Part One: How she learned to behave

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Honey was adopted in Joplin, Missouri at the age of two months. She didn’t know it yet, but her trip to her new forever home would take her on an exciting journey with her new pet parents and two new older fur-brothers, Junior and Jake.  

Mom and dad  were so delighted to have Honey, a small Chihuahua Jack Russell mix puppy, and made sure her ride home to Idaho included a soft plush stuffed animal with a noise sounding like a heart beat and a little warmer so she could curl up at night thinking of her mom along with her very own blanket from Snuggle Puppy. 

Honey was ensconced in her new travel carrier from PETMATE and curled up to take a nap as the journey began in her pet parents car. Mom and dad thought they were quite lucky to have a puppy who was a born traveler.

At the first hotel for the night, Honey was dog tired and happy to have dinner with Junior and Jake and turn in early. Mom kept the crate right next to her side of the bed in readiness to be able to attend to Honey during the night should she need anything. As the morning dawned without disturbance, mom and dad thought again how lucky they were to have a puppy who slept through the night.

When a week on the road finally ended and Honey arrived at her new forever home, she was overjoyed and ran through the house, sniffing room by room. Later that same day, mom discovered that Honey had been a little too excited as she had 'an accident' and went potty on the carpet.

"Naughty puppy," mom said with a smile in her voice, "but that's ok, after all, you are not potty trained so we will have to train you to use a special automated indoor potty  and to also go outside.

Training began the very next day and after while, since Honey is a very smart puppy, she understood the command 'go potty' each time she was let outside in the backyard. She also used the Brilliant Pad for her indoor use if it was raining or snowing outside.

Each day, mom and dad along with Junior and Jake took a walk around their neighborhood. Honey had never been on a leash before and was not certain how she was to behave. It just seemed to make sense to her to sit down each time mom tugged her forward and as soon as mom stopped, Honey would run around in circles, becoming tangled up in a whirl of leashes, legs and anything else in the near vicinity.

"Naughty puppy,"  mom said with a smile in her voice. "Let's just take our time becoming accustomed to walking on leash. Mom ordered a special no-pull harness to make it easier to walk Honey and in no time at all, since Honey is a very smart puppy, she learned how to walk on a leash and enjoyed her daily walks with the family.

One day while mom was on the phone, she suddenly realized that she had not seen Honey nearby for awhile and started searching the house. She found Honey next to the coffee table in the living room, happily chewing on a leg of the table. "Naughty puppy," mom said with a smile in her voice,"I think we had better find you something safer to chew." Mom ordered a set of the Nylabone Puppy Starter Puppy Chew Toys and since Honey is a very smart puppy, she learned that the coffee table was not a chew toy.

Dad was working in the garage one day when Honey nosed open the door and thought it would be great fun to run down the driveway without her leash. This could have been very dangerous if cars had been passing by and if dad had not seen her. Dad scooped her up and said, "Naughty puppy, this is not a good idea to run off on your own. You are too small and too precious to us to get lost or hurt. I think we had better start training you to sit, stay and come.

 Mom and Dad turned on their favorite TV show Lucky Dog starring Brandon McMillan. Each episode features a rescue dog who learns the 7 coming commands, which are: SIT, STAY, DOWN, COME, OFF, HEEL and NO. They ordered his book Lucky Dog Lessons: Train Your Dog in 7 Days.  

With a long training leash, Honey started her training in the safety of her own backyard. And since Honey is a very smart puppy, she listened and learned the importance of all those commands and never again ran down the driveway on her own.

When Honey turned one-year old, her forever family gave her a birthday party and declared her to be one of the smartest, cutest and best-behaved dogs on the planet. Honey was so happy hearing all those wonderful things being said about her, she started running from one end of the house to the other in what is called the ‘zoomies’ and ran so fast, she knocked over the fish bowl sending the fish called Fin, skidding on the floor with the water from the fish bowl following right behind.

Dad picked up Fin, who was unharmed, and placed him in a cup of water while mom mopped up the mess. Honey cocked her head to one side, waiting for what was sure to be a scolding and all mom and dad could manage was to smile and say, “Honey, you are still a naughty puppy, but we love you anyway.”