Dog Spotlight
Playful howls and barks fill the quads and trails surrounding Exeter as faculty take their dogs for walks. Exeter is not only a home for over a thousand students and a faculty families, but also a place for their dogs. The stretches of green lawn and expansive river walks like Swasey Parkway provide the perfect running ground for dogs of all colors, ages, sizes and hair textures to thrive. This week in the Doggie Spotlight we will focus on the profiles and personalities of a few select dogs.
Oliver
Breed: German Shepard
Owner: Lundy Smith
Faculty have praised Exeter as a wonderful environment to raise a dog. English instructor Lundy Smith said that for his dog Oliver, the campus is like “heaven.” “Oliver loves the attention he gets from the kids, plus the Academy woods are a great place to explore.” Oliver is a two and a half year-old German Shepherd who, like most German Shepherds, may appear rowdy and intimidating at first, but once you have adjusted to this, you will see Oliver’s compassionate side.
Oliver is a dog who loves his owner, his little brother, playing with the girls of Langdell (where Mr. Smith is dorm faculty) and running on the beach. Smith added that he enjoys playing with Pete Flynn. Smith said that Oliver’s love of Caldwell’s dog is unrequited. “It’s a herding thing, Smith said. “He’s also terrified of Ms. Geer’s white cat.” Although Oliver and Smith are not dorm residents, Smith still emphasized how Phillips Exeter became a home to him. “There are lots of squirrels, plenty of food on the ground outside of Wentworth, lots of kids to throw his ball and pet him and he is getting a first-rate education,” Smith said.
Angus
Breed: Australian Cobberdog
Owner: Joanne Lembo
Director of Student Activities Joanne Lembo owns an Australian Cobberdog named Angus. Lembo said that the best part of having a dog on campus is the students. “Angus was the shyest dog in the litter. The breeder chose our family because we lived on campus and he would be well socialized,” she said. Lembo enjoys the help from students when it come to dog sitting. “I am able to come home and walk him and he has many student friends on campus who also walk him,” she said.
Angus’s shyness has been largely cured since living at Exeter, and now he even has frequent playdates with both students and other canines. For Lembo, having a dog on campus is fantastic not only for her and the students, and when asked if Angus likes being at Exeter, she responded, “He loves it.”
Dolly Bubbles
Breed: English Labrador
Owner: Patty Burke
Dolly Bubbles. You may have seen her frolicking on the quad or trotting next to her trusty partner English instructor Patricia Burke, who lives in Langdell Hall. Burke cherishes her 9-year-old English labrador. “I love having a dog on campus, or rather, I should say Dolly loves being a dog on campus,” she said. Burke also noticed that Dolly is a very social dog, “In fact, I think she’s 75 percent human and thrives in the company of others. When we walk, she has to say hello to everyone, other dogs as well as people.”
According to Burke, Dolly truly thinks of Langdell as a home. She is content to hanging in the common room to lick feet until the end of time. Dolly enjoys other pastimes. Burke said, “If all her dreams were to come true, she’d spend her days with facilities, riding around in trucks or cars or mowers with the wind blowing her ears back and people waving to her, shouting, ‘Hello Dolly!’”
As far as socializing with other dogs, Dolly prefers hanging out with humans. “She doesn’t really have playdates with other dogs,” Burke said. “She’d rather go to the mailroom and see Emily or Joe or Dwight.” Dolly also enjoys time with her brother, upper Gavin Hickey, and with the girls of Langdell, although she is careful not to overlap with Oliver whom she has had altercations with in the past.