NO PAW-PARAZZI, PLEASE!
Art by Ailani Wong
Campus celebrity status is hard to obtain. You must toe the line between untouchable importance and staying approachable enough to be well-known. Showing face at campus hotspots is critical. It helps to have an air of mystery, such as keeping your fans waiting over a week to accept their follow request on Instagram. No, we’re not describing the girl in your dorm who posts a daily get-ready-with-me on TikTok. We’re talking about Clayton, the adorable Goldendoodle at pet therapy.
You may recognize him from the Barnes Center at The Arch, where his adoring fans line up to pet him. Or, you may know him from Instagram, where he mogs the hell out of us in a pair of dope sunglasses (unfortunately, we here at Jerk can only speak on the profile pic...we’re still waiting for our follow request to be accepted). Clayton is one of the many dogs (and as of recently, one cat) at pet therapy, a program designed to help students reduce stress and increase well-being. SU partners with two local therapy pet organizations, Paws of CNY and Pet Partners of CNY, to bring in our fuzzy friends.
When Clayton’s not around, like last Tuesday, dogs like Sammy, a five-year-old Goldendoodle, take his place. Sammy, whose favorite activity is seeing old friends and meeting new ones— according to the business card his owner gives out—has been a therapy dog since 2023.
“We were on vacation in Maine and every block we walked down, people would stop and say ‘oh my gosh, what a cute dog’ or ‘I miss my dog,’” said Sammy’s owner and Syracuse resident Kate Gillen. “He brought such joy to people that I thought ‘I need to look into making him a therapy dog.’”
When students arrived at pet therapy, Sammy moved to greet them. A few minutes later, his head was resting on two students’ laps. Sammy is so calm, in fact, you’d never know that outside of pet therapy, he swims, paddleboards, plays in the snow, travels (his East Coast tour is well underway) and even hangs out at Harvey’s Garden.
“I love snacks and drinks, so whenever he’s able to come, I bring him,” Gillen said. “Sammy loves a brewery.”
So do we, Sammy, so do we.
Last year, on Sammy’s fourth birthday, he celebrated at SU with students, selfies and cupcakes made by a friend of Gillen’s. Although she’s “not usually that person who’s like, ‘I’m throwing my dog a birthday party,’” it ended up being fun, she said. As a matter of fact, pet therapy helps Gillen’s mood, too.
“I am exhausted. I could lay down on this couch and fall asleep,” she said. “But the minute that I get here and see someone smile or say I needed this today...that just completely shifts my mood and how I’m operating.”