Pets of Harvard: Oshie the Corgi
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According to Leverett House tutor and Oshie’s owner, John L. Pulice ’15, Leverett students are “big fans” of the new corgi in the house. Of course, a “corgi puppy is a strong attraction” in any house community, but especially in Leverett, where the corgis of the Georgi’s (former Faculty Deans Howard M. Georgi ’68 and Ann B. Georgi) were unofficial mascots.
Pulice says students have asked if Oshie is “the replacement corgi.” Not intentionally, Pulice said, but he was very recently welcomed to Leverett House. Pulice got Oshie, who traveled all the way from Missouri by car to get to Cambridge, last spring when Oshie was nine weeks old. Oshie is fully grown now, weighing in at around 20 pounds, but at 10 months old, he is still a puppy.
Aaaaaaaadorable By Mariah Ellen D. Dimalaluan
Pulice, who grew up with a golden retriever, didn’t set out to get a corgi, but for the size of a tutor suite and a Ph.D. student lifestyle, Oshie was “the right size and the right temperament.”
On how Oshie got his adorable name, Pulice confirmed that Oshie is an homage to the Washington Capitals player T.J. Oshie. Pulice is from the D.C. Metro area, and identifies as “a really big Capitals fan,” so Oshie seemed like the perfect reference to a favorite Caps player, especially after the team’s 2018 Stanley Cup win. Plus, “‘Oshie the corgi’ kind of rolls off the tongue.”
Oshie’s favorite spot on campus is probably the fenced-in Leverett courtyard, which is essentially his backyard. There he enjoys playing with other students and Leverett house dogs, like Kepler the black lab. According to Pulice, Oshie is well-behaved and well-trained … now. He used to have a “very bad understanding of the fact that the hallway was still inside. He would get right to the door of my suite and then he’d start pooping in front of the door. He was like ‘It’s still outside!’ and I was like ‘No it’s not.’” He hasn’t had accidents in a while though,” Pulice said. We’re so proud of Oshie’s progress!
Oshie is a tri-corgi, which means that beyond being triply cute, he has red, white, and black coloring. If you need any help spotting him on campus, look for a signature white spot on his brow. “It’s his little unique signifier,” says Pulice.
If you’re lamenting the fact that you have yet to get quality time with Oshie, fear not: Pulice runs the Leverett House website, and says an online sign-up for time with Oshie is in the works. “The plan is to have a walking schedule.” So stay tuned Lev students! The rest of us are certainly a bit jealous of your new corgi mascot.
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