ISSUED: 3 March 2025
MEDIA CONTACT: Hans Fogle
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — Senior psychology major Katerina “Kat” Ramirez Cubas is a Ram who is heavily involved on campus — participating in multiple student organizations, working on campus, and serving as a student leader — and she wants to be a source of community and encouragement for other Rams.
Ramirez, from Hedgesville, West Virginia, was diagnosed with lupus in 2017. She transferred to Shepherd University in the Fall 2023 semester, bringing her 12-pound Havanese service dog.
Ramirez can be spotted around campus, leash in hand, taking Hershey for walks, but Hershey is more than just a faithful companion and pet.
A typical day for Ramirez is not too different from the average college student, but in addition to ensuring she is ready for her day, she also needs to prepare Hershey for his workday.
“For him to be successful throughout the day, it is important for me to bring water with me and an array of snacks for him so that when he’s good, I can give him treats,” said Ramirez.
She also takes Hershey on walks around different parts of campus to help him with any anxiety and to adjust him to his environment.
Ramirez wants people to understand that having a service dog is a symbiotic relationship. While the service dog supports their handler, any handler must also take the proper precautions to make certain that their dog can effectively do their job.
“It’s really important to have realistic expectations of your service dog,” she said. “On TV and TikTok, you’ll see dogs who are very well trained and listen perfectly and, at times, seem like they are robotic. And that just isn’t the case with every dog.”
Ramirez needs to monitor Hershey’s stress and energy levels, make sure he takes breaks, and care for his basic needs. This interdependence is one reason Ramirez believes it is important for the community to know how to interact with handlers and their service dogs.
Proper etiquette includes asking the handler’s permission before interacting with their service dog, not distracting the dog, and being respectful of the handler and service dog’s boundaries.
For Ramirez, she mainly wants people to recognize that the handler is there too.
“When you see someone with a service dog, you have to remember that it’s not just the dog that’s there — there’s also a human being,” Ramirez said. “Instead of being known as ‘Hershey’s mom,’ I would like to be known as ‘Kat.’ Hershey and I are an item, but I am also part of the [Shepherd] community.”
Being a Havanese, Hershey is an unconventional service dog, straying from the typical labrador retriever, German shepherd, and poodle breeds.
Four years into a waitlist for a labrador service dog, Ramirez naturally found service potential in Hershey.
Adopting Hershey at just 10 weeks old, Ramirez enrolled him in puppy obedience training to focus on basic exercises. Six months into the training, Ramirez saw a change in Hershey’s behavior when she experienced fainting, a symptom of her lupus.
“I noticed that within 15 minutes of fainting, Hershey would jump on me, cry, and get upset,” explained Ramirez. “That started happening more and more.”
Ramirez discussed this new behavior with Hershey’s trainer, and what Ramirez thought was puppy anxiety was her dog “alerting” to her rising heart rate. They discovered that Hershey was having these moments of “anxiety” roughly 15 minutes before Ramirez would get a heart rate notification from her Apple Watch.
Ramirez got right to work with the trainer to reinforce this behavior, and, after months of training with Hershey, Ramirez finally had the service dog she was waiting for. Hershey has been in Ramirez’s service for two years.
Now Ramirez is working to establish a community for other Shepherd students with service animals. She has even developed dog walking routes to prevent disruption between handlers and their service dogs.
“One of the big benefits of coming to Shepherd with Hershey is that it allowed me to connect with the people on campus that I needed to connect with,” said Ramirez. “I wanted to talk to Accessibility Services to understand what things were in place for me to make sure I’m good with my education and Hershey won’t be disrupted.”
The support Ramirez received from Accessibility Services encouraged her to be that source of support for other students with service animals and a source of empowerment for those who are considering getting service animals.
“When there’s an open dialogue, I find that is when people are really supportive,” she said.
To learn more about having service animals on campus, please contact the Office of Accessibility Services at accessibility@shepherd.edu. Ramirez also encourages any Shepherd students seeking to talk about service animals to email her at krami01@rams.shepherd.edu.
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