{"id":420,"date":"2014-04-07T21:03:47","date_gmt":"2014-04-07T21:03:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogsdev.dickinson.edu\/ideafund\/?p=420"},"modified":"2025-06-24T15:29:25","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T19:29:25","slug":"project-update-dickinson-dog-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/ideafund\/2014\/04\/07\/project-update-dickinson-dog-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Project Update: Dog House"},"content":{"rendered":"
By Lauren Jeschke \u201814<\/b><\/h5>\n

PEOPLE AND PUPPIES<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n
<\/b>While the Dickinson College Dog House brings to mind images of snuggly little golden fur-balls napping, frolicking, and melting hearts everywhere they go, there is much more to Dog House than meets the eye. While the focus is often on the puppies, it is important to remember that Dog House is equally focused on student empowerment, community service and hands-on learning.<\/span><\/h5>\n

\"Dog-House-Group-Pic2\"<\/p>\n

Dog House is a student-led service learning initiative that was created in 2012 as the brainchild of Lauren Holtz \u2019<\/span>15\u00a0<\/b>(Neuroscience), who worked with Idea Fund to create an on campus service learning initiative dedicated to training would-be service dogs and puppies.\u00a0 Now two years later, the Dog House \u201cPack\u201d has grown significantly and has a solid, ever-expanding presence on campus. Idea Fund and Dog House exhibit a strong symbiotic relationship that demonstrates how the right idea, funding, resources, and people power can create an incredibly meaningful project. And not only has Idea Fund helped make Dog House a reality,<\/span>\u00a0but Dog House has helped Idea Fund by being an exemplary poster child of student empowerment, community outreach, and social sustainability both inside and outside the Dickinson community.<\/span><\/h5>\n
As the Dog House has expanded and membership has increased, multiple positions have been created within the group, creating new leadership opportunities for Dog House volunteers. Maddie Stearn \u201917 (Computer Science) and Lizzie Wilford \u201916 (Studio Art) sat down to chat about how Dog House has shaped their college experience and contributed to community service and student life at Dickinson. Maddie and Lizzie are Dog House trainers who are not just in it for puppy playtime, but are part of a team on a serious mission to raise service dogs that will ultimately be helping children with disabilities.<\/span><\/h5>\n

JOINING THE DOG HOUSE \u201cPACK\u201d<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n
After meeting Dino last year, Lizzie jumped at the chance to become involved in Dog House this fall and is now living at the Dog House \u2013 which means a growing and learning experience for her as a student and trainer:<\/span><\/h5>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a lot different than I expected and a big adjustment from living with my two dogs at home\u201d says Lizzie on life at the Dog House. \u201cWe wake up when Loki wakes up at 5:45 in the morning, and we are still getting him adjusted as well as adjusting ourselves\u201d. She also cites this experience as much more than just having a pet: \u201cAt home I can just let my dogs outside whenever if they\u2019re being annoying, but you just can\u2019t do that with Loki\u201d.<\/span><\/h5>\n
Maddie first heard of Doghouse on her tour of Dickinson last spring. She encountered\u00a0just\u00a0an advertisement about Doghouse and waited (impatiently) for activities night to finally join. \u00a0She is now managing print and media relations for Dog House and is also a trainer.<\/span><\/h5>\n

REWARDING EXPERIENCE\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n
<\/b>For Maddie, being a Dog House trainer is a great form of stress relief. \u201cThe transition from home was hard, but when I started training (the puppies) I didn\u2019t realize just how invested I would be in their progress\u201d. Maddie\u2019s proudest puppy moment occurred one Autumn day while out with Loki for a walk, when he all of a sudden became rooted on the spot, refusing to budge. Initially perplexed as to Loki\u2019s motionlessness and continuous barking, she then realized he was terrified of the Halloween decorations on nearby houses. Maddie was calm and eventually coaxed him to move on. \u201cHe didn\u2019t run up to them or go berserk or anything, he just sat\u201d: Loki\u2019s behavior was a testament to his training, and his ability to get past his fear was a quality moment in his young career.<\/span><\/h5>\n
\u201cI was so proud\u201d, says Maddie.<\/span><\/h5>\n
Lizzie too, feels a great benefit from her constant interaction with the puppies. A lot of the work includes more basic activities such as sitting and leash training. \u201cIt has really helped my patience\u201d, she says. Also, Lizzie describes her appreciation for a more professional relationship with the puppies. \u201cIt is nice to have a different type of relationship with a dog, not as a playmate, but more of a working relationship.\u201d One of Lizzie\u2019s proudest moments was leading Loki in between the grooves of a bike rack on campus this fall.<\/span><\/h5>\n

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE
\n<\/b><\/span><\/h4>\n
<\/b>What many Dickinsonians do not know is that Dog House is not technically a club, but a service learning initiative. Although it is not currently Senate Recognized, Maddie believes Dog House has a strong foundation and major potential to grow on campus in the years to come. \u201cWe are all about social sustainability and want this to continue on, even as people graduate.\u201d Lizzie agrees that Dog House has great potential, but mentions that it depends on the future group of people and their willingness to work hard.<\/span><\/h5>\n

MISCONCEPTIONS<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n
The final part of the interview was the question: If you could dispel one misconception the Dickinson community has about Dog House, what would it be?<\/em><\/span><\/h5>\n
Maddie<\/em>: \u201cIt\u2019s NOT the same as the adopt-a-dog events!\u201d she laughs. Lizzie joins in.<\/span><\/h5>\n
Lizzie<\/strong><\/em>: \u201cI agree. And it\u2019s about a lot more than just petting puppies. Training is about the dog and the person that will receive the dog. The most important thing to remember is [that] these aren\u2019t just pets, they\u2019re tools to help another human being\u2019s life\u201d.<\/span><\/h5>\n
It is evident that the Dog House puppies are not only beginning a lifetime journey of helping others, but are also inspiring and changing lives at Dickinson by giving tangible meaning to community service, and serving as an example of how a simple idea can transform a community and make an incredible difference.<\/span>\u00a0<\/b><\/span><\/h5>\n
If you are interested in learning more about Dog House, please check out their Project page<\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/h5>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lauren Jeschke \u201814 PEOPLE AND PUPPIES While the Dickinson College Dog House brings to mind images of snuggly little golden fur-balls napping, frolicking, and melting hearts everywhere they go, there is much more to Dog House than meets the… Continue Reading →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":880,"featured_media":4756,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1994],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-projects"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/ideafund\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/ideafund\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/ideafund\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/ideafund\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/880"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/ideafund\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/ideafund\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5328,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/ideafund\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420\/revisions\/5328"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/ideafund\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4756"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/ideafund\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/ideafund\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.dickinson.edu\/ideafund\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}