Honey and Lea

As you know

Honey and Lea are my two dogs

Lea is a beautiful golden retriever 

And Honey is a fiesty terrier

I got them when I moved up here ten years ago

And they both turned ten recently 

Honey came from the local dog shelter 

She had originally been in a home with a single mother and a baby

But she couldn't cope 

So Honey was left on to the shelter 

I can still remember the day I collected her

She was five months old

And so giddy and full of energy and fun

I brought her home

She wasn't in the house ten minutes

When she made herself at home

And jumped up on one of the chairs in our sitting area

She was cheeky from the start

And nothing has changed in that respect

But that is one of the things I love about Honey

That she has a naughty streak

She knows she's only allowed on the kitchen 

But any chance she gets

Age runs out the door and down to my bedroom

One of her favourite things to do is roll around on my bed

And no matter how many times you tell her not to do it

She will chance her arm again and again

A few months after we got Honey

We decided to get another dog

I specifically wanted a retriever

So I found Lea through an advertisement 

Again 

Lea was about five months when we got her

From the start

She was the complete opposite to Honey

When we brought her home

She spent the first day hiding in the bushes at the bottom of the garden

She was super nervous 

And very wary of us to begin with

Over time Lea has improved a lot 

She can still be anxious

But she had come on leaps and bounds

And found her confidence

My dogs have literally been a life saver 

And saved my sanity over and over again

When I couldn't find a reason to get up in the morning

I got up for them

When I didn't want to leave my house

I left to walk them 

They give uncinditional love

And are always so delighted to see me if I so much as leave the room for ten minutes

When I went in to hospital at the end of 2013 - start 2014

My mother and father looked after my dogs 

It was around this time that Leas fur began to fall out

First on a little patch on her back

But it soon spread so that her whole back was almost bald

My mum didn't tell me at the time

As she didn't want to worry me

But when I went home for Christmas 

I saw it for myself

My mum also told me that Lea had sunk in to a kind depression since I had left

I was worried

We brought her to the vet

The took bloods

Checked her hormone levels

But everything came back normal

They couldn't find any medical reason as to why her fur was falling out

I went back to hospital

And Lea continued to deteriorate 

A few weeks later

I was discharged 

And went home for good 

It was soon after this that I overdosed 

And all the professionals stepped in

A plan was put in place

My meds were tweaked 

And slowly but surely 

I began to improve 

I gained weight 

My mood picked up

And my anxiety lessened

Then I noticed that Lea began to perk up

Her mood improved

And miraculously 

Her fur stopped falling out

And began to grown back

We were all shocked here

And my mother came to the conclusion that she had been ill because I was ill

And my illness effected her so much 

That she fell in to a depression and her fur fell out

As I continued to improve

So did Lea

And it did me the world of good to see her recover

As I'm sure it did get to see me

We spoke to a vet afterwards

And she confirmed that it could have been Leas stress levels that made her so unwell

It still blows my mind to think about it

When I was in hospital

Every Wednesday night

A lady brought in a therapy dog

She went around the wards 

Visiting patients

Letting them stroke and play with the dig

So it is recognised that dogs can aid recovery

I know my dogs massively helped me over the years

Even when I was at my sickest

I still walked them daily

Fed them

And played with them

In a lot of ways 

They kept me going 

Helped me hang on

And most definitely kept me sane

Lea and Honey are now both ten years old

Honey has one eye left

But she is still going strong

In dog years 

They are now 70

So really they are elderly 

And I can see it in them 

I just can't imagine life without them

They are part of the family

An integral part of the family

Here they are on Fathers Day

Cheeky Honey will never look at the camera