The hundreds of new students and staff weren’t the only ones joining Midtown’s community this fall. Midtown’s newest certified therapy dog, Paddington, has also joined the school.
Paddington, a Bernese Mountain Dog, was adopted in 2025 by Principal Betsy Bockman, but he isn’t a simple house pet. Paddington was raised in a prison and trained as a service dog by inmates through the nonprofit CARES Inc.
To become a certified therapy dog, Paddington had to undergo training on obedience, remaining calm and tolerating distractions. He was also tested on his manners, demeanor and handling skills. Now, he uses these skills to comfort students throughout the school, accompanied by Midtown’s testing coordinator, Phoebe Chung.
“I don’t really have a specific role [with Paddington]; it’s just that my job is more flexible; so, I can escort him to different classes, like when Mr. (Mario) Herrera requested that he make an appearance for the children to say ‘hey,’” Chung said. “So, every now and then, I take care of him and there are other teachers who do as well. I have a dog, so I know what I’m doing with [Paddington]; it’s easy for me, and I love animals, in general.”
Paddington will be joining Ike, Midtown’s other certified therapy dog, who came to the school in 2021. Emily Dohogne, Ike’s owner and language arts teacher, has a connection to CARES and adopted Ike through the program and recommended it to Bockman.
“They’re in the prison for the first year for obedience training, then they go to social training: learn how to be out in public and all of those things,” Dohogne said. “Ike did not pass his x-ray, so he did all this training and temperamentally, he was fine, but he had a birth defect. One of his back leg ligaments is shorter than the other one, but they have to be medically perfect to be placed as a medical dog. So those who are trained through but don’t pass, they adopt those dogs out. Because I have a direct connection, I have a direct connection to be able to know when dogs come available … Paddington was the same thing, but it was his hip, so he didn’t pass his hip X-ray.”
To get a dog into a school, the dog must have proper training and be approved by the Principal. Ike went through this process in 2020, paving the way for Paddington’s introduction.
“It’s Dr. Bockman’s call,” Dohogne said. “I got Ike in August of 2020 … then I emailed Dr. Bockman and gave her his whole background and I was like ‘Hey, I have this dog. He came from this company, this kind of extensive training. I’m looking to get him as a therapy dog with a local organization. Can I see how he would do here?’ She said yes and he’s been here ever since … It was the same with Paddington.”
Junior Tate Thompson was one of the first students to interact with Paddington. She says she was familiar with Ike, but appreciates that now he has a partner to help the students.
“I met Paddington a couple weeks ago,” Thompson said. “I think they took him around to most classes so he could meet everyone. [My first impression] was he was younger than Ike and energetic, positive. I’m not really a dog person, but I’ve seen his impact and can appreciate his presence at Midtown.”
As Paddington completed his first month at Midtown, Thompson says there will be a lot to adjust to with a new dog on campus, but also hopes Paddington will be able to learn from Ike’s experiences.
“I want how we have Paddington now to be better from how it was when we were figuring things out with Ike,” Thompson said. “I know a lot of the students would feed Ike when he came into their classes, which can’t have been good for him, eating all of that human food. I hope [Paddington] can stay healthy.”
Dohogne has seen the benefits of having another dog, as they can cover more area and impact more.
“It definitely hits more people,” Dohogne said. “Ike has certain places now that he likes to be, so I think that more people benefiting than when it was just Ike because Ike will mostly stay on this hallway. Because Paddington will be with Ms. Chung, she’ll be out in between lunches or in the C200 hallway, we’re getting the benefit of having more people to be interacting with a therapy dog, whereas Ike has been here for so long, he knows his places that he likes, and so he’ll more gravitate towards there unless he’s walking around.”
As Chung has introduced Paddington to new students around the school, she has noticed a shift in their mood, helping to promote a more positive, stress-free environment.
“The children really love him and the energy is different when he’s around because sometimes it gets really chaotic at lunch,” Chung said. “But when the students see him, the mood is just different. Everybody is so excited to see him, and it changes the environment when he’s there, and Ike, as well. It’s not just [Paddington], but, obviously, he’s new this year, so the novelty is still there. And when he’s calm, as well, then everybody else around him is also calm.”
