Despite building codes, dogs in class are a growing trend
Marley, a Lhasa Apso, will be one of many dogs to attend class tomorrow at CU. More and more students are bringing their dogs to class with them for various reasons.
However, the pets being brought to class are many times not there to provide assistance to their owner, such as in the case of a trained seeing-eye dog.
“I brought Layla to class during summer because she was a Denver Dumb Friends League puppy and was struggling with anxiety issues,” said Kira Johnson, a senior communication and education major.
“The cool thing is that professors are okay with it as long as (the dogs) are not disruptive,” Johnson said.
While signs are posted outside some of the buildings on the CU campus, there is not a school-wide policy specifying whether or not students can bring their dogs to class, said one representative at the office of student affairs.
“Teachers are often surprised when they see (my dog Marley) because they didn’t realize that she was in class,” said Ally Esquibel, a sophomore psychology major.
According to Johnson and Esquibel, most teachers don’t mind having the dogs in class and the majority of students react positively to them being there.
“On the last day of summer class, we were taking a test and another student’s dog would not stop barking,” Johnson said. “The professor was very calm and took the dog outside while we finished our test.”
However, this is not always the case. Esquibel said that one of her professors asked her not to bring Marley to class.
“I don’t allow dogs in class because it is against the building code,” said history professor John Willis.
Not only does Marley frequently attend class, she and her brother both lived in the dorms last year, Esquibel said.
“(Marley) does bark but only occasionally and she is good company,” Esquibel said.
“At CU-Denver dogs don’t attend class, but I think the more we can assimilate pets into our everyday environment, the better,” said Matthew Doran, a senior marketing major at the University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences Center.
“Education should come first and (the policy) should be left up to each individual professor,” Johnson said.
