According to students, one of the best parts about KO is coming to school and getting to see all of our dogs on campus. Not only do our dogs provide an escape from school and stress, but they are tons of fun to see strolling around on campus throughout the day. This year, we have a number of campus dogs, including Dobby Baker, a golden doodle and Upper School math teacher Kristen Valenti’s black lab, Captain, but our newest addition to campus this year is Upper School English teacher Megan Hilliard’s dog Dante!
Dante is a black goldendoodle, born on Oct. 25, 2018, which not only makes him six, but also a recent birthday boy. Ms. Hilliard explained that he was born in Kentucky and flown out to Los Angeles at around three months old to meet her. “When I first met him, he was probably a foot long, so very little and very fluffy,” Ms. Hilliard said.
Dante, if you haven’t already met him, is an incredibly relaxed dog, and Ms. Hilliard says he has been this way since he was a puppy. He likes to spend class lying on his bed or strolling around looking for pets, but for the most part, he is calm and well-behaved. “I will say, however, that he is obsessive about balls, and if there is a ball nearby, he has absolutely no self-control,” Ms. Hilliard said. Dante’s favorite game by far is fetch, and if someone has a ball in their hand, he will persistently nudge your leg until you throw it for him.
Ms. Hilliard says that at home, Dante is pretty much the same dog he is at school. He likes spending his time napping in his bed and wandering around looking for toys. “He actually will tear apart any sort of soft toy, so we try to avoid those, but he also likes to take his tennis balls and peel them, kind of like an orange,” Ms. Hilliard said.
The students’ reactions to Dante on campus have been nothing but welcoming. Ms. Hilliard says that everyone loves him, and she almost always has visitors in her room coming to see Dante. “Even students who I don’t teach will be in here hanging out with him, and I think that having dogs on campus is really good for students’ mental health,” Ms. Hilliard said. Petting a dog instantly brings your joy levels up, so having a new dog in the Seaverns wing has definitely been a big morale booster.
One of Ms. Hilliard’s favorite things about Dante is his fur. “He has the softest fur ever, and that’s in part because he’s a doodle, but I just can never get enough cuddles,” Ms. Hilliard said. She explained the tedious routine of brushing, washing, and grooming goldendoodles like Dante, and although it sounds like a handful, she says it is totally worth the work.
One fun fact about Dante is that he is a bit of a scaredy cat. Ms. Hilliard says that on their walk the other morning, Dante became absolutely horrified of a large Halloween inflatable cat on their road, and he would not walk past it at all. “He’s the kind of dog who will bark repetitively at the door when someone is outside, but you could shake a plastic bag at him and he will run away.” Ms. Hilliard said. “So, in other words, he likes to talk the talk but he just can’t walk the walk.”
Needless to say, Dante has been an incredible addition to our KO community this year. Students love him, faculty love him, and according to Ms. Hilliard, he has so far convinced people who don’t like dogs that they actually do. Dante is gentle, snuggly, and loves the attention, so be sure to stop by Seaverns-002 to meet Ms. Hilliard and her fluffy companion!
