Closer InspeCtIon
By AmAndA mcGrAth
Maggie Lonergan is one of 20 student walkers. Tryouts involve tasks from singing
the school’s fight song to sticking fingers in the dog’s mouth. (Tey need to be prepared to reach right in, as bulldogs are prone to choking.)
Jack’s biggest vice
is rawhide treats
— he gets about 12 or 15 a day. But at 55 pounds, he’s a healthy weight. “For a bulldog, he gets a lot of exercise,” Steck says.
“Tis is where he would sleep at
night if he didn’t sleep in my bed,” Steck says of Jack (who snores).
At Hoya basketball games, he shreds
a cardboard
box covered with the opposing
A staff member made this jersey; costumers from the theater department made another. “It takes a village to raise a child; it takes a university community to outfit a dog,” Steck says.
Big dog
team’s logo. All that cardboard chomping helps
keep his teeth clean.
Freshmen arrive to find their names on the doors of their dorm rooms. Jack had his own on Steck’s door, but it has since been moved to decorate his corner.
He’s got a treasure trove of toys. His favorite?
Whatever someone else is playing with. “If he thinks I want something, then he’s going to want to play with it,” Steck says.
on campus
Georgetown’s mascot lives the good life
College dorms aren’t glamorous, but
Georgetown University’s New South Hall is home to at least one celebrity: Jack, the school’s furry mascot. The English bulldog lives with Father Christopher Steck, his primary caretaker, in his apartment in the freshman dorm. “He’ll go down to the lounge and hang out with the students there,” Steck says. “He’s very social.” Jack’s something of a star among
Hoyas — people call out his name and stop to pat him as he swaggers around campus. Students join the Jack Crew for the honor of taking the pooch for his three daily walks. “He’s not a cuddly kind of dog, and he’s not cooperative,”
Steck says. “So it takes a special kind of person to want to care for him — you have to put up with his stubbornness.” Because Jack tires easily, he often gets chauffeured around in one of the university’s golf carts. He’s also a regular figure at home games during the basketball season and at a litany of campus events. With all the attention and the perks, he’s bound to get a big head, but Steck does his best to keep Jack’s ego in check. “He does have boundaries,” he says. “He’s kind of selectively spoiled.”
10 The WashingTon PosT Magazine | APRIL 11, 2010
Like most bulldogs, Jack is a prolific
drooler, but
Steck added
Georgetown pins to a leather
collar to make a
custom accessory for Jack.
he manages to keep most of it
in his own corner of the apartment (much to Steck’s relief).
Jack’s walkers keep
a detailed log of his attitude, energy level and, um, business. Among the notes: “Ate
some snow” and “Played w/ blanket a lot.”
Jack eats Royal Canin dog food made
specifically for his breed. Because of their awkwardly shaped jaws and uneven teeth, bulldogs tend to swallow food whole; the kibble’s wavy shape makes it easier to chew.
PHOTOGRAPHS BY BENJAMIN C. TANKERSLEY
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