Rockford — The halls of North Rockford Middle School are sure to feel a bit empty in the days ahead, following the retirement of longtime counseling dog Chillie, a 10-year-old yellow lab who blazed the trail for a whole “Ram Pack” of therapy dogs in the district.
In light of a few health challenges, Chillie is aging out of her role after almost seven years of service, said Angie Hughes, the dog’s handler and a school counselor at North Rockford Middle. She’ll still stop by for the occasional visit, but her last full day on the job was Nov. 25.
Students saw her off with a mini parade, with the whole school lining up to pay respects as the pup trotted her way down the halls, cheerful as ever. Middle-schoolers covered the walls with messages of thanks to the yellow lab, and the high school’s Beyond the Rock broadcasting team honored Chillie by putting together a tribute video to celebrate the her time with the district.
Hughes, who will continue to care for Chillie, said the dog has been more than just a furry friend for students — she’s been a crucial mental health resource for the school.
“In middle school … kids feel constantly judged, they’re worried about how they appear to other people,” Hughes said. “Chillie doesn’t care what kids wear, the brand of shoes they have, what they look like — she just unconditionally loves them, and that just provides that safety for kids.”
‘She just accepts everybody’
Ahead of Chillie’s departure, as the lab snoozed in the corner of Hughes’ office with a snore so soothing it bordered on the hypnotic, eighth-graders Theo Walla, Greyson Walker and Emmett Setlock talked to SNN about what Chillie has meant to them.
Theo said he’s been picked on in the past, resulting in some anxiety about coming to school. Chillie’s presence, he said, was a huge comfort, and made the hard days easier to bear.
“Sometimes, when I don’t want to get out of bed, seeing Chillie at the start of the day makes me feel a little bit more happy to be in school,” Theo said. “It just kind of helps to give her a few pets and just talk to her for a second.”
Being around Chillie has lessened his anxiety, Theo said, and her unconditional support sets a good example for the students who may have picked on him in the past.
“She just accepts everybody,” he said.
Greyson said being around Chillie curbed some behavior issues he used to have.
“I always used to get suspensions and stuff, but Chillie helped calm me down and make me more happy,” he said. “She just cheered me up even though I got really down and sad. She’s just always kind and she’s really gentle and stuff.”
‘When I’d see Chillie, she just kind of looked at me and gave me a sense of, like, ‘You’ve got this.’’
— eighth-grader Emmett Setlock
For Emmett, Chillie helped with academic anxiety, he said.
“I was kind of struggling in sixth grade, trying to get A’s and B’s, and I was barely passing classes,” Emmett said. “When I’d see Chillie, she just kind of looked at me and gave me a sense of, like, ‘You’ve got this.’”
The eighth-graders are sad to see Chillie go, but they know that “it’s just time,” as Emmett put it.
“I can manage, but it’s going to be hard,” he said. “It’s just going to feel a bit different that Chillie’s not going to be here anymore.”
‘She’s been the biggest blessing’
The district started looking into getting a therapy dog several years ago, and Hughes was struck by the degree to which research suggested that dogs could benefit students.
“There’s a lot of studies that show they lower blood pressure, they help with decreasing anxiety in a school setting, they can help reluctant readers. … There’s just a number of things that dogs, in a school, could provide,” she said.
‘Chillie doesn’t care what kids wear … (or) what they look like — she just unconditionally loves them, and that just provides that safety for kids.’
— North Rockford Middle School counselor Angie Hughes
Chillie, a Paws with a Cause dog trained to work one-on-one with individuals with disabilities, came to the district in 2019 with the help of a grant from the Rockford Education Foundation, which also helped fund the seven other counseling dogs that followed in her wake.
Chillie’s calming effect on students was obvious from the start, Hughes said. In her presence, upset students who had once taken 30 minutes or longer to regain composure were able to return to class after just 10 minutes of time with the dog.
“That was a significant thing to see, because the point of being in school is being in class,” Hughes said. “If kids are upset and aren’t in class, that’s impacting their education. So Chillie being here and helping them calm down quicker and get back to class is really important.”
Chillie had an average of 40 to 45 visits a day — more than 3,600 per year — from students. And that’s only counting direct visits to Hughes’ office, not chance encounters in the hallways.
Though Chillie’s absence will be felt, Hughes said the students know it’s time for her to get some rest.
“They’ve all had opportunities to say goodbye and get some extra pets in,” Hughes said. “We’ve had lots of tears shed, but I think they understand.”
A new dog will likely be stationed at North Rockford by the end of the school year, Hughes said. But Chillie — the first member of Rockford’s “Ram Pack” — has left an enduring paw print on the school and its culture.
“I can’t imagine a better dog setting that precedent,” Hughes said. “She’s been the biggest blessing to our school.”
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