Read the full story here
http://friendsofhumanesocietydetijuana.blogspot.com/2009/02/hstj-responds-to-needs-of-animals-of.html
I have decided to re-visit this story and follow up with as many of the owners of the rescued hoarding dogs, so that their amazing stories can be shared and live on forever.
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The Story of Honey
On March 29, 2009, my boyfriend Josh and I were accompanying his mom to an adoption event put on by HSTJ in Solana Beach, San Diego. We were tagging along for opinions and support in her desire to adopt a dog that had been rescued, in which she had her eyes on for weeks. Upon arriving, we met the dog she was interested in adopting and immediately noticed another dog, named “Honey”. Her eyes were what gravitated me towards her, looking as deep as if I could see her sweet soul in them. I pointed to her and told Josh I liked her because of her sweet face. His mom encouraged us to take her home too. We had no plan in getting another dog at this time becasue of the miniature dachscund we had at home already. However, we had talked about getting a friend for our weinie “Jewels” since she was getting older and seemed to just sleep a lot. We took Honey for a walk and before we turned around to head back to the location, we sat on a bench and talked about our options and how we could bring her home. This is when the tears came as I told Josh that even if we are not ready for another dog, I think it would hurt worse if we left without her. We both agreed we couldn’t leave without her and on the spot we decided to make her a new member of our family.
We didn’t know much about Honey when we adopted her, but knew right away that we had to be very careful with her because she seemed so fragile and scarred. When we brought her home, Josh waited outside while I brought Jewels out so they could meet on non-territorial grounds. They were both very curious and once we felt like Jewels let her guard down, we took them both inside and started making accommodations. We decided to change her name, marking a new beginning of her life. We named her “Canela”, which means cinnamon in Spanish, to represent her beautiful coloring. She took to the name very well as Josh and I thought she would. With Canelas’ gentle demeanor and Jewels’ lovable personality, they quickly became companions. Jewels and Canela have never had the rough and tumble play relationship, but more of a true friendship as they snuggle with each other, lick each other clean, and do most things in sequence. They are very in tune with each other as Josh and I joke that we have two wiener dogs because Canela acts and demonstrates the same habits that Jewels does.
As far as Josh and me, getting to know Canela took true commitment and dedication as every bit of progress made with her was a gold metal accomplishment. In the beginning, we could not go up to Canela and pet her without her peeing herself. She would run outside if there was a loud noise, if the TV was too high, or if music was playing. If we were walking her she would stop, sit, and refuse to move if there were other dogs barking or loud disturbances. We knew we had to be very patient with Canela as we tried our best to use consistent positive encouragement and praise. After some time we noticed she started to warm up to me a little more and would rarely give Josh a chance to prove himself. She would come to me and lay with me, but the slightest move of Josh sprung her right out of her comfort zone. Josh grew frustrated because he felt like he was making no progress with her and this broke his heart. If he did make progress, it would disappear the next day like someone who has Alzheimer’s disease, starting each day with a clean slate. After a years’ time of continuous efforts, Canela and Josh became great companions and new accomplishments were occurring every day.
Once Canela felt solid about her relationship with Josh and me, she became more comfortable around other people, which is really heart-warming to watch. We don’t know what happened to Canela before she was rescued, but anyone who had become part of her life knows it had to have been pretty traumatic for her. This made her progress even more remarkable. As she has really warmed up to us we have learned a lot about Canela. She is incredibly smart and loyal. She listens intently and understands discipline and praise without even having to change the tone in your voice. We can take her places where she’s free to not be on a leash and she stays with us without having to call her every 25 feet. Because of her desire to please us, she was very easy to potty train and has learned how to sit, lie down, and shake. She loves to run and play in water. We took her and Jewels to dog beach last weekend for the first time and they loved every minute of it. Nothing can keep her away from water whether it’s sitting in shallow puddles, jumping into someone’s kiddy pool, or swimming in streams on hikes.
Anyone who has met Canela had described her as “sweet” and that is purely what she is. I believe there was always something in us since the day we first saw her that sparked a connection, instilling a great sense of compassion and empathy for this dog. She is truly a blessing to us and Jewels and I’m sure we are to her as well. We like to give thanks to everyone at HSTJ for your rescue efforts for not only Canela, but for all the animals rescued. We’d also like to thank Josh’s mom Joline, for influencing our decision to give Canela a new home.
Sincerely,
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