Joey came into our lives in March of 1998, when he was approx. 10 weeks old. We were not in the position to add another dog to our home, but when some strange circumstances brought us to this very undersocialized, mismarked blue merle pup, and we knew it was meant to be. We never knew anything about Joey's background, but someone dumped what turned out to be one of the greatest dogs I've ever known. He was afraid of everything in the beginning, riding in the truck, tiled floors, mail boxes, etc. The first time we turned on the television, he peed all over the carpet! So the socializing began, and in time, Joey overcame most his fears. I'll never forget the day he conquered his fear of wheelchairs. We were at a show, when someone brought in a little girl in a wheelchair. After a few minutes, I felt a tug on Joey's leash and he had walked up to the big metal monster so that he could lay his head in that child's lap. They stayed that way for many minutes, with the girl silently looking into his eyes and petting his head. It brought tears to my eyes, but Joey's love for children won out over his fear. I can't remember if he even qualified at that show.

I started obedience training at home to give Joey some confidence, then enrolled him in classes. He turned out to be a pretty good little obedience dog. He earned his AKC UDX in March of 1995. Most ASCA shows were a little too far for us during this time, but we tried to get to as many as possible, but unfortunately, Joey's health started to fail toward the end of 1996, and we chose to retire him before he was able to complete his ASCA UD.

It was in 1997 that we found out that Joey had hyperparathyroidism and we removed one of his parathyroid glands. But damage had already been done, as the parathyroid gland was not detecting calcium in his bloodstream and was taking it from his bones and teeth. While removing the parathyroid, we took an x-ray of his hips and found that the sockets were chipping away. But with some divine intervention and one of the world's most caring vets, we were able to keep Joey comfortable and he enjoyed many good years as the resident couch potato.

Last August, we removed a tumor from Joey's thigh. The lab report came back as a grade 2 soft tissue sarcoma. The lab recommended we remove more of the surrounding tissue in order to better identify the exact type of tumor, however, that would have meant removing at least part of the muscle, so we declined and hoped for the best. In June, we discovered a mass in his lung lobe and knew the end was near. We were able to keep him comfortable and happy until Friday morning, when it became apparent that the pain was increasing and the meds weren't helping. It was then that his vet came over and helped us to end his suffering.

I recently read somewhere that all good dogs deserve an obituary, so this is Joey's. His passing leaves a huge hole in our home and our hearts, and the hearts of many of the friends he made over the years. He was my first Aussie & my first dog to earn past a CD, but more than that, he was my best friend.

Thanks for the space and I'm sorry this went on so long. Please give your Aussies an extra hug in memory of Joey.