Abbey the Wonder Dog

Global Citizen Honors Program students recently received an email from Associate Professor of Humanities, Kirk Hendershott-Kraetzer, Ph.D., that was sure to put a smile on their faces: Abbey the Wonder Dog was going to be on campus.

Hendershott-Kraetzer claims that his 3-year-old black lab Abbey has a super power. He said, “Her superpower is joy. She loves everybody and everything.”

As director of the Global Citizen Honors Program, he works with honor students and recognizes when they need a break from stress and can use a visit from Abbey to brighten the mood.

“I’ve noticed a lot of the honors students being hollowed-eyed and zombie-like, so I figured they need to see a happy dog,” said Hendershott-Kraetzer. He also said he tries to bring Abbey to campus a couple times a semester.

Sophomore Sarah Boyle said, “It makes me feel very relieved because I have had a lot of assignments lately and a lot of stress, so like Kirk Hendershott-Kraetzer intended, it does give me a different sense of change from my normal schedule.”

Abbey is not just for the honors students, anyone can stop by and play with her in either Hendershott-Kraetzer’s office in the Conservatory, or the Global Citizen Honors Program office in Mott.

Hendershott-Kraetzer said, “She will just sit in the doorway with her chin on top of the baby gate looking at everyone, so when she’s over in Mott (this afternoon) she’ll get a lot of foot traffic because she just hangs out in the doorway watching the world go by.”

Senior Marah Heikkila said, “It makes me happy because she’s a ball of joy. She’s a good dog. Well, she’s pretty great; she’s a little rowdy. But it’s fun because that’s how our dog is, too.”