Meeting Joey

This is Joey.



I didn't know his name when I found him in my neighbor's yard sniffing around. I just happened to have looked out the window, well, I was keeping an eye out for the mail carrier, when I saw him. Of course, I had to go see if I could get him onto a leash and hopefully find his home.

I crossed the road into the yard, keeping about 12 feet between us. If he was a runner, I didn't want to spook him at the get go. I crouched down and called him to me. He came. That was easy. Usually I'm chasing lost dogs down the street. This big guy had a collar but no tags. Plus, he had a flea collar. You know what that flea collar means to me when I see one on a dog? It's like a secret message that you just know a dog is an escape artist and was not meant to be a stray in any way. Of course, the collar says that, too, but the flea collar? even more so.

I clipped a leash on him and took him into my house. Little Bug greeted him at the door. Little Bug's body language said, "you what? you want to come in here?" I urged him on and her to move that little body out of the way. She did some Big Boss body posturing with a bit of Chicken Little thrown in. She could settle it outside. Out the back door they both went.

He was very friendly. Very nosy as he checked out every room. Very congenial, he didn't lift his leg at all. A gentle unassuming soul. He took treats very delicately. He liked the potato chip (I know, it is pretty much a rule that any of my dogs do not get stuff like that unless it falls on the floor) but, I happen to have one in my hand and it was a test. He did not go for the orange...nor the banana. His body size was an indication of the things that did bring him joy.

I called the ACO, and of course, she was not on duty, but rather than call the police right away to come get him, I thought I'd try to find his owner. I took him for a walk around the neighborhood, hoping to see someone looking for him, or to see if he'd walk me to his house. No go on either. I decided that if the ACO didn't call me back within a couple hours then I'd make the police call.

I kept an eye out for a slow moving vehicle (I've been driving that slow moving vehicle before, it's an awful thing.) Finally, I heard a yell. By the time I got outside the huge white SUV was too far down the street for me to chase after. It was slow moving, I knew it was the one. As I chatted a bit with my neighbor about the big guy inside the house, the SUV made it's way around the circle and was making coming toward me and although it was still a couple of houses away, I heard the words spoken to my neighbor down the road, "have you seen a dog?" I started yelling and waving my arms. Yes! Yes! he's here! I was so happpppy -- for them and for him. He was ready to find his owners, maybe because it was dinner time, or he just missed them, but he had started to be a bit whiney.

I opened the house door and, told him his parents were here and out he came. His mom opened her door and he catapulted himself into her lap. This guy probably weighed a good 80 pounds. She was crying, he was smiling. All was good in the world again. That's when I found out his name.

It turns out that he had a tag, but it somehow got lost or something and they hadn't replaced it yet. They moved to this area of the neighborhood about a month ago from California. They had left their house at 10am and when they got back around 5pm, only one dog (one VERY cute little Rat Terrier named Roxy that I wanted to steal) was still in the house. I have no idea how he got out, the mom made a comment of, "he must have had to go outside." Further details did not come as we chatted about things, but I made sure to get their address in case I see Joey walking around again.