Aug. 26, 2025
Story by Cary Littlejohn and Sarah Yoro-Massad
It’s been said that every dog has its day, and that day is today.
Dogs are often seen as humans’ best friends, and that’s true across the University of Missouri campus. Dogs improve our mood, keep us company in difficult times, make the learning process easier, and even conduct investigative work for law enforcement.
On National Dog Day, meet some of Mizzou’s best good boys and girls.
Kelce
Kelce II, a sweet Golden Retriever, is always ready to lend a paw to help children at the Combs Language Preschool, which is operated by the College of Heath Sciences’ Department of Speech, Language and Hearing Sciences.
The 3-year-old facility dog was trained by Retrieving Freedom, Inc., which named her after Kansas City Chiefs football player Travis Kelce, and she’s just as valuable a player to the preschool team as her namesake is to his NFL squad.
“Kelce has developed an essential presence in our classroom that helps encourage our kids who are a little unsure about participating.” Christi Baker, the director of the preschool, said. “She has a tendency to calm our little friends when they become dysregulated and helps them refocus just by being near them.”
Baker describes Kelce as a motivator around the preschool.
“All of the children in our program have some kind of communication delay or disorder.” Baker said. “Kelce seems to have her own special language with many of them; she can capture their attention when we cannot. The children often engage with her and make eye contact with her on a level that we just can’t. And then there are others who simply want to play with her, and that is OK, too.”
Luna
If you’re walking by Speaker’s Circle on a Wednesday afternoon, you might just see a gigantic white fluffball holding court among a horde of students. That’s Luna. She’s a bit of a celebrity.
Jason Furrer, an associate professor of microbiology in the School of Medicine, and his wife, Jennifer, an assistant professor in the Sinclair School of Nursing, often take Luna to check on students and get all the pets they have to offer. For this reason alone, the 5-year-old pandemic pup would be famous enough in her own right.
But Luna is the niece of perhaps the most famous Mizzou dog of all, Harlan, the Great Pyrenees.
“It’s fantastic to have students come up, say hi and start telling us their stories,” Furrer said. “They miss their families. They miss their dogs. They just needed good luck before a test. That’s what Harlan was here for, and that’s what Luna is here for, too.”
If Luna’s signature move is being a very good girl, her signature look is her backpack.
“We put the backpack on Luna, and she is absolutely ready to go to campus,” Furrer said.
Not only does it help keep Luna calm, but the backpack also serves as a “who’s who” of buttons and pins from students.
“This one right here,” Furrer said, pointing to a round white button with “Miss Luna” written in script above the Columns. “This was her first one, and it was from ButtonsbyTaylor. That just started an avalanche. Everybody started bringing them, and we’ve been happy to support students by pinning them to her vest.”