SAHUARITA, Ariz. (KGUN) — Walden Grove High School may be known as the Red Wolves, but roaming its campus, you’ll find another canine.
Every day, from the sound of the first bell in the morning until the last bell in the afternoon, you can find Smiley roaming the school hallways, bringing smiles to the faces of students and faculty.
"He’s pretty popular," said one student at the school. "You say Smiley, and everyone pretty much knows exactly who you’re talking about."
Smiley is so popular, in fact, that he even has his own Instagram account.
"It’s been fun to watch how people have embraced him," said Sergeant Michael Blevins with the Sahuarita Police Department. "He has more followers than I think that our police department does on social media."
School Resource Officer Rosalie Petty said she first got the idea about bringing a comfort animal to the school during the pandemic.
"I knew that the kids had some difficulties coming back to school, and I thought what better opportunity than to try and get a comfort dog to help them," she said.
The choice to adopt Smiley last summer was a unique one. The two-year-old California-born pup was originally training to serve as a guide dog. However, he was unable to meet the extremely high standards of being a guide dog, and was put up for adoption. This is common for many dogs that are training to be guide dogs but don't pass their training.
After a while, Smiley would be donated to the school in July 2022.
Whether it was fate or perfect timing that brought Smiley all the way to Walden Grove, it’s safe to say he’ll continue doing just as his name suggests.
"Seeing him every day, being able to actually pet him, interact with him," said Miles Acuna, a junior at the school. "It’s just nice to have him around."
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