Today, our Jessie turns 11 years old. I’m not sure where the time has gone as it seems like yesterday when we picked her up from a Chesapeake Breeder in MS.
Jessie has always been a handful. She’s probably the smartest dog I’ve ever encountered. I know everyone says that about their dogs, but this is true. And, Jessie isn’t just ‘book smart’ (in that she picks up on things easily) but she is conniving and she is always scheming up ways to get what she wants. For example, one day my mother was watching Jessie for the day. When I went to pick her up, I noticed Jessie standing there very proud of herself with this rather large nice stuffed animal which I KNEW wasn’t hers. I went to take it away from her and my mother stated, “Don’t she earned that.”
Puzzled, I questioned her. “She earned it?” Immediately I think, oh boy what did she do.
The story continues:
Mom: “You know the closet in the sewing room?”
Me: “Yeah.”
Mom: “You know the wire shelf at the very top?”
Me: “Yeah.”
Mom: “You know how there was fabric at the very top?” “Well, the stuffed animal was on top of all the folded fabric at the very top of the closet. She saw it there and I told her, NO, Not for Jessie but she had other ideas. So, I stood back and watched her.”
“You know how there is that small tote in front of the closet?”
Me: “Yeah.”
Mom: “Well, Jessie stood on the tote and she looked up at the toy. She jumped once and she couldn’t reach it. The next time, she jumped higher. The third time she jumped even higher and that time she was able to reach the fabric at the very bottom of the pile on the wire shelf. The next time she jumped she pulled the fabric out of the bottom. As she continued jumping each time she would pull the fabric just a little more. Eventually, she pulled all the fabric down out of the closet and all that was left was the stuffed animal.
You see, she earned it.”
I wish I could say that this is just one story that Jessie has given me. However, Jessie’s life has been story after story after story. Gosh. I wish everyone a dog like Jessie. Although, I’m not sure everyone could handle a dog like her.
Happy Birthday Old Girl. We wish you many more.
