Honey.

Cute, or what?

 I introduced myself and the missus but hardly mentioned the most important member of the family: Honey.

 Honey is a Golden Labrador who entered our lives in around 2009. 

Wifey had been made redundant a few years earlier and didn't look to be getting a job any time soon. Despite being a postman, I was in need of some exercise. Because of my crappy knees I had decided to sign for an indoor job for my last few years of work so I wasn't doing so much walking. Consequently, I put on a few pounds and needed to lose it. Playing badminton, which was one of my great passions, was no longer an option, and neither was jogging, a hobby I took up and enjoyed for a while. So I suggested that since we would, in all probability, not be able to holiday abroad again, that maybe now was the time to get that dog we had spoken about on occasion. We were still undecided some months later when a lady I worked with asked if we were still interested in taking on a pet. It turned out her sister had just gone through a divorce and would have to go back to work to make ends meet. This meant that her dog, Honey, would be left alone for most of he day, which, she felt, wasn't right.

We went along to meet Honey and were instantly taken with her. She seemed to like us too which was good but I've since learned that she greets everybody with that same tail wagging enthusiasm which, I suspect, is designed solely to endear her to anybody who may be carrying treats.

So anyway, that was how we came to adopt Honey. And I can't believe how much she has transformed our lives. Everything we do now has to revolve around her. If we go out for the day we have to decide whether to leave her alone and come home early or take her with us. If she comes with us then we need to take food, bowls, a blanket, a toy or two and, of course, poo bags. (Trust me, after being a postman for nearly forty years I have trodden in more than my fair share of dog shit and the last thing I want is to add to the problem!) I used to walk her twice a day when I was working but now we go out three times most days. She loves it. I'm not quite as keen, especially in the bad weather but at least I'm getting some exercise.

We estimate that Honey was eighteen months old when she came to us in 2009 so that makes her around eight years old as I write. She still has her puppyish moments but her age is taking it's toll just a little. If I take her to the local park I can let her off the leash to have a run. We go twice round the park with a water stop on the way and, although she'd love to go again, she is knackered. Walking home is a slow affair compared to the dragging on the way there. And once she's settled down at home, getting up again is a struggle and she limps around the house for the next couple of days. Still, it's great to see her off leash and chasing squirrels so I while she's able I'm not going to deny her the pleasure.

I've never had a dog before and although I've discovered that Honey is an attention seeking, crafty, non-stop eating machine, she is also full of love and gives so much in return for just a little bit of fuss that it is impossible not to love her back. I never realised what a softie I was until Honey came along. (A pushover, as Reet prefers to call it, which is probably more correct.) We had Honey spayed a few months after she came to us and I ended up sleeping all night on the floor with her as she moaned in pain. 

Luckily, she was house trained when we got her. She doesn't get on the furniture and lets us know when she needs to go out for a pee etc. That's probably a good thing as I discovered I didn't have the patience to train her myself. Even now, after all this time, she still pulls when on the leash. She's not as bad as she used to be but she still has it within her to take me by surprise and drag me off to the side if we pass a particularly sweet smelling lamp post. And if she digs her heels in it's a tough job to pull her away. Even now, I'm totally amazed at her strength when she sets her mind on things.

Although her name is Honey, she answers to many others. I have a habit of calling her all kinds of daft names, more to annoy Rita than anything, but Honey always seems to know when I'm talking to her no matter what I call her. Aliases she goes by include: Mooshy-Moo; Fido; Dopety Dawg; Killer and Muttley. She would eat us out of house and home if we let her. She is constantly hungry and when she watches us eating she produces drool like a fountain. She thinks everybody is a friend and passers by have the choice of being licked into submission or beaten to death by her tail. And she is so so nosey! If the postman gives me a parcel she is all over it, sniffing it like mad and generally acting like a three year old at Christmas.

Before I go to bed at night I treat her to a piece of carrot and a belly rub and in return she licks any bare flesh I put her way. I guess it's a pack thing. And when I finally go to bed she follows me upstairs and sleeps on the landing.

So that's Honey. Hope you enjoyed meeting her.

B. x