Joe came to me initially as a temporary foster from the same rescue organization I worked with to adopt Murphy. If you thought Murphy was in rough shape, BUCKLE UP!

Storytime: It’s November of 2021, almost Thanksgiving, and I received an email from the group that there had been an emergency, and they needed short-term fosters for several dogs. I replied and volunteered to foster a dog described as a 13-year-old healthy senior chihuahua. They replied right away and share that dog already had a foster lined up, but that he had a 10-year-old healthy chihuahua bestie named Joe who also needed a short-term foster, so I agreed to take him. It was stated that the foster term was just through the holidays, and as I hadn’t fostered before, and was excited to start, I thought this would be a nice, soft launch.

I was wrong.

When I picked up Joe from the director of the rescue, it was clear that he was far older than 10 and very, very sick. When I asked the director about it, she passed the buck and made it sound like she had been misled about Joe’s condition.

Joe on night one. How could anyone say no to that face? And THOSE EARS???

And what a condition it was! I soon learned that Joe was incontinent, super arthritic, had nasty eye and skin infections, had no teeth, and was majorly malnourished. It was so obvious that he wasn’t at all as described that the director repeatedly assured me that he would be seeing their vet right after Thanksgiving and that the rescue would be placing him with a special long-term medical/hospice foster ASAP.

Unfortunately, I didn't realize that this rescue had a track record of taking on wayyyy more dogs than they had the resources or funding to support (and a habit of supporting only the dogs they felt could turn a profit). When I adopted Murphy, it was clear they were super disorganized and understaffed, but the size of the group they rescued from Deming was sold as the reason, and they said it was hard to return calls and emails because they were navigating an emergency situation, that it wasn’t normally like this. **Cue the voice of the omniscient narrator stating “But little did Jaclyn know, it WAS normally like this. And things were about to get much worse…”

They never did schedule that vet visit for Joe. They also provided zero of the supplies I was promised. So, in typical 1/3 fashion, I did some research and started experimenting: I found a food that he liked and could also eat without needing to chew. I taught him to wear diapers and got him sweaters, onesies, and warm blankets to keep him as comfortable as possible. And I kept emailing every single email address I could find for anyone at the rescue, desperate to get him to a vet, because according to the terms of the foster contract I had signed, I wasn’t allowed to make medical decisions for him.

Joe is in his Shaun the Sheep side-blep era.

November became December, and December turned into January, and it became clear that Joe wouldn’t be receiving the medical attention that he desperately needed, so I broke the terms of my foster agreement and took him to my fantastic vet. There, I learned he was more like 16 years old and on top of everything else, he was suffering from an infected oronasal fistula, which led my vet to believe that Joe was either the victim of extreme neglect or had spent a substantial amount of time as a stray. A quick course of antibiotics and Joe was feeling much better…if he had gone too much longer without treatment, the infection could have spread to his internal organs and killed him.

There’s much more to the story, but for all intents and purposes, by this point I had basically been ghosted by the rescue, so I took control of the situation and spent the next six months slowly nursing Joe back to health.

When I finally got ahold of someone at the rescue, they were SHOCKED he was still alive. Unfortunately, during that conversation, it became crystal clear that they never had plans to find him a medical/hospice placement or a forever home. I also learned around this time that the director of the rescue had previously had been convicted of and served time for fraud and stealing from the elderly, and last I heard, she’s currently facing charges here in Arizona for animal neglect. Armed with that information, I decided that it was in Joe's best interest to join my pack permanently. #fosterfail

Flash forward almost a year and a half later: Joe has come so far.

He's learned how to wear a harness and walk (very short distances) on a leash.

He doesn't know how to play with toys, but he LOVES to cuddle with his tiny Squishmallows. And he loves to fall asleep in my lap (or squirm around in my lap) while I give Human Design birth chart readings.

He's also discovered that he's OBSESSED with puréed pumpkin, which he demands to eat FIRST before every meal or he refuses to eat anything else. He even dressed up as his favorite food for Halloween.

Joe celebrated his 17th birthday in September of 2022 with french fries, a bit of burger, and a lot of pumpkin.

Determining Joe's design has been difficult due to his age and poor health (and incomplete medical history).

I didn't have the gift of knowing him in his prime, so I know I'm working from an incomplete picture of his personality. Based on what I know about him now, he thrives on routine and structure. He is very particular about the order in which things happen and has a super accurate internal body clock (he will wake up from a dead sleep at 4:30pm on the nose for dinner for that pumpkin!), so I decided on a Virgo Sun placement for him. His moon sign has been more challenging to determine, which has made nailing down an accurate birth date almost impossible.

So I've been working backwards, leaning on my knowledge of the way the gates operate & present, and looking at the way his energy is impacted by my other two doggos. Due to his age and health, I'm not sure how much longer he'll be with us, but having Mammalian Design as a tool in my toolkit has unlocked new and novel ways to support him in giving him the furever home he deserves.

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be introducing you to all three of my doggos and teaching you a bit about Mammalian Design using their charts. Drop your questions in the comments section!!!

Meet the Doggos of @humandesignfordoggos | Meet Joe 🐾