Therapy Dog Ashlar Will Graduate This Year With His ‘Dog-torate’

Loyola’s therapy dog Ashlar announced his graduation at the end of the semester on Instagram March 11. Ashlar started working for Loyola in 2018 at age two. His graduation coincides his handler, David deBoer, director of counseling, who’s also leaving Loyola after this semester. 

A new trained therapy dog is expected to take Ashlar’s place in the fall. 

DeBoer said Ashlar may continue working as a therapy dog outside of Loyola.

“I will probably maintain his license,” deBoer said. “I haven’t decided whether he’s going to do any kind of formal therapy dog work. He and I still need to have some heart to hearts after we leave about what his priorities are.”

Director of Health Promotion Mira Krivoshey and her team are planning Ashlar’s graduation party in April where “everyone’s invited,” according to the Instagram post. The Health Promotion team manages Ashlar’s social media account, according to Krivoshey.

Krivoshey will be handling the new dog, who’s expected to arrive on campus around August or September. She said she wanted to keep details a surprise.

“I think that Ashlar has done his time,” Krivoshey said. “He’s worked very hard and I think students love him and I think there’s a new opportunity to give a new dog a chance, so I’m excited to continue the program.”

As of now, deBoer said he’s unsure if Ashlar will walk across the stage with the rest of the graduates at the end of the year.

“The thought occurred to me,” deBoer said. “He hasn’t filled out his application for his diploma yet, so, remains to be seen.”

Fourth-year marketing major Ashley Kang said she’s excited to graduate with Ashlar. She said she sees Ashlar as a school mascot. 

“I would say it’s definitely a big honor,” Kang said. “He’s really tranquil and so cute, as well as just really comfortable with humans, obviously, so it’s really awesome.”

Staff counselor at the Wellness Center David Kasher takes Ashlar to his Friday office hours at the Sullivan Center. Kasher said students are excited to see Ashlar and de-stress by learning about Ashlar and talking about their pets at home.

Kasher said Ashlar’s graduation party will be a chance for the Loyola community to partake in positive termination.

“That’s a life skill, being able to say goodbye to folks or say goodbye to circumstance,” Kasher said. “It’ll be a nice chance to practice that.”

DeBoer said he helped start the therapy dog program in 2012 after he saw the positive effect therapy dogs had following a shooting at Northern Illinois University in 2008.

Tivo, a black lab, served as Loyola’s first therapy dog from 2014 until 2017. He was succeeded by Santos. Santos had a short-lived career but can still be found keeping Ashlar company in the Wellness Center. 

“Santos, while he’s a very good boy, was not a very good therapy dog,” deBoer said. “He’s all herding breed, and he’s a little bit hyper. We decided to move him into emeritus status.”

Ashlar came from TOPS Kennel and is a certified therapy dog.

“He’s got a really good temperament to be a therapy dog,” deBoer said. “He is friendly, he’s nonreactive, he’s trusting. And so I think from the get go, he’s been a good dog, and I could just tell when we saw a video of him that TOPS kennel shared that I was just like, ‘Wow, that was a beautiful dog.’ And I could just feel or sense his character in the video, and we met him and said, ‘Yes, we want him.’”

DeBoer said Ashlar’s popularity is evident in his social media success as he has over 5,000 followers on Instagram – his graduation post has received over 1,700 likes.

Third-year information systems and international business double major Dania Sweis said she took a break in the Information Commons to pet Ashlar for the first time in March.

“He’s such a sweet dog,” Sweis said. “I think he’s a good source for people to have, especially when they just need to wind down from a stressful day of studying at the library. I think it’s cute to have him here.”

In 2018, Ashlar had DNA testing done, which determined he’s 25% border collie, 25% tree walker coonhound, 25% mixed breed, 12.5% labrador retriever and 12.5% Australian cattle dog, according to a Facebook post.

First-year nursing major Valentina Marijan said she and her roommate frequently visit Ashlar. Marijan said her nursing UNIV class often discussed Ashlar.

“It’s a very relaxing experience and brings us lots of comfort,” Marijan said. “I’m happy that they have this program here.”

Ashlar holds office hours Tuesdays at 11:15 a.m. in the IC, Wednesdays at 11 a.m. in Damen, Thursdays at 1 p.m. in the IC and Fridays at 11 a.m. in the Sullivan Center, according to the Wellness Center’s website. Different Wellness Center employees are in charge of accompanying Ashlar to his office hours on different days.

Dianna Stencel, a social worker at the Wellness Center, takes Ashlar to his office hours on Thursdays. She said bringing Ashar helps destigmatize mental health resources.

“He’s my favorite coworker,” Stencel said. “It’s neat to get to see people be so excited and to see all the smiles and like a pop up community that happens around him.”

Alexis Barkin, Wellness Center social worker, accompanies Ashlar to his office hours on Tuesdays and said she enjoys seeing students’ interactions with Ashlar.

“I love it,” Barkin said. “It’s one of my favorite parts of my job.”

Barkin said she’s seen students be more confident approaching the Wellness Center because of Ashlar. 

Assistant Vice President for Student Health and Wellness Joan Holden has been at Loyola since the start of the therapy dog program. Holden handled Tivo and is now the owner of Santos.

“We love having the dogs as part of the Wellness Center,” Holden said. “It’s a huge, huge, hugely popular program. And we really enjoy having them here and I know the students really enjoy them too. If you’re interested in dogs, okay, not all students are, but if you are, then I would say that students react very favorably to him.”