dog on campus

Colleges and Universities A-Z Smith College
1

<p>Just wondering if any current or former students would give their opinion of a guide dog on campus...</p>

<p>I have low vision and use a guide dog. I am seriously considering applying Smith. Are there any kinds of assistance animals currently at Smith (or when you were there)? Is the climate of the campus such that students would be open to my dog? When she is in harness hse is working, but when the harness comes off she is a pet and loves to socialize. I'd hate to feel isolated because of her. I was hoping to find a place where we would generally be welcomed, at the very least not have safety threatened and people would want to play with her when they missed their own dogs.</p>

<p>I just had a visit at another college and a student actually kicked my dog, when she was just standing there, obviously I was angry and horrified. Only to find that during my tour I later had several Muslim students who saw us in a bathroom corridor tell me I should get my filthy dirty dog away from them and apparently started to swing their bag at her face while making their point. I'm quite desensitized to people not knowing about workings dogs but it is really making me thinking about how my dog will be received by other students at small colleges where working dogs are less common. I don't want to be miserable or my sweet girl to get hurt by ignorant people.</p>

<p>So tell me Smithies, what do you think about a dog on campus?</p>

2

<p>I don't think we have any service dogs on campus right now, but I feel like people would be open to the idea. We're not allowed to have pets in our rooms (though for a service animal there would probably be an exception) but in my house our housekeeper would bring her puppies to tea and let them play in the courtyard and people loooooved those dogs, they doted over them. The staff also have Dog Daze in the early fall/end of summer where they bring their dogs to campus and have them compete in fun competitions. </p>

<p>Because the campus is so open a lot of people from town come here to walk their dogs or walk them by the pond. So it's a pretty dog-friendly place. </p>

<p>I would get in touch with the office of disability services and/or the admissions office and find out about service dogs. I think your house would really embrace it, maybe their one reservation would be noise but I imagine that service dogs don't really bark. You'd probably be a campus celebrity, but in a good way. Your house would be famous for having "the dog".</p>

3

<p>I agree with SmithieandProud. I haven't seen any service animals at Smith yet, but everyone here loves when someone's dog comes to visit. There are some people that are allergic to dogs, though, so you'd have to be in a house where no one was allergic.</p>

<p>Good luck in your college search!</p>