Joey was with us for only a short time, he was all white except for a tiny patch of brown over one eye.  He was my introduction not only to the dog show ring but also to the stage.  

     It began with a Saint Patrick’s Day parade.  I’d walked him the four blocks from our house to where the parade would go by to see how he’d respond to the noise and excitement.  This was after he’d had a few dog shows under his belt, so to speak, and he enjoyed being in the crowd getting attention. 

     At one point, a very excited man and woman ran up to me.  Both were babbling about how perfect Joey was.  I placed myself between them and my dog wondering what these people were after.  Imagine my surprise when they told me he was the director of a local production of ‘Oliver!’ and they wanted to use my dog in the play.  What fun! 

     We went to rehearsals.  He learned his musical cues and loved the cast especially the kids.  However, we found out opening night that he didn’t like curtain calls.  All that applause scared him.  He’d try to hide behind the nearest person, part of the set, or run off stage to find me.  By the third performance he’d become more used to the sound and didn’t try to hide or run off stage. 

     Two months after his final performance, and at the age of twenty-two months, we lost him to the kidney problem I spoke of in an earlier post.  For months after that I’d run into cast members and they’d ask me about him.  I felt awful telling them he’d died.  Joey went out as a local star and he started a stage tradition for Malcolm and me to follow in the years to come.