Jesse's Story

Jesse James is a five year old Keeshond. Jesse is also a rescue dog. A fuzzy little black and grey dog with no home has found his forever home in an unusual setting. Jesse is a resident at Woodland Retirement Center. Jesse spends his days loving and caring for a large community of elderly people. He brings joy and smiles to otherwise lonely people. People who seldom get personal visits are overjoyed when visited by Jesse. Some are even moved to tears upon seeing Jesse as he brings back fond memories of their beloved pets.

At work one day, I was reading our company newsletter. An article written by Phyllis Bard, NHA, at Woodland Retirement Center caught my attention. She was introducing the Eden Concept at the nursing home and was looking into adopting a greyhound. I immediately phoned her and asked if she had made a committment to the greyhound yet. Since she had not, I asked her if she would consider a Keeshond at the home. She agreed to look into adopting a Keeshond.

I faxed her information on the breed, and the adoption process. She wanted me to bring a Kees to the home so that the residents and employees could see one. I took my Kirby to the home and the residents and staff fell in love with him. They decided they wanted a Keeshond.

I now faced the task of finding a Keeshond suitable for a nursing home. We needed a Kees with a gentle disposition, quiet, friendly, and not to rambunctious. With so many Kees available for adoption, I knew I could find one somewhere that would fit the bill. I posted a message on the Keeshond List on the internet and was contacted by Barbara Bauman in Virginia. Barbara felt she had the perfect dog for the home. It was a neutered male, four years old, and an owner turn in. His name was Jesse James. Jessie is the sweetest, gentlest dog I have ever met. When you call him to you for a pat, he immediately sits right beside you and most times lies down and rolls over so you can pat his belly.

Jesse was kept outside prior to being placed at the home. Which mean't he wasn't housebroken. We began the task of housebreaking Jesse which only took about four weeks. Barbara started training Jesse. She worked with him for about a week. Then Jesse went to Stacey Swartz who is half-way between Barbara and I. Stacey spent about 2 weeks training him. Stacey then delivered Jesse to me and I spent a little less than a week working with him. No accidents here so now I decided to take him to Woodland.

Since it was the middle of the week, I found it hard to schedule a trip to Woodland during working hours. It's 1 1/2 hours one way. I check the staff schedule and noticed that Rev. Barry Vance, our Chief Operating Officer, was going to Woodland on Thursday. I walked into his office and sheepishly asked if he could take something with him to Woodland. (It's common practice to send things to other facilities with anybody who's going that way.) He sort of new I wasn't talking about inter-office memos. He looked up from his desk and said, "This wouldn't happen to be a dog would it?" I replied a hopeful "Yes". He checked his calendar while I held my breath and said "Sure, why not." He then stated, "Oh, I have a meeting at Bob Stewart's office first". (Our corporate lawyer, whose office is midway between here and Woodland.) My smile turned into a frown. Barry replied "What the heck, Jesse can go to the meeting with us." My smile returned. I thanked him and went back to my office and tried to imagine a Keeshond in a meeting with our COO, CFO, and attorney. From what Barry told me on Friday, the meeting went well. Jesse just kept going from person to person wanting petted, and everyone obliged. Barry then continued on to Woodland where Jesse lives today, brightening the lives of our elderly population.

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