I usually meet my innerview-ees at their home, but Joey Shahamat said he preferred his workplace cuz he spends much more time there. Before me an my assistant got all the way up to the big double glass doors, we could see Joey right inside, sitting up straight, tail wagging, big welcoming smile.
Joey is a hansome Golden Doodle, light gold coat in a curly summer cut, feathery tail, good poss-chur. Anna big, frenly dogga-nality.
He didn’t come boundin’ out, though, just waited for us to enter, then grabbed a liddle blue blanket an presented it to my assistant by way of greeting. “WELCOME!! We can sit right over HERE!” He led us to a nearby couch. “This is my Mommy Agata. My Dad Al’s around somewhere. We’re all biz-ness partners.”
“Great to meet you, Joey!” I said. “Woof! This is some place you’ve got!” It was a great big room with a whole bunch of super-shiny cars in lotsa colors, and the biggest, shiny-est floor I ever saw, sorta like ice, I thought, an my toenails were kinda slippy on it. Obviously, Joey was used to it.
I opened my notebook. “I’m eager to hear your story,” I told him. “It looks like you found the perfect Forever Famly, an the perfect career path.”
“You got THAT right!” He agreed. Even though he wasn’t what you’d call lap dog-sized, he happily sat in his Mom’s lap for much of the innerview.
All settled in, Joey began his tail. “It all started when my brother Ryan (who’s gonna by 9 in 2 weeks) told our Mommy an Dad he really, really, really wanted a dog. He was like, ‘Pleeze, pleeze, puh-LEEZE!’ Trouble was, he’s VERY uh-LER-gic to pets of the fluffy variety.
So Mommy decided a Doodle would be perfect. She found a breeder, saw pick-shurs of my litter, an picked a puppy. (Not me.) She was gonna pick it up when it was 8 weeks old, but the day before, it got sold, I guess cuz she didn’t put it on layaway or somethin’. By then only me an my brother were left, so Mommy went to see us in the fur. Soon as she picked me up an cuddled me, we KNEW I was The One!”
“I LOVE when that happens!” I exclaimed.
“I know! Right? Me an Ryan hit it off right away. I sat in his lap in the back seat all the way home. We play an ruff-house around a lot, which I don’t do with Mommy an Dad cuz they’re, you know, grown-ups.
“Mommy had one of those nice big crates all ready for me when I first arrived, like you’re s’pose to do with puppies, cuz it’s cozy an safe an stuff. WELL, I was like, ‘No Way! I’m NOT a crate kinda pooch!’ I hid under the bed in Mommy an Dad’s room. So I slept on the floor till guess what happened?”
“What?”
“Well, Mommy an Dad went on a trip, an I couldn’t go with ’em. They missed me So Much that, when they got back, Mommy scooped me up an we cuddled in bed ‘just for a liddle while.’ Dad wasn’t all that thrilled but I was Very Persistent (an apparently irresistible) an now it’s the three of us. SO cozy.”
“Smooth!” I commented.
“Indeed,” Joey replied.
“So when did you start workin’ here?”
“Right away, ever since I got here as a silly liddle pupper. I grew up here. Been workin’ all my life. An I gotta say, I LOVE my job. I love humans an pooches an they always are real happy to see me. The humans offen bring me treats, which humans call PERKS! Have you ever had a perk?? They’re duh-li-shus, an they’re all different flavors!”
“Don’t buh-leeve I have. Do you have lotsa pooch pals?” I queried.
“Sure! Us neighborhood pooches love playin’ on the beach. Always well-mannered, of course.
When I go to Paw Prints Day Spa there’re always fun pooches to play with. Also, I have some pooch frens who come here with our clients. There’s Jet, she’s black as night; an Tucker, he’s a Golden like me. We run all over this place, see who can slide farthest without fallin’ on our caboose. I have some girlfrens, too. I guess you could say I’m kinda a Dog-About-Town. There’s Lola, she’s a Golden mix. An then there’s Samantha. She’s Somethin’ Else.” (He sighed. I understood.) “She’s just not that into me, tho.”
“I hear ya,” I replied. “Any special toys?”
“Oh, yeah. At home I have a ton of ’em. Stuffies are my favorites: the gray elephant and a coupla ice cream cones, an my squirrel (I sorta munched the legs an ears offa that one). I think they all once had squeakers but, well, you know. Here, I always have a liddle blanket, or towel, which, as you noticed, I carry around pretty much all day. Keeps me focused an chill.”
“How about foodstuffs: Any pref-rences?”
“I usta be Wa-ay Picky when I was a pupper. Mommy’d hafta cook for me. Then, for some reason, after I got the NoPuppies Pro-cee-jur, I wasn’t picky anymore. Human food’s still my fav – steak and grilled chiggen – but I don’t get as much of that as I wish. I enjoy apples, coconut, the occasional carrot. An I had a bit of banana yesterday which was – interesting.”
“How’d you get your name?”
“Ryan named me. My original name was Derek, if you can buy-leave it. It totally didn’t fit me.”
“Joey’s perfect for you,” I told him.
Headin’ home, I was thinkin’ how many of you pooches have careers, workin’ with your humans in all sorts of biz-nesses, from doctors to law enforcement to real estate or fancy lady’s shops or places with shiny cars like Joey’s. I was also planning to ask my Grandma if she could perhaps bring me a bag of Perks next time she goes to the store. I’d love to give ’em a try.
Till next time,