He was a mere pup, at 6 months old. A head strong pup, in desperate need of some obedience training, not your typical puppy.

Joey went into boarding while we worked with him, and waited quite a while for his new people to come and find him. 

Finally, in March of 2006, a wonderful couple came along and fell in love with this little fireball. They adopted Joey, but Joey decided to that things were not going to be all sweetness and cuddles. He was going to give them a run for their money, and he sure did.

However, while very trying at times, this family stayed committed to Joey and continued to train and work with him. Joey was not going to drive them away, and they sought out the best trainers to help him overcome his issues. 

While Joey remains reactive at times to some men, or strangers that approach him too suddenly, he has made great strides in this area. His family is devoted to Joey and helping him overcome his fears. He is home to stay. 

Update October 2006:

Joey is doing better, it's like he's very slowly starting to get it, but at least he's getting it!!!  I meant to tell you that he was the star of his class last Thursday in obedience training.  His teacher was very impressed.  He had to stay sitting beside me while one by one the other dogs in the class walked right past him .. he only got barky once and that was at Benson, my mom's dog.  They are doing good as well.  Initially their both brats while on the leash, snarling and bouncing, but once we let them run around together they are best of buddies.  Then when they are back on the leash their givin' kisses and stuff, walking all nice .. aww!!!  Joey still gets weary of certain people.  You can tell he's just so interested, and yet uncomfortable and becomes so distracted if people walk different or are carrying something or are not too comfortable with bigger dogs.  We have been going to busy parks and just sitting and watching ... He also has his buddies that we go for walks with that live in our neighborhood and he's a gem with them big and small dogs. We go for walks together and it's great for his socialization and just seeing that other dogs don't spaz every time someone walks by.

We really adore Joey, I know he will turn out to be an amazing dog and I'm not willing to give up on him, he deserves a second chance. 

Thanks for everything GSRBC, we will keep you posted.

Thank you to all of Joey's sponsors: