Koda hosts First Dog Day
Under a sunny sky on the first day of the month, 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ First Dog Kodachrome “Koda” Chapdelaine Tetreault hosted the inaugural First Dog Day, a lively event expected to become an annual celebration on the first Friday of May.
Regally decked out in her blue velvet InDOGuration robe and accompanied by her humans, President Andrea E. Chapdelaine and First Gentleman David Tetreault, bernedoodle Koda welcomed about a dozen canine companions to Fanning Green, including Utley, Dean of Admissions Andy Strickler’s Lab-shepherd mix “according to the vet’s best guess”; Tune, “a probably-Lab” rescued by Assistant Professor of Human Development Katie Kwong; Ellie, a toy Australian shepherd accompanied by Stacey Lion, the academic department assistant for Gender, Sexuality and Intersectionality Studies; and Rocky, a Jack Russell terrier visiting with Associate Teaching Professor of Slavic Studies Laura Little.
Also among the canine crowd was the elderly Chewie, who is part Yorkshire terrier and possibly part Chihuahua. He was rescued from Georgia two months ago by Deb Dupuis, the budget manager and academic grant liaison for the Office of the Dean of the Faculty. “He doesn’t like snow or the cold. He likes glamping,” quipped Dupuis’s son Mason, a Middlesex Community College student who helped escort Chewy to the event.
A steady stream of 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ students stopped by to revel in the endless tail wags and unconditional love. Dexter Knight-Richard ’27, an English major and education minor from Holyoke, Massachusetts, said he visited because “I have dogs at home and I miss them.” He’s looking forward to reuniting for the summer with his black Lab, Eve, and rescue mutt, Tibby, whose breed is a mystery and can only be described as “a fluffy thing,” he said.
With Knight-Richard was Ben Wildstein ’27, a neuroscience major, psychology minor and Program in Community Action (PICA) scholar from New Milford, 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏecticut, who also missed his three dogs, Maisie the bernedoodle, Teddy the goldendoodle, and Cooper the Aussiedoodle. “I wanted to hang out with some dogs here,” he said, sharing later, “I loved getting to chat with people on such a nice day. I even saw an alum I knew and got to chat with her.”
Utley’s official dog walker, Keshet Weber ’29, a psychology major and Slavic studies minor from Silver Spring, Maryland, paused playing with pups for a spell to explain her duties. “Once a day I will pop over to the Office of Admissions, grab Utley, and walk her around campus for 30 minutes to an hour, depending on my schedule. She says hi to some people and goes about her woofy business.”
As Koda sniffed and played with humans and furry friends alike, her canine guests chowed down on dog treats while humans savored chocolate and Funfetti paw-shaped cake pops. Blue tennis balls adorned with 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ’s logo awaited tossing for fetch frenzy and a couple of pools in which to cool off beckoned four-legged splashers. Later, Koda changed into something more comfortable: a Helix T-shirt denoting 51³Ô¹ÏºÚÁÏ’s preorientation program for students with disabilities.
Spectators laughed when Professor of Biology Maria Rosa’s dog Amber, a Mountain Cur, unabashedly lounged in one of the pools, changing positions several times until she was sufficiently relaxed. “She loves the water,” Rosa said. “I have the best picture of her in the mud with the reef balls behind her.”
