Good dog, Honey! This sweet 5 year old Beagle / Boxer mix is living the good life after being adopted from the SPCA in 2019. Her mom, Laura DeCaro-Wehrle (who you might recognize from Honey Bee Grooming!) shares more about meeting Honey at the shelter, her love for the ocean, her favorite local trail, and more…
On Meeting Honey
I saw Honey’s photo amongst a few others on the SPCA of Upstate NY’s Petfinder profile back in 2019. Her name had been Minnie. I decided to go after work with my coworkers to look at dogs there. We looked at a few puppies but they were all on quarantine because they had just gotten there from another state. Honey had been there for a few weeks. All the other dogs she traveled here with were already adopted. She was about 8 months old. She had some burn scars on her side but we don’t know how she got them. Although they’re usually covered by her hair length now, they’re still there. She was a wiggly little thing in the cage, dying to get out and say hello.
We got her out and I could tell she was a sweetheart but I was so scared to adopt my first dog as an adult. Being an animal care professional for over 10 years, I was so conscious of picking the pet that would fit my lifestyle. I have a small home, I worked long hours, I have cats, and I very much don’t like to get up at 5am to run my dog. I was very nervous about picking a dog that wouldn’t thrive in my care. My friends thought I was crazy because Honey was such a doll. Even the ladies at the SPCA had more faith in me than I had in myself. They let me know that Honey had a family coming to meet her the next day at a PetSmart event at 10am. My heart dropped, but then they said, “so make sure to be there at 9am”. I am so grateful to them for that information. They knew we belonged together and that the other family would find another dog to be their own perfect match. Honey was ours.
It would be my husband (boyfriend at the time) Drew’s, first dog. Ultimately I let him decide. I brought him to the adoption event to meet her. Drew knew immediately. We brought her home that day. Three years later I opened Honey Bee Grooming, where not only did Honey become my logo, but she also became COO and the best shop dog around! It makes me feel really good when people meet Honey at the salon for the first time and say something like, “oh it’s THE Honey?!” Like she is famous or something. It’s great to see that other people think she is as wonderful as I think she is.
On The Perfect Dog
Honey embodies her name for sure. She is a goofy little dog with a goofy little beagle’s bark. She is so wiggly, jerky and completely uncoordinated. Her favorite game to play with other dogs is chase. Her favorite things to do are to dig, go on sniff walks, sleep, and eat. The first thing people always notice about her is how soft she is. Even before I became a dog groomer, Honey got monthly baths. All that worrying and she is the perfect dog for Drew and I.
Laura DeCaro-Wehrle and Drew Wehrle with Honey
On Invisible Big Dogs
Honey gets along well with other dogs, but she does this really hysterical thing where if a dog is over about 50 pounds, she kind of ignores their existence. It happens at the salon a lot — although she is always kept separate, she is very uninterested in any large dogs. We will also hang out with our friends who have 3 dogs — two under 50 pounds and one about 70 pounds — and she loves to play with the first two and pretends the other one isn’t there. He is so infatuated with her too. He will try to snuggle next to her sometimes when she curls up on the couch after playing and there’s a 50/50 chance on whether she just gets up and walks away or begrudgingly lets him lay next to her for a while. She is so sassy.
On Dog Friendly Vacations
Drew and I have never gone on vacation without Honey. We look forward to it every year. Last year we found out that although she doesn’t care for lakes so much, she thinks the ocean is the bee’s knees. I think it has to do with the waves — she likes to dig at them when they come in. They give her automatic zoomies.
Some Glens Falls Favorites
Honey’s #1 favorite thing to do in Glens Falls is to hang out with the peeps and pups from Adirondack Sniffari. They pick her up from the Salon on Mondays. The way she greets Tom and Cait is such a wonderful sight to see.
She also loves to accompany me to my nail appointments at Studio Elements in Glens falls. We see Sam at Nailvira, and the ladies there love her.
During the warmer months we love to grab a bite to eat at Raul’s. Honey loves to sun bathe and watch the cars go by at the circle. Last year was her first year being able to handle that level of distraction and excitement so I am excited to have more lunch dates with her this year!
Honeys favorite trail to hit around Glens Falls is Meadowbrook Preserve. The lands are a bit marshy which makes for a dirty dog but the best sniffs in her opinion. A dirty dog is a happy dog!
On Therapy Dog Goals
Honey is an aspiring therapy dog. We still have some work to do before I feel comfortable taking the test with her, but I take her to my appointments to practice managing her excitement in ever changing environments. She loves to sit quietly at the window and watch everyone walk by.
On Loving a Dog
My favorite thing about having a dog besides the unconditional love is always having a best friend around. She always down for whatever we have in mind. I could never be lonely when Honey is there. I don’t need a social battery to hang out with her. Shes the very best friend a girl could ask for.
