Dogs are great, right? They’re undeniably one of the best sources of unconditional love and loyalty. They’ve been called “man’s best friend” and “angels without wings.” Some people think of them as their “fur children;" others admit they might like them a little more than people. Since 2004, dogs have even had their own national day, August 26, dedicated to honoring the bond between humans and their canine companions.
Lehigh has a special connection with dogs, from the ones who are working staff members, to those whose names grace the annals of Lehigh history, to alumni pets who show up for events like Reunion in their brown and white swag. Here are the stories of a few of them.
Dogs With Jobs
K9 Officer LUcy is an eight-year-old Belgian Malinois who joined the Lehigh University Police Department in 2016. LUcy’s handler, Officer Greg Nolf, reports that when she’s on duty, LUcy is all business — she is trained to detect explosives and track humans. Besides their duties at Lehigh, Nolf and LUcy have also been called on to assist in investigations for the state police and even some federal agencies.
“LUcy loves her work,” Nolf says. “She gets excited when she sees me putting on my uniform and will come over to wait and get her collars on. But when she’s off duty, at home she’s like any other dog — she hangs out, lays around, and plays with our other dog.”
Grace and Scout are Lehigh’s beloved therapy dogs, Labrador retrievers who are welcomed by students, faculty, and staff as they make their rounds bestowing comfort and a sense of well-being to everyone they meet. The therapy dog program at Lehigh began in August 2022 — Grace, the yellow lab, came onboard first, followed a few months later by Scout, the chocolate lab.
Grace works with Detective Lieutenant Dave Kokinda, who says he’s seen her put smiles on lots of faces, including those of people he interviews after traumatic events. “The positive influence she provides in those kinds of circumstances — I don’t think you could put a value on that.”
Officer Stephen Romanic, Scout’s handler, takes her around in his patrol car, making stops at offices and sometimes playing Frisbee around campus to be present to anyone who needs a boost. Scout, like Grace, is available to victims of crimes to help put them at ease.
Scout also helped out on first-year move-in day a few years ago. “There was a student who seemed to be spending more time with Scout than the other students,” Romanic says. “Turns out she was feeling homesick, and Scout made her more open to talking about that. We directed her to Counseling Services, which was also at the event, so she could get some more help. Scout definitely made an impact that day.”
Grace and Scout have their own Instagram account where they post plenty of pictures of their campus adventures. Fans can keep up with them at Lehigh Labs.
Dogs in History
Believe it or not, in the 1920s, Lehigh had a dog as the unofficial sports mascot. Clarence the Wonder Dog, a “brindle-colored dog of uncertain origin and less certain breed,” according to the Brown and White, had an uncanny ability to “predict” the scores of Lehigh football games. Students would paint predicted final scores for the Lehigh-Lafayette game on Clarence’s sides a week before the Rivalry. According to lore, Clarence’s predictions were correct nine years in a row.
After 14 years of faithful service to Lehigh, Clarence died at the age of 16 on May 23, 1923. He was interred in the Taylor Hall quad, where his headstone remains to this day.
Another historical dog was Lena, treasured mascot of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity in the 1940s and 1950s. A Great Dane/German Shepherd mix, Lena was left on the doorstep of the fraternity house as a young dog and swiftly adopted by the brothers. A “gracious hostess and enthusiastic participant in Lehigh social life,” according to the Brown and White in 1956, Lena hosted parties — one of which included many dogs, a canary, and an alligator as guests — and often accompanied her housemates down the hill to classes. Lena passed away at age 14, leaving her fraternity brothers bereft.
A Dog With Influence
Skylie is a mini Australian labradoodle with social media gravitas — she has over 94,000 followers on her Instagram account, Skylie Doodle, and 33,000 on her Facebook page, also Skylie Doodle. Skylie’s mom, Lauren Huston ’99, started the accounts just for fun when she got Skylie in 2014, but they've grown into a community of pet lovers. “I think people can relate to Skylie and how I poke fun at myself through her. ‘Schooling my mom daily’ is how she puts it on her Instagram bio,” Huston laughs.
The pair do some brand collaborations with pet care and pet supply companies, and Skylie also works as the CCO — chief canine officer — for Huston’s business, Sunny Heart Doodles.
