A woman adopting a pup for the first time thought she was bringing home a Chihuahua, but then he didn't stop growing.
Henry the rescue dog has been full of surprises from the moment Madison Austin brought him home to the New York City apartment she shared with her husband back in April 2020. "We adopted Henry very early on in the pandemic," Austin told Newsweek. "We were looking for a small apartment-friendly dog."
When Austin first came across Henry while searching online, he sounded perfect. "They advertised him as a 4-pound male Chihuahua," the owner said. "But, from the moment we got him, we thought, 'hmm his paws definitely look big!'"
Chihuahuas are a popular breed among Americans today. In 2025, the expert marketplace JustAnswer reviewed over 114,000 pet owner-vet conversations to reveal the country's most-popular pooch breeds. Chihuahuas came out on top.
Henry was no ordinary Chihuahua, though. After a few weeks together, Austin and her husband accepted that he was, if anything, more likely a Chihuahua mix. "We were still thinking he was at least part-Chihuahua," she said. "I remember talking to my husband about whether or not his ears were going to stand up eventually."
Then something started happening that blew the idea Henry was any part-Chihuahua completely out of the water. The canine got big; really big, really fast.
"He started gaining 2 or 3 pounds a week and then it went up to 5 pounds a week," Austin said. "Within two months, our vet had to say, 'sorry to break it to you but this dog is definitely not a Chihuahua!'"
The news came as a shock to Austin, who had prepped for life with a Chihuahua. "We had bought an expensive electronic pee pad, thinking we were going to train him on that. That didn't work very well! And then, of course, we ended up spending a whole lot more money on dog food than we planned!"
The couple eventually moved to a bigger place and had kids, two girls. That suited Henry just fine, as it happens, because the dog, by this point, was huge. The dog who had been advertised as a 4-pound puppy when they first brought him home now tipped the scales at 95 pounds.
His breed is no great secret either. As Henry continued to grow and thrive, it became abundantly clear that he was no Chihuahua mix either, but just simply a Labrador retriever.
It is a world away from the dog Austin had originally signed up to adopt, but after so many happy years together, she wouldn't trade Henry for any Chihuahua in the whole world.
"We thought we wanted a small pup because of our lifestyle, but we are so happy he ended up being so big," Austin said. "We have so much fun with him, and he's got a heart of gold. He was definitely meant to be ours."
The dog has a love of snacks, hikes and lots of cuddles, and, when Henry's not showing off his impressive array of tricks, he is doing his other most-favorite thing in the whole world: playing with his two human sisters.
Austin regularly shares stories and updates about Henry on her Instagram. @madison.austin.esq. She hopes his journey sends a message about the importance of giving rescue dogs of every shape and size a chance.
"Sometimes, we don't even know what we need in our lives until it finds us," Austin said. "I have no doubt that Henry was meant to be ours, and I can't imagine life without him in our family."