Detail 2

Long Legs: The Adventures of Joey

I miss Joey. Perhaps there was never going to be enough time. But I wanted more. 3 Years, 6 Months, 19 days. 1,298 days together. Not enough.

Joey was born, as we were told, into stress in Riverside, CA some time around October 2019. He lived among 17 other street dogs in a hoarders colony and was likely one of the runts. We don’t really know what life was like in those early months but he wasn’t a carefree puppy. A rescue home brought Joey into safety and gave him a first home. Nancy, the caretaker, shared his info on PetFinder. They believed he was a Chihuahua & Dachshund mix. Later, a doggy DNA test indicated he was 60% Chihuahua, 13% Miniature Pinscher, 13% Miniature Poodle, and 7% “mutt”. MinPin explains his horse-like prancing gait, stubbornness and decidedly not-Dachsund-like long legs. His profile didn’t scream cute. One of his eyes was half-closed and he was laying in the dirt. We called him “dirt dog”. I wasn’t keen on him. But Ina saw something. 

Let me back up a bit. Ina had dog experiences growing up, but my family had cats and birds. Cats speak a different language that I understand. I had wanted a dog for years before Joey and Ina and I decided long ago we would get one when the right time came. It didn’t for years. We had talked about Frenchies, GSPs, the Sporting breeds. We even had our own house, our own space. But no movement. Then COVID happened and we were locked in. The time was now. In our searches I was intrigued by large, muscular, imposing dogs. Theoretically they were awesome, I even recall a mastiff named “Jet” that was one of the most handsome dogs I had ever seen. Huge, glorious. Not squinty dirt dog. We even adopted a mastiff mix named Pancho. Healthy, Male, 18 months, 61 pounds from Pacific Palisades. Contract signed and here we go! Despite our enthusiasm and excitement, that turned out to be the most stressful, inhospitable, downright scary 24 hours of our lives. He had aggression issues and I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. A dangerous recipe where he backed me into the corner of our bedroom in attack posture, clawed into our wood floors and was moments from striking. We also had an earthquake that night. Too much. We had to surrender him back to the foster home.

Then Ina found Joey’s profile. Even with my indifference to the profile we headed out to meet Nancy, Joey, and the last three members of his hoarder pack in a Riverside park. Love at first sight. Joey was reserved, quiet, nervous… and oddly cute. Bat ears, pigs tail, puppy face, loooooong legs. After a trail walk - which we fought the entire time - we brought him home on May 9th, 2020. From the first ride home he was instantly attached to Ina. 

Joey was stubborn, nervous, and protected - probably a necessity of self-preservation learned as a puppy. You had to earn his affection. Even for Ina. She was patient, loving and committed to turning his apprehension into companionship. By the end of May his heart was anchored to Ina for the rest of his life.

The early months were challenging. He didn’t know how to go on walks, would growl at me if I tried to put his collar on. We invested in dog trainers

Road trips

Camping

Mexico

Kidney Disease

Not a sad story. He made us better and helped me grow. He had the absolute best life. Right until the end. End to end packed. We took him EVERYWHERE and shared him with the people we love. He provided structure that made me better. It was walkies time. No discussion. We go. We may have missed 5, maybe 10 walks the entire time once we were in the rhythm.  

And I know he loved me. It was a steep, gnarly road to get there, but we were buds. I wanted a buddy to care for, was patiently relentless with him and after a while he agreed. Walkies was his favorite, but it took months for him to trust me. The first few times I had him solo were a disaster. Several fails. One time it took 45 minutes of pleading, getting him hyped and resetting the motions to get him outside. We went to the end of the block and back. Doesn’t matter, it was a win. We worked our way up to reversing the roles. Him begging me to go and ending up going on three mile off-lease trustfests with lots of joy. I remember distinctly the first time he jumped on the bed, pawed at me, climbed under the covers and plopped down next to me. I was too happy to fall asleep right away. Of course, when Ina returned he opted for her 98% of the time. I don’t blame him.

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