BLACKSBURG, Va. – Virginia Tech’s Cook Counseling Center held a birthday celebration for one of their beloved therapy dogs on Friday!
Epcot’s 5th birthday was celebrated by students and staff at Newman Library - and Josie, another therapy dog, was also in attendance!
“A lot of people who follow the dogs, they know the birthday parties happen every year. And at this point we’ve done it for quite a bit of time. People look forward to it every year.”
Kelsey Hammer, coordinator of student engagement programming
“I’ve been missing my dog at home so much. So anytime I get to see them, I’m always super excited. They just make my day.”
Ambrose Herron, Virginia Tech sophomore
“Yeah. Ambie was telling me about it. I was like, well, we gotta go get some dog time in at the therapy dog events.”
Sam Short, Virginia Tech sophomore
“My friend Kristen told me about it and I was like, oh, I need to go see the dogs, really just good way to end the week, um, going on to a weekend. It’s been a rough long week, a lot of exams, so I definitely needed just like a stress reliever and this is the perfect way to just end it out.”
Addison Springer, Virginia Tech sophomore
Unfortunately, another one of the therapy dogs, Derek, could not attend, as he is recovering from a recent surgery.
“We just wanted to send him a message to say, hey, we see you too. And remember that you’re always here celebrating with us. And as well to Trent, his handler who started the program.”
Kelsey Hammer, coordinator of student engagement programming
However, all those in attendance were happy to give Epcot the fun-filled day a therapy dog deserves.
“I love watching them having fun, cause they deserve it. They work so hard every week, day in and day out. And I’m very excited to see that. They deserve it.”
Addison Springer, Virginia Tech sophomore