Friends or Appetizers?

A Lost Ray of Soulshine, Joey

This past week I received a phone call from the states, Joey is gone. Gone as in not of this earth and my heart is breaking, again. For those of you that have no memories of Joey – allow me to tell you about a little dog that made everyone’s day a little brighter.

Joey was a rescue dog that rescued us more then we rescued him. A friend of mine is a vet in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan and she got a call from an animal rescue group that had a number of dogs that they had taken from an elderly unstable woman in our area. I don’t recall the exact number of animals that they removed from her property but it was in the dozens. This friend of mine knew contacted me to tell me about the dogs and ask for some assistance in getting them cleaned and neutering assistance, something that I occasionally helped with in her small practice. Needless to say, I was in. Many of the dogs were ill and obviously in need of rescue, I will say this though, the woman loved these dogs, she just wasn’t able to care of them in a responsible manner. One of the puppies was this little guy that was so scared but had character. We thought the puppies were Yorkshire terrier; he sure looked like a Yorkie. My mother-in-law, Teena, had recently lost a Yorkie named Gimpy and she would love to have another. What better home for this little guy who needed a new family? I brought the puppy home and started working on his training. The plan, we all knows what happens to the best laid plans, was to get him housebroke and give him to Teena. We named him Joey, aka JoJo.
Joey did not do to well on the housebreaking. Bill referred to him as Shit for Brains more than once. Thing is that even with the occasional accident, JoJo’s want to please was so obvious that you just learned to deal with it. A few months pass and we gave JoJo to Teena. It was love at first sight. I cannot say the same for my father in law, Warren, but he came around eventually too.
Joey was great with everyone, human and animal. He loved his cats. Our family has always had several, house and barn cats to hang out with. He was great in the barn, didn’t roll in to cow poo as often as most of the dogs. He loved going for car rides and down to camp to swim in the Paint River with the kids. He just fit with this family of misfits. He would take the new animals under his paw and make them feel welcome. He was buddies to the occasional rabbit and liked to spend time with the guinea pig; never trying to harm any of them.
Several years ago, Joey found his true purpose in this world. Teena’s mother, Granny Mello, was admitted to a Senior Care Facility. Her mind was slipping and was unable to live unaccompanied. Teena, who has been a nurse for the State of Michigan most of her adult life, had a difficult time with the moving of her mother to this facility. To compound the move, Granny Mello’s brother, Unkie was also moved into the same facility due to medical/mental needs. Unkie passed some time there after and Granny was there alone. It was a several hour drive to and from the home but Teena went multiple times a week if needed or not. During one of these treks she decided to bring Joey too. What a trip….Joey was a star. It wasn’t often that Granny seemed to relax enough to exhale. She was always trying to figure out how to escape. She actually had some really good attempts on numerous occasions but when Joey was around she would exhale and just pet the dog. She talked to him, groomed him and followed him around the building pushing her wheelchair along behind him as he sucked up the attention like a sponge. The staff noticed how much she enjoyed the time and asked Teena to bring him to some of the other clients. From then on he was royalty. He would walk in the facility with his head up, tail wagging and make his rounds. He may have been small in stature but he was able to jump up and lay on clients beds for those that were bed bound, he would hitch a ride with those in the wheelchairs and seemed to know when he needed to move nice and slow for those that were in pain. Everyone had a better day when JoJo came to visit. Granny would even eat when he was beside her, something that she refused to do on bad days. Joey found his calling. Granny passed this past winter but I like to think that Joey made her final times warmer and brighter.
In addition to helping our seniors, Joey has also been helping the mentally disabled. There are a number of families in the community with children diagnosed with various challenges. Several of these kids fortunately able to spend time at Teena’s farm working with the sheep, rabbits and goats. Joey was the mascot to the farm. He spent many an hour following these young people around to keep an eye on them and his farm buddies. Again, he seemed to know when to be calm and available for the kids. Joey was an active member in the 4H club ran by Teena, Animal House. Kids, farm animals and Joey, another great combination.
Joey is gone. He will be buried on the family farm next to Shadow, Dobie and other members of our pet family. For some time I know that walking into the house will feel empty without him running to greet us, doing his dance of turning in circles, head on the ground with his butt in the air, happy dog, happy dog, happy dog. We will think of him and feel sad but take comfort in the knowledge that he doing what he did best which is sitting next to Granny Mello, getting her to eat, keeping her warm and finding the peace to exhale.