HONEY and ANGEL
Foster to Adopt Together
Looking for a very special home in Cornwall, Devon or the Devon/Somerset border area.
Sometimes two rescue dogs find each other before they find their family. That is exactly what happened with Honey and Angel.
These two young girls have very different stories, but they have formed an incredibly close friendship. They sleep together, spend most of their time in each other’s company and, most importantly, Angel gives Honey confidence in a world that Honey still finds very frightening.
We simply don’t have the heart to separate them. So now we are looking for one very special foster-to-adopt home for Honey AND Angel together.
Rescue Stories
HONEY
Honey was found abandoned as a puppy on the streets of Bosnia and taken to the busy Bark Ark Rescue Shelter. She grew up there. For Honey, the shelter wasn’t somewhere she stayed temporarily – it became her entire world. She knew the other dogs, the sounds, the smells, the routines and the people. She had never experienced anything beyond it.
When we first saw Honey as a little pup and then again as a young adult, we couldn’t bear the thought of her spending her whole life there. We arranged for her to move into boarding with our wonderful Dusica and her family, where dogs have much more freedom, individual attention, love and care.
But taking Honey away from the only environment she had ever known showed us just how insecure she really was. In familiar surroundings at the shelter she could appear quite happy and outgoing. Once that familiarity disappeared, Honey was frightened by almost everything. Dusica has worked very patiently with her and, over time, Honey has gained some confidence. But she is still a very scared dog.
And importantly, Honey has still never experienced the world outside a shelter or boarding facility. She has never lived in a home, walked around a normal neighbourhood or experienced the everyday life that most of us consider completely ordinary for our dogs.
Then Angel arrived… And something changed… Honey found a friend who was naturally more confident and socially experienced than she was. She began taking reassurance from Angel and is noticeably more confident when Angel is beside her. Their friendship has become incredibly important to Honey.
ANGEL
Angel’s story is heartbreaking in a very different way. She was living as a street dog in Bosnia and had given birth to a litter of puppies. Tragically, her puppies were taken away from her and killed.
Angel searched for them, crying and calling for her babies. Rather than showing her compassion, local people became angry at the noise and Angel herself was then at risk of being killed. Dusica was alerted by the kind lady who feeds the street dogs, and stepped in and saved Angel.
At around the same time, she had also rescued two tiny orphaned puppies who needed a mum. Despite everything Angel had just been through, she accepted those babies as her own and cared for them. Both puppies have since been adopted.
And then Angel found Honey…
Angel is more confident and socialised than Honey, and the girls quickly became very close. They share their sleeping space, seek each other out and spend most of their time together.
For Angel it is a friendship. For Honey, it is also a wonderful source of confidence and security.
MEET HONEY and ANGEL
Both mixed breeds – exact breeds unknown.
HONEY
- SIZE: Small-Medium
- SEX: Female.
- AGE: 3 years old – DOB 05.07.2023
- NEUTERED / SPAYED: Yes
- VACCINATED: Yes
- MICROCHIPPED: Yes
- FLEA & WORM TREATED: Yes
ANGEL
- SIZE: Small
- SEX: Female
- AGE: Approximately 2-3 years old
- NEUTERED / SPAYED: Yes
- VACCINATED: Yes
- MICROCHIPPED: Yes
- FLEA & WORM TREATED: Yes
Ideal Home
We are looking for something quite specific for Honey and Angel.
Their home needs to be:
- Foster-to-adopt for BOTH girls together
- In Cornwall, Devon or around the Devon/Somerset border
- With experienced, patient people
- Calm and settled
- In a quiet location – not a busy town or heavily populated area
- With a secure, private enclosed garden
- Without young children
- With people who have plenty of time for them
- With absolutely no expectations about how quickly they should progress
The secure garden is especially important. Honey may not be ready to go for normal walks for quite some time after she arrives. Initially, her world will need to consist of nothing more than her new home, garden, her people and Angel. And that is absolutely fine. Honey won’t need a busy life at first. She’ll need time, patience and a small, predictable world where she can settle, build trust and take each new step at her own pace. We need her to feel safe. Her confidence can grow from there.
Behaviour, Temperament, Unique Traits, Training Needs
These girls need people who genuinely understand what they are taking on.
HONEY
Honey has made progress since leaving the shelter, but she remains a very fearful little soul. She isn’t a dog who responds to fear by trying to confront what frightens her. Her instinct is to pull away and escape. New people, new surroundings and new experiences can all be frightening.
She responds best to calm energy, soft voices, gentle interaction, plenty of space, predictability and absolutely no pressure. Trust needs to come first. Everything else can wait.
Honey has never experienced life beyond the shelter and boarding environment, and moving to the UK will be an enormous change for her. We fully expect that she may initially regress when she travels and arrives somewhere completely unfamiliar. The difference this time is that Angel will be beside her. Honey is noticeably more confident with Angel and takes reassurance from her. We hope having her best friend alongside her will make this huge transition much easier.
ANGEL
Angel is the more confident and socially experienced of the two. She has lived on the streets and has experienced more of the outside world than Honey, but she has not lived as a normal pet dog in a home either. She too will have a huge amount to learn.
Neither girl should arrive with expectations placed upon her. They will need to learn about household routines, household noises, visitors, leads, walks, traffic and all the other things we barely notice because our own dogs have grown up around them. Their new family needs to be prepared to start from the beginning and allow both girls to progress at their own pace.
Child Friendly
We are looking for a calm home without young children. Honey is simply too frightened for the noise, movement and unpredictability that can come with younger children. Older, calm and genuinely dog-savvy teenagers may be considered for the right home.
Dog Friendly
Yes.
Honey loves other dogs and has always lived around them.
Angel is also comfortable with dogs and the girls have formed a particularly strong bond with each other.
Previously we said that another resident dog would be essential for Honey as a role model. Honey now has that dog… Angel. This is one of the main reasons we want them to stay together. Whether another resident dog would suit them would depend on the individual dog and home.
Cat Friendly
Both girls have been okay with the resident cats where they are boarding. However, these cats are very accustomed to dogs and doesn’t run, so we cannot guarantee Honey would behave the same way with another cat. Any home with cats would therefore need to be considered very carefully.
Livestock/Other
Not known/not tested.
Health
Both Honey and Angel are:
- Spayed
- Vaccinated
- Microchipped
- Flea treated
- Worm treated
Before travelling to the UK, both girls will also be blood tested for:
- Heartworm
- Anaplasmosis
- Ehrlichiosis
- Lyme disease
- Leishmaniasis
- Brucella canis – using both SAT and iELISA testing
Their travel and veterinary paperwork will be completed and checked before they leave Bosnia.
House Trained
Both girls are clean in their current sleeping/living spaces at the boarding facility. However, neither has lived as a normal pet dog in a home before. Even though they are currently clean, we would expect that some house training will most likely be needed during the settling-in period while they learn a completely new routine and environment. Accidents would be perfectly normal and should be handled calmly and patiently.
Why Foster to Adopt?
For these two girls, we strongly prefer fostering with the genuine intention of adopting if everything works out. We don’t want Honey to travel all the way from Bosnia, slowly begin trusting her new environment and then have to cope with another move. She has already experienced enough upheaval.
Fostering still means approaching their arrival as foster carers: being realistic, keeping us updated and being prepared to work through any issues that become apparent once the girls are living in a home. We will be there to support their foster family and can provide professional behavioural advice.
Current Location
Both girls are currently in Bosnia with Dusica in her home-based boarding facility, where they enjoy lots of freedom, companionship, individual care and love.
Travel Date
They will be able to travel once the right foster-to-adopt home has been found, their blood tests and veterinary preparation are complete and suitable transport can be arranged.
In Summary
Honey is now three years old. Three years in which she has never known what it feels like to live in a home or experience the wider world outside shelters and boarding. She has made progress. She is braver than she used to be. But underneath that progress is still a very frightened girl. Then along came Angel…
Angel had lost her own babies, became mum to two orphaned puppies who needed her and then somehow found another little soul who needed her in a completely different way.
Honey found confidence in Angel. With Angel beside her, she is just that little bit braver. So this time we’re not asking somebody to give one forgotten dog her chance. We’re asking somebody rather special to give two friends their chance – together…
HONEY and ANGEL'S GALLERY
Could you give a dog like Honey or Angel a Forever Home?
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