study buddy puppy

Study Buddy Puppy Study Buddy Puppy

Kimberly Gavin’s emotional support dog, Murphy, creates a positive environment for both students and staff

ARTICLE BY AMANDA REBOREDO • PHOTO BY CHLOE LUU • ILLUSTRATIONS & DESIGN BY DAHLIA PAUL

Social Science teacher Kimberly Gavin fondly recalls her trip to Boise, Idaho as her favorite trip with her dog, Murphy. Her parents energy and enthusiasm is so cute.” Gavin considers Murphy calming for both her and the students. When she needs support, she appreciates that he is “It makes me happy that Ms. Gavin can bring a dog to school, and it kind of reminds me of [myself] when I’m walking my own dogs at home,” Ryan said. live in Boise, and the two went to visit during winter break. It was Murphy’s first time seeing the snow, and Gavin noted how animated Murphy was. He was particularly interested in running around and digging his face into the snow because of how enamored he was, which attests to his eccentric and curious personality.

Murphy Bear Gavin is a Poodle and Bichon mix that Gavin adopted on March 15, 2021 from a friend at her church. Aside from being her best friend, Murphy is also an emotional support dog for Gavin.

In order for Murphy to be certified as an emotional support dog, Gavin had to get approval by a counselor outside of UPA to prove she needed one. The certification gets revisited and reviewed every year in order to confirm that the dog is still an emotional support animal. For Gavin to be able to bring Murphy on campus, she had to get permission from Executive Director David Porter.

Gavin decided to adopt Murphy from a friend at her church not only as an emotional support pet but because her family has always had dogs. Growing up, her family owned a Shih Tzu, a West Highland White Terrier and a third dog that they could not figure out the breed of. Because of this, and the fact that Murphy is hypoallergenic, Gavin saw him as a good choice for an emotional support pet.

“My mom loves dogs.” Gavin said. “She was like, ‘Yeah, I think that Murphy would be a good fit,’ especially when we were looking at pictures of him.”

Gavin’s favorite thing about Murphy is his excitement about life.

“Coming to school, he wags his tail every single morning, and he’s just so excited to be at school,” Gavin said. “His readily available for her to pet. “He’s really good about helping me find my center,” Gavin said. “Overall [he has] a calming presence, and he’s good for other people in my classroom. I have a whole bunch of students that come up to him at the start of class.” One of these students is sophomore Amanda Mussa, who is in Gavin’s AP World History class and sees Murphy since Gavin brings him to class everyday. She describes Murphy’s personality as that of a student. “He’ll be really tired and sleepy and lazy during WHAP,” Mussa said. “But when he’s outside and walking around, he gets super excited. I see this all the time [but] whenever Ms. Gavin is walking him and he sees people, he gets all tangled up around his leash.” Sophomore Taryn Ryan, a student in Gavin’s World History class, enjoys seeing Murphy on campus. Ryan believes that having Murphy on campus is helpful to the students who interact with him. “A lot of people come up to him and start petting him,” Ryan said. “He really helps boost people’s happiness in a way. For me, seeing a dog brings [happy] emotions that I don’t normally feel at school.” Gavin describes Murphy as curious and excited, especially when he is at school and interacting with others on campus. “I feel like he wants to be able to get to know everybody on campus, and he’s always trying to meet somebody new,” Gavin said. “[English teacher Kristin] Moore has a beanbag chair, so he’s always jumping on the beanbag chair to spend time with her too. And then he runs every morning to go see [social studies teacher Ariana] Rodriguez before the start of school.” According to Mussa, Murphy’s presence on campus brings a positive energy to UPA’s environment. “It just gets you excited and Murphy with his January BarkBox toy, which is a monthly happy and it definitely makes subscription service that supplies dog toys and treats. the learning environment not stressful,” Mussa said. “Especially during quizzes and tests, having Murphy there makes it 10 times less stressful.” Mussa recalls the time when Gavin gave her class an extra point on their WHAP quiz because of Murphy. “She brought him [off of the desk] and let him walk around a bit,” Mussa said. “And then he started barking really loudly, and whenever Ms. Gavin would walk over to him, and he would go across the room. When she walked over, he’d go across the room and he’d be barking. And we were all laughing, and it made the quiz less stressful, especially after laughing and getting positive energy.”