Joey and I had several weeks to get acquainted since I was on medical leave for almost 9 weeks. Joey wasn't as outgoing as Corky had been but he also liked to lie on me and be petted and combed and he would make little cooing noises the entire time you combed him. He would play with you if you would hop your hand toward him. He would jump like you were doing with your hand and then run around and squeal. When I moved to another city he spent a week with my Mom and Dad. Mom would play with him on the couch. She would put down a blanket so if he had an accident it wouldn't matter and then she would run her hand along the couch and he would run hysterically around the couch and squeal.

I didn't stay in the next apartment very long and finally bought a condo. After we, Joey, my two fish, Jake and Fatman, moved into the condo in June of 1990, I ran out the following month and adopted a little black puppy from a no-kill animal shelter in our area.

Here they are together. They got along really well. He didn't seem to be afraid of her and she just thought he was her brother, I guess. When I added another puppy the following year, he felt the same way too. They always GOT ALONG and never bothered him. A friend brought her dog to visit, and she tried to eat him so I had to put him in the other room and the dog was never invited back.

Here's another PICTURE which may have been the one time Murphy did scare Joey. He probably couldn't decide if she is kissing him or tasting him.

One terrible weekend in 1994 (the little black pup who was now 4 years old) Murphy was very ill and I ended up having to take her to the emergency room. She recovered all right but I was very concerned for her. When we got up the next morning I came downstairs and gave Joey some fresh food and then went back upstairs to check on Murphy. When we came downstairs later was when I noticed that Joey had not touched his food. Imagine my horror to find that he had died some time during the night. I felt so bad because I didn't even know he wasn't well. He was old for a guinea pig at almost 7 years old. I guess he must have died of old age because he had been fine the night before while all this was going on with Murphy. I still feel bad that I wasn't there for him when he needed me. He was cremated and he is still with us. For a long time after he was gone I would still hear a noise from time to time that made me think he had squealed for attention. I don't know whether it really was him or just the house settling. It is strange what you can hear when it is quiet.

Here are two more pictures of Joey. In the first he is reaching out of his basket to touch Madison. They got along really well. In the second he is playing with me. I would hold out a pen and he would take it from me and throw it on the floor so I could pick it up and do it again. Just like a little kid.

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