The moment Joey Laine McDonnell laid eyes on her beloved pooch, Prince, she knew she had to have him.
Back in 2013, Joey, 24, was attending college in Ottawa when the Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) brought in three puppies that were available for students to adopt. There was a Doberman mix jumping around and barking at everything, a Beagle who wouldn’t stop crying, and and then there was a sweet, little German Shepherd mix who was sitting quietly in the corner of his cage looking around.
“I knew he had to be mine,” recalls Joey of her first encounter with Prince. “He had a little brown collar on and he was found wandering the streets in Quebec for I don’t know how long when the shelter picked him up. They had him for about two weeks before they brought him to the school.”
Joey ended up adopting Prince when he was almost six months old, and ever since that fateful day he’s been by her side.
Joey says the two do everything together and one of his favourite things to do is go swimming. “He’s pretty smart. I always say he’s too smart for his own good.”
Joey Laine McDonnell and Prince, the month after she adopted him (Photo courtesy of Joey McDonnell)
Every year, Pet Valu holds a casting call seeking photographs of the cutest pets to be selected for an annual calendar. Joey says she’s entered the contest in previous years but never won. Her luck changed this year when she submitted a photo of Prince surrounded by fall leaves. She had it in mind that if she did win, the photo would likely be featured in either October or November.
“I entered on the last day of the contest, which was June 26. They don’t announce the winners until July. I got a phone call and email and was told I was one of the winners, but that it was a secret and I had to keep quiet. That was really hard because obviously I just wanted to tell everyone.”
Joey is still elated at her win. The excitement that her furry friend won is still fresh in her mind. Not only will Prince’s adorable mug grace a page in the 2018 calendar for the month of October, but Huntsville’s Pet Valu will also receive a poster of him which will be displayed in the store.
Everyone I showed the picture to loved it and told me to enter it. There was over 30,000 entries, so I really don’t know how they [the judges] are able to narrow it down to just 13.
Indeed there must be something special about Prince as he has actually garnered a following of 50,000 followers on Instagram. To see images of this one-of-a-kind canine on Instagram check out @prince_the_dingo_dog
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