Name: Joey - 3-ish y/o
Family Member: Elliott
How long has Joey been in your family? 11 months as of May 5th
Profession: Graduate Student
Location: Downtown Atlanta
Nicknames: Josephs, Jojo, Goobtubes (his shelter name was Goober)
5 words/phrases that best describe Joey:
- Doofus dog
- energetic
- sweet
- invader of space
- snout punch
What makes Joey unique? There are two types of objects in the world, Joey and things that will move if rammed hard enough with his snout.
Look at those cute ears!
Rescue Story: Joey was originally in Fulton County Animal Control as Timothy and was moved to Atlanta Pet Rescue and Adoption (APRA) on February 4th, 2014. During Snowpocolypse of 2014, APRA had trouble getting people to their shelter to take care of the dogs. For the second storm, February 11th & 12th, they tried to temporarily foster out as many dogs as possible. My girlfriend, Kelsey, volunteers at APRA every week and decided to take Joey; a 30lb puppy then known as Goober, home. He was all legs and tail, and super excited to be in a home. I fell in love with him those few days but wasn't ready for a dog. He was adopted by another family. They had recently had a child and unfortunately Joey began to fight with their other dog. They returned Joey to APRA on March 8th, 2015. Due to his history, he was in an isolated cage and not too many people were interested in him. Kelsey and I would take him on weekly trips to Home Depot and other places; he began to grow on me again. On June 5th, 2015 I decided to try foster-to-adopt with Joey.
Those 10 days were among the most stressful days I have ever experienced. Joey was very nervous and I wasn't always sure what to do to help him. He barely ate the first few days and would freeze on walks, refusing to move. There were a few days he decided his paw hurt and would walk around as a 3-legged dog for a few minutes at a time. Further complicating things was his interesting relationship with Kelsey's dog, Lola. Joey doesn't always recognize his own size and tends to take the "HI BE MY BEST FRIEND" approach to meeting new dogs and people. This unbound enthusiasm would sometimes freak Lola out. However, he began to settle down and his relationship with Lola has vastly improved in no small part to the training classes we have taken. With a lot of time and training, Joey is starting to learn how to become a well mannered dog in a variety of situations. He is master level at sit, down, touch and stay (I can even go out of sight and he won't break his stay!). We're working to learn more complicated behaviors, like heel and loose leash walking, into more distracting situations.
All legs and tail.....
What is your favorite pastime as a family? It would either be going for runs together or playing our weird version of fetch chase. He loves going for runs and we can usually do a mile or two, the first half he drags me and the second half I coax him through. For a while he didn't play with toys but has recently developed a liking. We play fetch but sometimes he doesn't bring it back so it becomes chase, and then sometimes I make him chase me.
What is life like since you rescued Joey? Life has been very different. He is my first dog so everything is new and exciting. Before Joey, I always liked dogs but was not a dog lover. With little Josephs it is tough to imagine it any other way. I have also learned a lot about dogs. How they think and react, as well as use the economics of treats to help him behave. Sometimes it has been a struggle as Joey is still not great at meeting new dogs right off the bat, but we have worked hard. I know now how to communicate what I want from him and he knows what I want him to do. There have been a few times he has driven me up the wall but he is mine now and I wouldn't trade him for the world.
Photographers Note: For this photo shoot, I met Elliott and Joey over at the Georgia Tech campus, which is really a lovely setting for a photo shoot as it turns out. Upon meeting this dog, you don't see a single remnant of the nervous pup that he was when Elliott first brought him home. He is just pure exuberance and joy, you cant help smiling when you are around him. He is just a big beautiful goof ball! Those eyes....they sparkle with mischief, I kid you not! I was also really impressed with how well he listens to his Dad, after we got the greeting out of the way (which was in all caps, just as Elliott described, but I didn't mind ;), he listened to every command and was a great photo subject. Another great example of a dog owner, doing everything it takes to make his pup a well mannered member of pit bull society!