Larry and I lost our beloved cocker spaniel, Honey II,October 6, 2003. We brought Honey II into the vet because she was lethargic and would not eat. The vet did tests. Saturday, October 4th, our vet said she had liver cancer. We could try pills for the next three months or let her go gradually. We chose the second option.
Honey II was everything to us. After our son left for college, Honey II comforted us during the empty nest syndrome. I had bought her in 1988 as a 8 week old puppy after I lost Honey I in a car accident. Honey II saw me through my divorce, the selling of my house, cars, and starting over. She was a part of me.
I remarried in 1992 and my darling husband loved Honey II more than I did. She slept on our bed every night and even had a godmother care for her whenever we were out of town. No kennel for her!
We had to have her put to sleep at 1:00 October 6th, 2003. The vet came out. We had a beautiful coffin for her. Her godmother was with us. She passed into heaven to God at 1:15.
That night, my husband said, "Let's go out to dinner and celebrate Honey's life with us." We went to Thai Spice in Peachtree City and sat by a huge glass window with Sarh Albright's music playing in the background. As I looked out the window, I could not believe my darling girl of 15 1/2 years had left. We left the restaurant.
I will never forget how soft the rain was falling. Honey was buried in a prominent place by the birdbath and the pool, but she could also see us coming and going from the hill overlooking the driveway. As Larry and I parked the car after dinner, I told Larry to go into the house. I sat in the garage, by the car, and looked at Honey's grave and cried until I could cry no more. Honey was a part of my life. ( I am welling up with tears as I write this story.)
Bottom line. It took me eight long months to grieve. I could not even imagine life with out our precious girl. I cried every night. No....I sobbed. My poor husband was so understanding.
Finally, in the spring, May 2004, Honey talked to me at work. She said to me, "Mom, I am tired of you crying for me. I am tired of you being sad every day. It is time. I give you permission to get another puppy to fill the space in your aching heart." I called Honey's godmother and told her. I called my husband and said, "I am ready."
At first, I wanted to get a cocker spaniel that was rescued to give it another start. But Larry said he wanted a puppy. So, we started looking for puppies. What a job! I looked at so many ads. So many websites. The one that caught my eye was Rockhavencockers@charter.net. There was something about the website that I knew this could be a place where I could find our next Honey III.
I called the number. I told Tammy Baker that my husband and I wanted to look at her latest set of pups. Now. I told her I saw one in particular under the name Puppy 3.
My husband went out the same day and looked at the two precious pups Tammy brought out in a basket. Before that, we had shown her Honey II's album with her 15 years of pictures. Larry and I held the two puppies--we wanted a blonde one again---and Tammy had two.
It was quick. Love at first site. Honey 3 cuddled in my husband's arms and he was hooked. So was I.
We picked her up a month later. What a doll baby. She has slept between my husband and I since July 7th when we brought her home.
I can't begin to tell you what a cherished gift Honey III is to us. She was a gift from Honey II. Honey II allowed Honey III into our hearts. That was Honey II's legacy. Her love for us is through her new gift to us, Honey III.
What is really eerie. The first thing the 8 week old puppy did was walk to the backyard and go to Honey II's grave.
It was meant to be.
Anita, Larry and Honey III
When our beloved chocolate male, Snickers, passed away last year we were devastated. But the house was so quiet that after a few weeks of mourning we knew we had to get back in the game and find, not a replacement, but a new friend.
After much searching on the Internet, we found Tammie and Rockhaven Cockers.
Tammi is a long-time breeder and we were immediately impressed with the beautiful dogs she produced and their remarkable colors and combinations. After speaking with Tammie, we made the 900 mile round-trip drive to see her operation and pick out a puppy. We were very impressed with her kennel and the way the dogs and puppies were treated with such love by Tammie and her family. We picked out a little black male and made the 900 mile round trip once again a few weeks later to pick him up. He is now almost 1 year old and is a beautiful specimen of the breed – intelligent and energetic, with a thick, shiny, sleek coat, devoted to his dad, whom he follows around everywhere.
My wife thought we might be getting too old to handle two dogs, but after a few months with our male, Dandy, I finally wore her down and we picked out a little female to be his buddy. Peaches is the nicest, most beautiful puppy we have ever seen. She’s our first parti-color and she is just amazing. Brown, black and white, with black around her eyes that makes it look like she’s wearing mascara, she is very intelligent and a real character. Tammie is truly an artist; her dogs are her canvas…..
We feel truly blessed that we found Tammie and Rockhaven Cockers and would highly recommend them to anyone looking for a loving little furry friend. The two puppies we got from her are friendly, happy, beautiful creatures, and a privilege to own.
Should you need any further information from us, we can be reached at jellyyy@yahoo.com
Bob & Linda Sayre
Hi Tammie,
I just wanted to send you a letter to let you know how pleased our family is with the precious cocker babies we bought from you. I originally found you from your website and I was so excited you were located in Lagrange, not too far for us to come. I made a call to you and I was so happy that you had 2 females left because I had been looking for a female for quite sometime after losing our beloved cocker of 12 years. We immediately came the same day so I could pick out my little girl and put down my deposit. We were quite impressed with how clean everything was and how much human contact and love your little guys and gals were given. All of the dogs jumped up excitedly every time we walked by and they were all exceptional clean and groomed. The puppies were right there in the house with the rest of your family. I knew then that you actually CARED about all these little guys. I cannot possibly come up with enough words to tell you what a wonderful job you do breeding these “first class”champion dogs. How can we ever thank you for the time and energy you put into raising your cocker spaniels. It takes lots and lots of hours to research all that you do and to keep all of the champion bloodlines going like you do. I was so thankful for our little gal (Lexi) to be a member of our family and I thought I could never be fortunate enough to get another dog as wonderful as my first. Even though Precious will never ever be replaced, I am pretty sure that Lexi is as close as I can get. I have been so pleased with her that I just had to call you back to see if you had any males left. I originally wanted to get two of them but I thought that it might be hard at first, but after seeing how Lexi was such a perfect little gal, I couldn’t resist. Now we have two wonderful dogs that are brother and sister, which is fine because I never intend on breeding Lexi anyways. Our son which is 7 years old has the best time playing with the both of them. We named the little guy Chaz and he has such a loving, wonderful disposition. I feel like I have known you forever in just this short time period, and I just wanted to THANK YOU for everything and thanks for the absolute gorgeous cockers. I have attached some pictures of the two of them for you to see. They are 14 weeks now and I will keep you updated with pictures of them as they get older.
