Joey

Joey is a beagle.  He’s adorable and very often a pain in the butt.  I call him my pita pup (pain in the fill-in-the-blank.)  He was my dad’s and I promised to take care of Joey for him.

My parents got Joey when dad retired.  He needed a reason to get him up in the morning as he was starting to sleep in later and later.   Having Joey also gave Daddy something to take care and something to do.  Dad would take him for walks and watch TV with him.  Joey was his little buddy.  Daddy loved Joey and Joey loved him.

While daddy was still in hospital before going home on hospice, he asked me to take care of Joey for him.  I promised him I would.  Joey slept with me while I was there and became my buddy.   He flew with The Man back to the PNW and he’s been with us ever since. 

It’s been an interesting two years with Joey.  He’s full of energy and wants to be the center of attention at all times.  If you sit down, he wants to be in your lap.  If he can’t be in your lap than he expects you to be petting him.  If you try to give any attention to Molly, Joey butts in.  He’s a pup (he’s 5) that is full of energy and life.  If you’re petting him he’s content to to be calm.  We think he was abused as a pup and the vacuum and lawn mower freak him out.  He has great facial expressions and his ears are so soft.  He’s good with Munchkin.  She loves to share her snacks with him. 

I had a hard time with him once the baby was born.  My post partum depression didn’t help.  I just couldn’t deal with him.  I yelled at him way more than he deserved.  I’m doing better now and am not yelling as much.  He can still be a handful.  He needs more attention than I can give him.  After talking with The Man and a lot of prayer, we’ve come to the conclusion that we need to find Joey a new home.

I’m having a hard time with it.  Intellectually, I know it’s the right decision.  I’m not doing a good job of taking care of him for daddy.  He doesn’t get the attention he needs and deserves.  Emotionally, I can’t imagine giving away daddy’s dog.  He asked me to take care of him and I have failed.  I just can’t do it.  I know that daddy wouldn’t want my well being to come before a dog.  I still feel guilty and like a horrible person.  I’m not a person that just gives away my animals.  In my mind, once I (we) adopt them, they are ours until they die.  They are part of our family and you don’t give away family.  If it was up to me, we would keep Joey even though it will be tough in the future.  I can’t imagine having him if/when we have another baby.  However, like I said, I know it is the right decision. 

We have him on a beagle rescue page right now.  We’ve had a few inquiries about him but none have worked out yet.  The last one was a phone call from a guy wanting a dog that would be good for an apartment.  Well, Joey is not good for an apartment AND the guy sounded drunk.  That’s a no go.  It’s going to be hard to find the right family for him.  We’ll keep looking for a family for Joey.  Part of me figures that we’ll never find the right family so he’ll stay with us.  We’ll see though.  While we wait, I have to figure out how to give away my daddy’s dog and be ok with it.