A Central Christmas Dog Tale

How My Best Friend Saved Our Family’s Lives and Gave Us A Merry Christmas

by Brian Vecellio

CENTRAL — It will be a mighty happy Christmas around our house in Central this year, instead of the tragedy in could have been — thanks to my Honey!

But I’m getting ahead of myself.

I believe there’s always a reason for the things that happen and always a reason we meet who we meet.  Another thing I believe is, “Dog is man’s best friend!”

I have a true best friend in a dog named Honey!

In November 2010, while my girlfriend and I made a stop a PetCo, they were having their usual Pet Adoption Day.

Right there in plain view was Honey!  Now, let me say that I already had four dogs and four cats — so the last thing I needed was another furry friend!

Honey is the color of honey.  She has amazing eyes, and eyes are my weakness!  I went home and thought about her all weekend.  I decided I had to see her again.

Locating her was a problem since she wasn’t brought there by the Animal Control center.  In fact, PetCo did not know which agency she was with.  It took about four days to figure out that she was with Swampy Paws.

I was so anxious to see Honey again.  As soon as I saw her, I felt the magic return.  This was my girl, and I decided to take her home for the weekend to see how she would do with the other four dogs.

Well, she felt right at home and has been with us ever since.   This sweet girl is so happy, and she is a blessing to my life.

Now let us get to the “hero” part of this story.  On Sunday, Oct. 2, 2011, my son was home for the weekend and went to bed with Rusty and Max.  So the other three dogs came to stay in my room.

I generally never run appliances when I am going to bed or if I am leaving the house.  But this night I was behind on my household responsibilities and decided to start a load of towels.  I went to bed and was watching some TV with Ginger, Tucker, and of course Honey.  The bedroom door was closed.

All of a sudden, Honey got up and started pacing my room back and forth with her nose straight up in the air.  The other dogs just laid there, as if everything was okay.

But I knew something was wrong as this was not her normal behavior at bed time.   She looked like a pointer, but with her nose in a vertical position.

Sometimes, when there’s a fire, a minute or two can make the difference between something minor and losing your entire house.  Sometimes a few seconds can be the difference between life and death!

I hadn’t noticed anything wrong, except for Honey’s behavior.  But her persistence forced me to get up out of bed and open the door.

Instantly, I knew something was burning.  I walked to the laundry room on the other side of the house. The washer had begun an electrical fire.  Fortunately, Honey had alerted me soon enough that I was able to simply unplug the cord and stop the fire.  I called the fire department.  They came and confirmed that the washer transmission was locked up and was burning.

Without Honey’s warning, it certainly could have set the house on fire. We can only imagine what could have happened.

So, as you can see, there is always a reason why we meet who we meet.  I am glad I did not listen to my brain saying you have four dogs and four cats.

Instead I listened to my heart!

My sweet, sweet, Honey.

Yours truly,

Brian Vecellio

P.S. Yes, Honey got a porterhouse steak that night!