Anyone need a doggie kiss?
Matt Chlapek, Highland Lakes SPCA shelter manager, is the willing recipient of Jessie’s abundant “doggie kisses” Tuesday morning, April 7. Jessie has been at the SPCA shelter for almost five years.
By Emily Hilley-Sierzchula
Every now and then, even the best dog can go unnoticed, and therefore not adopted, even as other dogs come and go.
The years pass.
“She’s seen hundreds of other dogs come through here, so she probably feels this is her place,” said Matt Chlapek, Highland Lakes SPCA shelter manager on Tuesday, April 7.
While Chlapek spoke, Jessie drenched his face in doggie kisses.
Jessie, a yellow Lab mix, has been at the shelter since July, 2010, when she was a year and a half old. Christened “Clover” by her original owner, Jessie was eventually “re-branded” with her new name.
“Half the volunteers still call her Clover, and Matt [Chlapek] calls her ‘C.J.’, and she doesn’t seem to mind; she’s pretty flexible,” said Jeannette Murphy, volunteer and past Highland Lakes SPCA board president.
Like anyone, Jessie has her good qualities as well as things to work on.
Jessie is sociable with people. “We just had a group of Boy Scouts in the pen with her and she was great with them,” Murphy said. “They were running around and she was just excited to have the attention.”
However, Jessie needs additional training to overcome her Achilles’ heel, other dogs.
Murphy said Jessie’s psychological evaluation revealed her “issue is with other dogs, but it’s because she’s scared. She gets in attack mode: ‘I have to get them before they get me.’”
Murphy added she has observed Jessie being friendly with other dogs, behavior a new owner will have to reinforce.
For more about Jessie, see Tuesday's Highlander.
