WE GOT A DOG

Hi everyone! Meet Honey! 

I grew up with a dog in the family ever since I could remember. Ever since moving out, I've wanted a dog. So, about 5.5 ish years. I knew a dog was a big responsibility and a big financial expense so of course I waited and waited. However, my boyfriend and I finally got one a little over a month ago.

And ohhhhh boy there's so much I can say about this sweet girl. She's changed our lives so much already. 

Going into the shelter, we were just going to scope the place out and see our options, then buy some things over the weekend THEN get the dog. Well, the shelter apparently has been doing free adoption days as the place has just been SO overloaded with animals. Seems to be a common issue everywhere, unfortunately. Anyhow, a couple of weeks before going to the shelter I kept checking the website and checking the dogs list over and over and over. There was one particular girl on the site list who was SO SO adorable and reminded me of Dobby tbh, but for some reason I was stuck on a male dog. I made a list of names for male dogs and everyone. Welllll we pulled up to the shelter and saw that pretty girl in person and it was just a perfect match. She was a great size for an apartment and had shorter hair so not AS much shedding as some other dogs. The people at the shelter let us know she deals with a lot of anxiety, which I'm not surprised coming from a shelter dog. However, I ALSO struggled with a lot of anxiety so I really connected to her that way and wanted to take her home so we can deal with our anxieties together lol. 

We asked to meet her and we got to walk her around the area outside. My bf went in to talk to the guy more about her and comes out letting me know we actually adopted her! Her name at the shelter was Honey Bee, and we just decided to shorten it to Honey. Remember how I said the name list I made was for boys? Yeah, I was totally at a lost as to what to name her. But honest to god Honey suits her so well. So right to the pet store we went haha. (I had a lot of birthday money and a work bonus saved up which justified the initial costs of a dog)

The shelter guessed she was 5, but the vet said more like 2. Which means even more years with our dog! She was labeled as a mixed breed, but after researching we found out she's a black mouth cur. Which technically isn't a breed recognized by the AKC and won't show up on DNA tests. However, they do have main characteristics like the black muzzle, gums, and roof of mouth. As well as webbed feet, the black beauty marks on the side of the face, and the eyebrows. They originated in the south, which makes sense since we are in TN. They are a working breed and were helpful to farmers. So while we wanted a low-energy dog for apartment living, we are adapted to her needs for sure. 

She's pretty reactive, especially toward other dogs. So we've been doing a TON of training on that. In fact, we've been training on so much. Loose leash walking, distraction commands, crate training, "drop", recall, everything! I've even started to teach her "service dog" like tasks, like deep pressure therapy. She's really smart, eager to please, and highly food motivated so she's been learning so fast!

She's super duper sweet and affectionate. I haven't had a moment of space since having her haha. She damn near lays on top of me. 

There's so so much I can talk about, but this entry is long enough and probably fool of so many errors. I don't feel like checking lol If you have a dog or want to talk more about Honey feel free to DM me! I would love to talk dogs. 

I love this girl very much.