IKE: School Therapy Dog Extraordinaire

He passed away at Boyd’s house in Bryan, “surrounded by family,” she said.

“He was the most mellow, amazing dog,” said Boyd, who wanted to share the news with the Bryan community because he touched so many lives as the BCS therapy dog.

While stationed primarily at the elementary school, Ike was the therapy dog for all BCS students. And besides his calm demeanor, Ike probably is best remembered for wearing a tie to school every day.

“On special holidays and school dress up days, Ike would always dress for the occasion. He never complained about being dressed up, but he did draw the line at wearing a hat,” Boyd said humorously.

She said Ike helped welcome students and staff to school in the mornings and could help children who were afraid or hesitant to come to school by allowing them to pet him and walk him to their classroom.

Boyd said if a student was very angry or upset, petting and talking to Ike helped calm the student down to be better able to deal with those emotions in an appropriate way. And he helped students learn about character traits such as self-control, patience, responsibility and many more.

Boyd said one of Ike’s most important legacies was showing and teaching about unconditional love and caring. Students learned tolerance of others who were not good at certain things. And while Ike was not perfect, “There was no one Ike didn’t love and treat with respect, exhibiting qualities we all should practice,” Boyd said.

Boyd also remembered that Ike, although a golden retriever, could not catch a ball.

“He tried and practiced, but never got more than one catch out of several tries.” From that though, students learned the lesson that it was okay, and that we shouldn’t judge or criticize others who are not good at certain things, she said.

Ike retired from BCS in May, 2019, due to health issues, and lived out his days cared for at the Boyd household. His successor is Catcher, a yellow Labrador retriever, who Boyd said has also endeared himself to students, their families and staff at BCS.

“Ike was a golden, furry, loving 4-legged friend, and he will be missed by all who knew him. He will never know the positive influence he had on so many lives in our community, and we are grateful to have had him at Bryan City Schools,” Boyd said.