Many of our members support the Wisconsin Badgers in different ways. However, there is a devoted group of DOC teams that show their support by visiting students and staff with their pet partner.
After a busy year, I calculated some interesting statistics that sum up our involvement.
- 66 visits were held this past school year.
- 5 additional visits will be held this summer.
- 341 “slots” needed to be filled to provide enough animals for the various events.
- 50 different teams volunteered numerous times. – Thanks to EVERYONE!
- Visits were also held at
- Edgewood College
- 2 Madison College campuses
- a Tech School in Portage
Although we were busy, the feedback that follows from several members highlights the benefits of visiting the UW campus. If you’re looking for a new activity with your pet partner this fall, the following remarks may encourage you to join the UW family!
I’m overwhelmed by how friendly, polite, appreciative, and talkative the students are. Betty enjoys the energy, enthusiasm, and affection of campus visits.
Campus visits have also made me aware of the different support groups and organizations students are involved in on campus. This shows how much they care about each other and the community.
I always leave a campus visit feeling uplifted and optimistic about our next generation.
Students are exuberant and don’t mind telling you how much they love your dog! They are so respectful which gives me a lot of hope for the future. It makes me proud of UW.
One student had just lost her 12-year-old dog who looked like my dog, Joy. There were hugs and tears all around. Students do benefit from connecting with our pets.
– Melody and Joy
The students come to a visit and tell us that we’ve made their week better or that they had a bad day which is now so much better. Some of them tell us that they enjoy collecting our trading cards and have them displayed in their dorm room or on the fridge in their apartment. I leave visits knowing why volunteering on campus is a good fit for me and Jordy.
Jasmine and I really enjoy the campus visits at UW. Having two college-age kids myself, I can speak from experience that I know how much the kids miss their dogs while they are away at school. It’s ‘good therapy’ for me as I miss my kids while they’re away at school.
At one of my last visits this spring, a young man told me he was graduating. He thanked me for all of the visits and support he received from DOC throughout his years at UW. He then pulled out a worn trading card from his wallet and told me he kept ‘Izzie’ with him throughout his UW years ever since he met her while living in the dorms his freshman year. Another graduating student expressed her appreciation for all of the dog visits. She said the dogs were what she was going to miss the most about UW.
Some of my favorite visits are to the grad schools. While the students are working on advanced degrees and are older, they are as excited, expressive, and appreciative as the freshmen we visit in dorms.
Walking into a room of EAGER students waiting to greet our dogs reaffirms why I enjoy coordinating the UW program. We are repeatedly told that visiting with our dogs ‘is the best day of the semester’ followed by, ‘can you please come every day because we really miss our family dog?’
– Todd and Izzie
ON WISCONSIN!
Article by: Todd & Izzie