Iron Joey, a Senior Dog Who Keeps on Going

Joey is the older of my two Beagles. Being that he was adopted from the Penny Angels Beagle Rescue, we do not know his exact age. The rescue estimated his age as 8 or 9 when we adopted him 5 years ago. So that makes him about 13 or 14 years old. (I did the math in my head. Imagine that)

Joey is a retired hunting dog. Although he enjoys living in a warm comfortable home, Joey is happiest when he is outside tracking a rabbit or squirrel. When he finds a trail, he begins to bark. Now Joey does not have an average hound dog bark. The sound he makes has been described as a sea lion, a fog horn and a duck. Some people have heard him barking and could not be believe that sound came from a dog.

Ornery is a great way to describe Joey. He opened a refrigerator when he lived at the rescue. While staying at a foster home, Joe chased some geese onto a frozen pond and would not come off the ice when he was called. They family was very concerned and called the police department to help get him off the ice.

Joey never walks around anything. He will step on anything (or anybody for that matter) that is in his way. He will push something aside rather than take a step sideways. When my Father was installing a new kitchen facet, Joey walked over him to see what was in the cabinet under the sink. Maybe that is why the hot and cold indicators are reversed.

I realized I have yet to explain why I call Joey “Iron Dog”. He earned this nickname because just when I think his age and the hard life he endured as a hunting dog have finally caught up to him, Joe surprises me. He will become energized and spend the remainder of the day turning us in to human dog doors. He will go to the back door to be let out. About twenty to thirty minutes later, he will bark at the door to come in. This process will be repeated about every two hours.

Joey is a stubborn dog. If he is doing something such as chewing cardboard and we tell him to stop, Joe will momentarily look at us and return to whatever he is doing. Being that Joe was older when I adopted him, I did not know him as a puppy. When I recall the Beagle mischief he has gotten into at our house, the thought of him as a puppy scares me.

Joey stole my heart the first day I met in him at Penny Angels Beagle Rescue. I will love him for the rest of my life.




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