Dog Days on the Quad

Dozens of students piled into the Quad in May for a puppy-cuddle break.

It was Dog Day on the Quad, the second year of the annual student stress reliever. This time, 11 puppies in all toured the campus—Chrome, Deca, Laura, Pebbles, Sailor, Thomas, Tinker, Toulah, Union, Velvet, and Wexlie. There were German shepherds, Labrador retrievers, golden retrievers, and Labrador-golden hybrids.

They came from the Seeing Eye’s Puppy Raising program—a Morristown, N.J., nonprofit that raises and trains guide dogs for the blind and visually impaired. Seeing Eye places 7-week-old puppies with foster families who spend a year socializing the dogs and teaching them basic obedience.

“The idea was twofold,” says Ken Newquist, Lafayette’s director of web application development, who helped organize the event. “Provide an opportunity for puppies to interact with a large number of people while giving students a puppy-filled break from finals. In my experience, many students miss their own dogs tremendously; the chance to come out and meet some puppies is a great stress reliever.”