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My Pal Joey
“Pal Joey” is the name of a 1957 musical starring Frank Sinatra. It is also a great description
of my best friend and companion, Joey. I met Joey 5 years ago, and I can’t imagine life without
him. He is always happy to see me, and whenever I see him, it puts me in a better mood. My best
friend is a dog, and his name is Joey. Joey is a Black Lab, which is a very big type of dog. He weighs
almost 80 pounds. This is the story of how Joey joined my family.
When I was seven, my dog Bo died. Bo was a great dog, a huge Golden Retriever, bigger
than Joey. My parents had Bo before I was born, so he lived with me literally my whole life. I was
sad when he died of course, and I missed him, but I was too young to get really emotional over it.
A year after he died, we got a cat. While cats are great, they are different from dogs. A cat won’t run
to greet you at the door; they just don’t have the same sense of companionship. So after another
two years or so, my parents decided to get dogs, because we all missed Bo.
On a February day, three months before my birthday, my dad asked me “what do you want
for your birthday this year, Jake?”
“I’m not really sure yet,” I told him. “There will probably be a new video game I want com-
ing out in May.”
“This year, your mother and I want to get you something special. We’re thinking about
getting you a puppy.”
I was so excited! My own puppy? Up until then, I hadn’t realized how much I truly missed
Bo. We were going to get two puppies, one mine, and one my dad’s, so they would each have a
brother to keep them company during the day, while everyone was at school and work. I got to
pick what type of puppy, and I got to name it. I wanted to get either a German Shepherd or a Black
Lab. I ended up having to go with Black Lab, because we were concerned German Shepherds could
be too aggressive with children. I named him Joey, after my favorite baseball player, Joey Votto.
My dad did all the research about where to get the puppies. He decided on a breeder in Sha-
wano, Wisconsin, about an hour away. When Joey’s litter of pups was born, he notified us, and sent
us pictures of the puppies. They were all adorable! There were 9 of them, all the size of a soda can.
After another month we were allowed to visit them. I was surprised to find out the breeder was just
a regular guy, with a regular house. A regular guy with a great job, that is. While the breeder talked
to my parents about all of the rules and regulations regarding adopting a puppy, I got to play with
all the pups. Getting to see and pet all of these puppies got me very excited for the day I got to take
one home. I couldn’t wait.
A couple weeks later, that day finally came. We drove out to Shawano for the second time.
Since my dad and my sister chose our other puppy, Lucky, about a week earlier, my mom and I got
to choose the Black Lab. We knew we wanted a boy, so that narrowed the choice down from nine
to five puppies. We decided that the best way to choose was to play with the pups for a little bit. It
was hard to decide because they were all so cute and friendly! After about 15 minutes, we final-
ly made a decision. We picked Joey because he was one of the most playful puppies, but he also
settled down and let us pet him. It is a great combination, and he is still like that today- sometimes
wild and cheerful, and sometimes lazy, lying next to me on the couch.
After we chose Joey, we got in the car. I got to sit in the back seat with him. We had laid
down a blanket for him to sit on, and I brought him a toy to chew on, a small rope panda bear.
Joey was very well-behaved for the whole one-hour drive. He occasionally whined, missing his old
home, but he was more than happy to meet me.