You may know their names and how they look, but how much do you really know about them?
Ashland University’s service dogs, Teddy and Pip, have visited campus regularly to give students a bright spot in their day for the past few years.
Teddy, a goldendoodle, visits the Rec Center Offices every Thursday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“What makes Teddy special is, I think because he’s here so consistently every Thursday and he’s been coming for the past three years, that people on campus really know who he is,” said Director for Recreation and Wellness Janel Molnar. “If I take him out and students see him, like, they refer to him like a friend,” she continued.
Teddy’s story of beginning to visit campus started about four years ago, when a survey was sent out to students about their wellness needs and a recurrent answer was more access to service animals. Janel Molnar began training Teddy, who she had recently adopted at the time, in therapy and obedience, to start regularly bringing him to campus.
Pip, a black standard poodle, visits the Student Center outside of Eagle’s Nest every other Tuesday from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.
“With Pip, (students) might just kind of stumble upon Pip when they’re going to Eagle’s Nest to get food for dinner or they’re in the Student Center. So, it’s kind of like a pleasant surprise when they Pip,” said Janel Molnar.
Pip is owned by a member of the community in Ashland and started visiting campus relatively recently, in January 2025.
Ashland students have reacted positively overall to the regular therapy dog visits over the past few years.
“You know, when students come to campus, many of them have dogs or some kind of pet, and they miss their pets. So it allows them to be able to have that connection that they’re missing from home, but then also it could be, you know, just some kind of stress reliever or just something to get their mind off of things,” said Janel Molnar on the impact the therapy dogs have had on the AU community.
For more information on Recreation and Wellness events on campus, visit the Instagram page @aurecwell or for information on more events and organizations on campus, visit Engage Ashland.
