You might have caught a glimpse of a furry, tail-wagging black mass as you walk through Founders or seen the ‘pawsitively’ adorable takeover of cat posts on Sidechat (Sidecat!). From students’ emotional support cats in residence halls to the dogs of Wellesley locals promenading around the lake, Wellesley’s campus is no stranger to playing host to a large number of pets. Notably, many faculty members bring their pets to campus, which are most often dogs.

One of these professors’ pets is Bear, an icon in the English department. Owned by Associate English Professor and Director of Creative Writing Marilyn Sides, Bear is eight years old and a Border Collie-Finnish Spitz mix. If you’ve ever seen a small crowd of students around Sides’ office on the first floor of Founders, chances are that Bear is being showered with love and attention. Since Sides lives nearby, Bear comes to campus about five days a week. 

Aside from Bear, Sides also had two cats. According to Sides, one cat, who passed away last summer, ruled the house. “That’s why Bear has to come to school, because at home, he’s at the bottom of the food chain,” Sides said.

Sides also shared that, as someone who isn’t a dog person, she brings Bear to campus in order to make up for it. “Students really love him,” she said. “He’s kind of students’ dog-away-from-home.”

Sides commented that Bear knows when passing period is and sticks his nose out of her office to attract attention from students. “He’s just a black hole of affection,” she said.

“There’s a lot of students — I’ve never had them as students, I don’t know what their names are, but they’re totally into Bear,” Sides said. She recalls one graduation where a student who she had never taught stopped by her office just to show Bear to her parents. Sides noted that even campus tour guides will point out Bear when she walks him on campus. 

“They’ll go, ‘And there’s Bear, he’s the famous dog from Founders,’” she explained.

According to Sides, Bear’s two favorite things are students and food. “His perfect [day] is a student holding her sandwich at his mouth level, because he’s kind of like a seagull,” Sides said. Once, Bear managed to open an oven to eat a freshly-baked pie before closing the oven door. 

As a former service dog, Bear has gone to emergency rooms and hospitals and is very well-behaved with students. According to Sides, there was an instance where a group on campus was unable to get therapy dogs for dog yoga, so Bear stepped in at the last minute.

Another — albeit smaller — furry face on campus is Sassy, a 14-year-old terrier mix belonging to Professor of Classical Studies Bryan Burns on the third floor of Founders. Sassy comes to campus about once a week, though Burns brought her to Wellesley more often prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

According to Burns, Sassy’s favorite activities are looking for food and chasing creatures through the woods. Burns said that students also come up to see Sassy pretty frequently while on campus. 

“She’s very friendly,” Burns said. “She used to be more energetic, and she was definitely a handful when we first got her. Now, she sleeps a lot more.”

Sassy first visited Wellesley’s campus when she was about a year old. “I remember the first time that I had let someone take her on campus … she was about one year old,” Burns said. “And I distinctly remember her going to the library party without me.”

“She’s good company,” Burns added. “So people should feel free to say ‘hi.’”

Rufus is an eight-year-old Bernese Mountain Dog belonging to Associate Art Professor Barbara Lynn-Davis. Lynn-Davis brings him to campus every seven to 10 days.

Rufus’ first time on campus was when he was only eight weeks old. He met some of Lynn-Davis’ students outside Clapp Library in April in order to begin socializing with people. Students took turns holding him in their arms. 

“He was shaking. He was so afraid,” Lynn-Davis remembered. “And by the end of that visit, he was so confident and excited.”

Lynn-Davis also had a Russian Siberian cat named Shura, who Rufus got along with very well. Shura passed away about three years ago, leaving a large gap between Lynn-Davis and Rufus. “We were used to being a triangle, and it felt very strange to be a dyad,” Lynn-Davis said.

Additionally, after Lynn-Davis’ divorce three years ago, she was reluctant to leave Rufus at home and started bringing him to campus more often. “That’s part of how he became so much more of my sidekick,” she said. “I don’t want to leave him at home for six hours.”

Lynn-Davis also spoke highly of the art department’s friendliness towards animals. “There’s a whole display in the art department of all the different pets,” she shared. “It’s an incredible, incredible gift, how I’m able to bring part of my soul to work, and I’ve tried not to abuse that by having him in the classroom, eating from the trash cans.”

Lynn-Davis described Rufus as pure joy, and also a bit of a ladies’ man. “I have several friends I’ve made through Rufus,” she remarked. “He’s a connector. He’s brought so much into my life and into my friends’ lives.”

Winston, the face of Assistant Dean of Intercultural Education and Advisor to Students of Asian Descent Karen Shih’s weekly newsletter Winston Wednesday, is a seven-year-old miniature Bernedoodle. He was named for “New Girl” character Winston Bishop by Shih’s daughter. “Not Winston Churchill,” Shih emphasized. “We are not that serious.”

Shih began bringing Winston to campus once he was relatively calm and house-trained, and when her daughters entered college no one was able to spend as much time with Winston at home.

Winston Wednesdays began about a semester after Shih first started bringing Winston to campus, which was when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Shih and her then-work study student, Sharon Lu ’20, were brainstorming ways to support students remotely. The idea was to keep students informed and connected about current events. Lu also created the logo for Winston Wednesdays. Many of the photos and captions written in Winston’s voice come from her student assistant, Miki Sampaio ’28. “He just brings joy,” Shih said. “He just kind of brings people together.”

A favored spot of both Winston and Bear is Collins Cafe, where Mark gifts both dogs with food. “You can’t walk [Bear] by Collins without him pulling you over there,” Sides said.

“He gives him leftover beef, turkey, chicken and … a goodie bag for students to bring back here,” Shih said. “I have to warn students. [Winston] will kind of trick you [to take him to Collins].”