threatening stroke he suffered last year. Learning to care for a disabled pet has been a huge adjustment for me, but now that he is walking again it’s much easier to take care of him and more a matter of taking him to physical therapy and making sure he takes his medication.
When you decided to get a dog, what was it that led you to Henry and made him stand out as the one for you?
I just always wanted a French Bulldog named Henry. But in my mind I wanted what I call a “breadloaf” Frenchie – the little chubby cream-colored ones, but then when I started looking, I saw a photo of baby Henry and immediately knew he was my dog. I don’t know why, just a gut reaction, because he looked nothing like what I had envisioned was going to be my Frenchie. I just knew he was mine.
Tell us a little about Henry’s stroke, how did you adapt and evolve as a dog owner after that? How is he getting on now?
Last year in early December, Henry had a Fibrocartilaginous Embolism (‘spinal cord stroke’). There were few warning signs other than that day he was looking pretty weak and didn’t want to go outside to play or go for a walk – Frenchies are incredibly playful and have a ton of energy so that was unusual. It was one of the worst nights of my life – I came home from a concert to find him hyperventilating and paralyzed from the waist down. He was in the ER for 5 days in an oxygen tank and as soon as I got him home I started taking him to physical therapy 3-4 times a week. Now we are down to once a week.
He gets acupuncture, underwater treadmill, laser therapy etc. He was completely paralyzed from the waist down for over a month, and slowly regained feeling in his legs. He was in diapers, and I had to manually express his bladder and bowels a few times a day – that’s true love! He loves his physical therapists at Back on Track Rehab in Portland, and seems to be aware that everything they’re doing is helping him — he barely lets me brush his teeth, but happily lets them stick acupuncture needles in his back.
