Honey Unleashed (Family Of Rescue Dogs Book 9)

Book summary

"Honey Unleashed" unveils the heartwarming tale of an unexpected Christmas gift—a delightful puppy delivered to the Porter family just in time for the holidays. Quickly becoming an inseparable part of the Porter's Rescue Dog family, Honey charms her way into the hearts of all the other canine members. Whether she's chasing woodland creatures or sharing cuddles on the couch, Honey's boundless energy and wagging tail bring love, laughter, and joy to everyone she encounters. This touching story is the ninth installment in Brian Porter's "Family Of Rescue Dogs" series.

Excerpt from Honey Unleashed (Family Of Rescue Dogs Book 9)

The year was 2017, and as the end of November approached and the weather grew colder with the onset of winter, Juliet and I were planning our first Christmas without either of the girls being at home with us. Rebecca was by now studying at Leeds Beckett University and was living in a shared house in that city with two other students, and Victoria was by now living with her long-time boyfriend, and working for an insurance company so the house was now ours to enjoy as we saw fit, together with our canine family of course.

Victoria had only moved out a couple of months ago and was living with her boyfriend a few miles from home. During her last few months at home, she’d almost constantly asked Juliet and me if we could get another dog. Victoria has always been ‘dog mad’ so this was just typical of her. As we felt we’d got enough dogs to keep us busy for years to come we’d repeatedly told her, “No Victoria. We really don’t need any more dogs in the house at the moment.”

On the day in question, Juliet and I had just fed the dogs when Victoria walked into the house through the front door.

“Oh, hello, what are you doing here?” Juliet asked her.“Mum, I need you to come outside for a minute,” Victoria replied.

“Why, what’s wrong?” Juliet asked, thinking that something bad must have happened.

“Nothing’s wrong, but I really need you to come outside with me, Mum.”

Juliet dutifully followed Victoria out through the front door while I stayed with the dogs, and a few minutes later, she walked back into the house carrying a tiny, furry bundle in her arms, followed by Victoria carrying a dog bed and a bag containing various unknown items.

“What’s this then?” I asked.

“Apparently this is our Christmas present from Victoria,” Juliet replied.

“Oh, Victoria, what have we said about not wanting any more dogs?”

Victoria just looked at me with a huge grin on her face. I looked at the little puppy nestled in Juliet’s arms and there was no doubting that it was a very cute little dog. Despite feeling slightly angry at Victoria for ignoring us with regards to adding to our doggie family, it was impossible to look at that happy little face and not instantly fall in love with her. Things Victoria had previously told her Mum now began to make sense. A few weeks previously, she’d told her Mum that a friend’s dog had given birth to a litter of puppies and she, (Victoria) was helping her to look after them till they were old enough to go to new homes. She’d even shown Juliet some photos of the puppies and asked her which one she liked the best. Juliet, unsuspectingly, pointed out one of the puppies, though it wasn’t the one that she now held in her arms.

While Victoria went in the lounge as her Mum instructed her and placed the dog bed and blanket with numerous toys in it on the carpet, Juliet brought the puppy closer to me so I could say hello to our very special, surprise Christmas present. Victoria called from the lounge, saying “Her name is Honey by the way.” Sneaky Victoria had even named her for us so there was no going back on that score.

Juliet and I spent a few minutes examining little Honey. She was very tiny and cuddly, a bright honey-coloured coat showing just why Victoria had come up with the name. Honey seemed to have lots of loose skin and at first, we could have been forgiven for thinking she was partly Shar Pei, there were so many folds.

“What breed is she supposed to be?” Juliet asked Victoria who by now had joined us in the hallway.

“She’s supposed to be half Staffy,” came the reply.

“And what about the other half?” I asked.

“Erm, they’re not sure,” she replied.

“Oh, great. So, she could be half Husky for all we know,” I grinned.

“What about her injections, insurance and so on?” Juliet asked her.

“Oh, I’ll pay for those and for the insurance,” Victoria promised. “You can get that Vac for Life deal, can’t you?”

Honey has just celebrated her 4th birthday and I’m still waiting for Victoria to pay the promised fees for injections and insurance, not that I would have taken it from her anyway…lol.

Our vet has a scheme whereby you can make a one-off payment of £99, and it will cover all the dog’s injections and annual boosters for the duration of its life.

“Yes, I’ll call the vet in the morning and get her booked in. Exactly how old is she?”

“She’s eight weeks old.”

“Okay, let’s have a good look at her,” I said, and Juliet put the puppy down on the floor. Straight away, our Cassie came out of the lounge to see what was going on. Wow, did she have a shock when she saw the puppy. She walked up to Honey, followed by Penny, sniffed her, then turned around and ran back into the lounge and hid under the coffee table. Penny, who got on well with every other dog we’d ever owned, wagged her tail, had a quick sniff, and went back to the lounge and went back to her bed. Cassie and Penny, being elderly, were allowed to spend the daytime in the lounge, to give them some peace from the boisterous activities of the rest of the pack.

“Oh dear, poor Cassie’s not impressed,” I smiled as I spoke.

“I’m sure she’ll soon get used to her,” Juliet responded.

Thinking practically, I next asked, “And where is she going to sleep at night?”

“We’ll have to use the crate,” Juliet replied, referring to the crate we’d bought when Sasha was a puppy and we needed somewhere to keep her inactive while she recuperated from her broken leg, (twice). We’d kept the crate since we’d last used it (When Muffin, Digby, and Petal were puppies) and it was currently residing in the shed in the back garden. After retrieving it and bringing it indoors, Juliet spent some time cleaning it and making sure it was suitable for the puppy to use as sleeping accommodation. As luck would have it, the bed that Victoria had bought for Honey was a perfect fit for the crate, so that was one problem quickly and easily solved.

The next big test was now upon us. The rest of our dogs had seen the puppy in the hall as they had a clear view through the baby gate that separated the kitchen from the hall. They were already showing signs of interest in the little puppy, and we were obviously a little anxious as to how they’d react when they met Honey, face to face. We decided the best place to allow them to meet Honey was the kitchen, where there was lots of space. Would we separate some of the dogs and introduce Honey gradually, or would we let them all meet her together?

Knowing that Sheba and Muttley could be rather boisterous, we decided to keep them apart from the others while we introduced Honey to them, and we put those two out in the garden until the first introductions were made. Juliet picked little Honey up and carried her into the kitchen and placed her on the floor. Instantly her little tail began wagging with excitement as the other dogs gathered around her, all showing great interest in the puppy in their midst. They all seemed to welcome Honey without any problem, so we decided to allow Sheba and Muttley to come and say hello. Much to our surprise, the two powerful Staffies appeared to recognise that Honey was just a baby, and they said their hellos quite gently, with noses touching and tails wagging.

Honey was so excited to meet all her new doggie friends and then, we were witness to a wonderful moment. Sasha, who some years earlier had sort of ‘adopted’ Muffin, Digby, and Petal when they arrived as puppies in our house and acted as a ‘surrogate’ mother to the pups, now decided to do the same thing with Honey. Before we knew it, she was in one of the beds in the kitchen, with little Honey snuggled up to her.

As you can see from the photograph Sasha looked so happy to have a ‘new’ puppy to take care of. She really did have a wonderful maternal instinct and in the coming weeks she did exactly the same with Honey as she’d previously done with Muffin, Digby, and Petal. Honey definitely loved her ‘new’ Mummy and Sasha spent so much time with her, ‘teaching’ her how to behave in the home, so much so that, as with the previous puppies, Honey needed virtually no house training from us. When Sasha went outside, Honey would happily trot along behind her, and Juliet and I would watch them interacting together in the garden. If Sasha did a pee, Honey would copy her, and she soon learned that if she needed to ‘go to the toilet’ she would have to go outside to ‘do it’. It was quite amazing really. Sasha had done all this before of course and it did lead us to wonder just how Sasha managed to communicate all the various required information to her new baby.

Not only that, but Sasha would spend hours happily playing with Honey, and Honey of course loved every minute, as Sasha would allow the puppy to jump all over her, rag her ears and even chew Sasha’s legs as though they were actual dog toys. Juliet and I couldn’t help laughing as we watched the way they played together and very soon the other dogs would join in the games which provided us with so much laughter and entertainment. Sasha and Sheba had always enjoyed playing together and would often engage in games of roly-poly together, which was always so funny as Sheba was quite ungainly when she rolled onto her back, but this game now became even more amusing, as little Honey decided it looked like fun and suddenly leaped on top of the two adult dogs and joined in the game. It was hilarious.