Pip is Amherst High School’s therapy dog. She belongs to the Principal Mike Klieforth, who brings Pip to school with him almost every day. Pip comes to school to help students when they need it. She is currently four years old and has been helping at the high school for three years now.

Pip spends most of her days walking around Amherst’s hallways with the students from Mrs. Peterson’s classroom. Each day a student is assigned to take care of Pip for that day. Taking care of Pip consists of walking her around her usual routes and taking her outside when needed. When they’re not walking around the halls, Pip is in Mrs. Peterson’s classroom with the rest of her students. Occasionally, you will find Pip sleeping in the bean bag chairs waiting for someone to need her help. But when she’s not napping, she helps distract the students when they’re having a difficult day and calms them down when needed. 

In the morning, Pip awaits the arrival of Mrs. Peterson’s first student that day. The student that arrives first gets to walk Pip to the classroom and get her unpacked for the day. During the rest of the day, Pip is there to make sure the students are doing well. She always does her best to let the teachers know when she senses something wrong with a student.

“Pip will walk over to a student if she notices they are feeling upset, or she will hover around them throughout the day,” Mrs. Peterson said. “You can even find her laying with the students when they need a good cuddle.” Mrs. Peterson explained that Pip seems to simply understand the students and makes sure she does her job of keeping them safe. One of the students that Pip spends a lot of her time with is Jacob Groholski. Jacob loves helping out with Pip, and you can almost always find them making their rounds through the halls. 

Pip had to go through many weeks of training. First, she went to obedience classes and then had weeks of therapy dog classes. It’s no surprise that she had so much training because you can tell the minute you see her that she is a very well-trained dog. Pip is very calming and will never say no to a pet. She is one of the friendliest dogs you will ever meet. Sometimes she’s even right at the door in the morning to welcome you into the building, which can really brighten your day on an early Monday morning. And that’s exactly why she is here.