Meet the dogs behind pet therapy during finals week

During finals season, one group works hard to make sure students get some crucial puppy love. 

Madison-based Dogs on Call trains therapy dogs to be helpful companions during stressful seasons. This year, the group has partnered with UW–Madison to bring dogs to five different locations leading up to and throughout finals week. 

To help students remember the therapy dogs they visit, Dogs on Call hands out trading cards for each dog, with a photo and information.

“Students absolutely crave getting these cards. They hang them in their dorm room or on the fridge in their apartments,” said Todd Trampe, the Dogs on Call events coordinator and owner of two of the therapy dogs, Millie and Izzie.

Students can meet with the Dogs on Call dogs from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 12, at the Chazen Museum, and from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday, Dec. 16, at College Library in Helen C. White Hall. 

Dogs on Call is one of just several groups that offer therapy dogs in the Madison area and on campus; others include the UW Police Department and Go Team Therapy Dogs.

Most students who attend Dogs on Call events miss their own dog, and love getting cuddles from  Trampe’s friendly labs, Trampe said.

As a retired high school teacher, Trampe missed the social interaction of teaching and sought volunteering opportunities. Dogs on Call fit the bill and Trampe took over the event coordination position in 2014.

Every dog is different, and is suited for different roles, Trampe noted.

Trampe’s dog Izzie, a purebred English lab, prefers the activity and interaction from college students over the stricter rules of hospitals, he said.

While some feed off of excited energy like Izzie, others are better for calm situations. It’s up to the owner and the training process to discover which environments best suit the therapy dog. 

His other dog, Millie, has worked as a therapy dog for two and a half years.

The impact of the program was made clear to Trampe when an international student, who dearly missed her own dog, followed the Dogs on Call events around UW–Madison during her four years of undergrad. At the end of that time, this student asked that Millie join her for graduation photos, as a remembrance of the dog that helped her transition into life at Madison.

One student told Trampe he met Millie his freshman year and kept her card in his billfold. He showed it to Trampe at an engineering barbeque right before he graduated college. 

Trampe said he gets emotional over these moments. “Here’s this senior guy, and he’s telling me this, and he’s so sincere and grateful.”

Pet Partners, the parent organization for Dogs on Call, requires tests for the dogs and their owners every two years to keep the programs safe.  Dogs on Call provides the instruction and evaluators. Trampe said many people will travel to Madison to take the certification exam. 

Dogs on Call just celebrated its 25th anniversary. The program hosts anywhere from 60 to 70 events on campus throughout the school year, so visit its calendar to learn when and where you can meet Millie and other friendly dogs.