Therapy Dog Brightens School Day with Birthday Song

Heather Stinson’s dog, Ashby, perks up whenever they pull up into the parking lot of Landmark College in Vermont.

“She loves going to school,” Stinson told The Dodo. “She can’t wait to get out and see all of her friends.”

Stinson works as an academic advisor at the college, which is exclusively for students with learning differences, including dyslexia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism.

She brings Ashby, who is a therapy dog, with her twice a week.

“The students are madly in love with her,” Stinson said.

Ashby helps individuals who are having trouble with stress or fitting in. Students drop by Stinson’s office to unwind with Ashby. Additionally, the pup visits classrooms during big exams.

Ashby can pick up on which students have test anxiety — she’ll gently place her head in their laps to comfort them.

At least once a week, students can go on an organized hike with Ashby in the trails around Landmark College’s campus.

“It’s been a really nice and informal way for students to make friends,” Stinson said. “It’s much easier to talk about whatever cute thing Ashby is doing rather than staring at someone you don’t know and trying to come up with something to say.”

The pup — who spreads joy to others — finally had her moment in the sun when she turned 5 years old last November. About 75 Landmark students showed up to celebrate the pup’s birthday in a packed room on campus.

“I was expecting a crowd, but it was far more people than I had anticipated,” Stinson said.

She shared a sweet video on Ashby’s Instagram page of the students serenading the pup.

“She was just beaming the entire time,” Stinson said. “She knew it was for her. It was really special.”

Ashby was dressed in a sparkly tutu, a cupcake-themed onesie, a beaded collar and a pink crown.

“I swore up and down that I’d never put clothes on my dog,” Stinson said. That changed, however, after the pup — whom Stinson adopted from Great Dog Rescue New England after the organization rescued her from the streets of Mississippi — experienced her first frigid Vermont winter. Ashby was shivering, so Stinson dressed her in a coat. “That was the gateway,” Stinson said.

Since then, Stinson continued to put clothing on Ashby. Although she’s a friendly pup who loves people, some would steer clear of her because she’s a pit bull. “I started dressing her up because I realized that when she’s dressed up, people notice the outfit and then they notice the dog,” Stinson said. “This allowed Ashby to interact with people the way she wanted to without people being fearful of her.”

Now Ashby wears vibrant clothing whenever she’s on campus.

“It leads to some really cool discussions with students where they talk about their own experiences with being stigmatized or profiled without anyone really getting to know them,” Stinson said.

The pup isn’t bothered by the outfits. Instead, she gets excited to put them on because she knows it means she’s going to a place that’s like a home to her.

“She loves her school,” Stinson said. “She’s so deeply loved. And she’s changing the lives of all the students she interacts with.”