Pet of the Week: Callie!
Zoe Stanton-Savitz
Callie is a high-energy Golden Retriever puppy and one of the most popular Sarah Lawrence campus residents. She is a one and a half year old emotional support dog living in MacCracken.
Alex Matzkin ‘25, adopted Callie from Northstar Dog Foundation, a Connecticut based non-profit organization that breeds service and therapy dogs. Matzkin and Callie were united in April of 2020.
“We’re birthday buddies,” Matzkin says.
Matzkin named her dog after Callie Torres from the TV show, Grey’s Anatomy.
Callie supports Matzkin with PTSD, depression, and anxiety. According to Matzkin, Callie is “the best antidepressant.”
“She helps me feel safe and gives me something to take care of,” Matzkin says. “She helps me with sleep. And just provides general serotonin.”
Along with her calming attributes, Callie is incredibly protective of her owner.
“She likes to make sure that I’m safe from the bathroom demons,” Matzkin says. “Whenever I go to the bathroom she has to go in with me and she’ll lie on the floor on my bathmat and she’ll just nap. She just hangs out there and makes sure nothing’s gonna get me.”
In addition to her vigilance, Callie is fiercely loving and affectionate. She greets anyone she meets with a wagging tale and a delighted smile, often overcome with excitement. She likes to sit between people's legs or on their feet in order to receive pets on her back and behind her ears.
“She’s very cute and cuddly and comforting,” Matzkin attests.
Callie’s favorite activities include cuddling and collecting rocks.
“She goes around the Sarah Lawrence campus and she’ll find fist-sized rocks and she’ll pick them up and carry them around,” Matzkin says.
Callie is perhaps best known for her love of sticks, the bigger the better.
“She’ll find the largest branch she can and then she’ll break off the little sticks and then she’ll take the giant branch and walk around with it,” Matzkin says. “Quite the spectacle.”
Matzkin also says Callie is very smart and learns tricks and training quickly. Just this week, Callie learned how to shake!